years, of which, however, nearly half were refused. The total number of husbands' petitions in 1917 were 1,067 against 638 by wives. There were no children in 660 of these 1,705 cases. In 1918 the husbands' petitions rose to 1,837 an .d the wives' to 857 for all classes of cases. There were no children in 1,043 of these cases. The duration of these marriages is another interesting point. The marriages which had lasted over five years and less than twenty were 1,149 out f 1,705 in 1917 and 1,788 out of 2,688 in 1918.
Scotland. In Scotland, after the Reformation, adultery was in- troduced as a cause for divorce without statute, apparently upon scriptural grounds, and as a consequence of the abolition of the pope's jurisdiction in Scotland. Prior to the Reformation, marriage had been looked upon in Scotland, as in other Roman Catholic countries, as a sacrament; after the Reformation it came to be re- garded from the point of view of a contract, of a peculiarly solemn and far-reaching nature, but which might be dissolved consistently with public morality, and divorce for adultery was at once introduced. Wilful desertion was confirmed by statute in the year 1573 as a ground for divorce, four years being then fixed as the period for which the desertion must subsist, and that period has been main- tained until the present day. From the evidence of Lord Salvesen (vol. I., p. 254) it appears that in 1908 no decrees for divorce were granted for adultery, of which 59 were at the instance of the husband and 51 at the instance of the wife; and that, in the same year, 81 decrees for divorce were granted for desertion, of which 20 were at the instance of the husband and 61 at the instance of the wife ; and the statistics show that the number of divorce cases has, relatively to the population, continued about the same.
It has been the statute law in Scotland since 1600 that the guilty spouse cannot marry the paramour during the lifetime of the other spouse, but in practice this has been generally evaded by not putting the name of the paramour into the decree of divorce. The large proportion of the divorced husband's property allowed to the wife and children by the law of Scotland is believed to have a considerable effect in reducing the number of divorces.
Ireland. In Ireland, where the majority of the population are Roman Catholics, and where, apparently, conditions of life differ materially from those in England, divorce a vinculo of parties there domiciled is only obtainable (as in England before 1857) by private Acts of Parliament, after a divorce a mensa et thpro has been granted by the King's Bench Division of the Irish High Court (which now exercises the powers of the old Ecclesiastical Courts), and (if the suit be by the husband) after judgment has been obtained in an action in the Irish courts for crim. con., the minimum expense of such proceedings being between 450 and 500 (evidence Mr. Roberts, 42,603; 42,627). Since the passing of the Divorce and Matrimonial Causes Act, 1857, there have been 39 Private Divorce Acts (Mr. Roberts, 42,624).
Isle of Man. Divorce a vinculo can only be granted by Act of Tynwald, founded on a decree of judicial separation granted by the Chancery Division of the High Court of Justice in the Isle of Man, which, by the Ecclesiastical Civil Judicature Transfer Act, 1884, has jurisdiction in matrimonial matters, and follows the principles upon which the Ecclesiastical Courts acted.
Channel Islands. There appears to be no right to proceed to ob- tain judicially a divorce a vinculo, and there have been no legisla- tive proposals with that object.
(II.) BRITISH DOMINIONS
India. The dissolution of marriage among the Christian com- munities in India, whether European, domiciled or country-born (save that in the native states the Act applies to British subjects only), is regulated by the provisions of Act IV. of 1869, usually called the Indian Divorce Act, under which decrees of divorce may be granted on grounds similar to those which exist at the present time in England, and where, since the marriage, a Christian husband has abandoned Christianity. Jurisdiction to grant any relief under the Act is confined to cases where (a) the petitioner professes the Christian religion; (b) resides and is domiciled in India at the time of presenting the petition; and (c) the marriage was solemnized in India. The two latter restrictions have inflicted in numerous cases great hardship, and the Commission made some suggestions thereon, which it is now proposed to incorporate in a special Act. The de- cision of Sir H. Duke in Keyes v. Keyes (1921) only emphasized the above which was good law before. It may be noted in passing that, by section 495 of the Indian Penal Code, adultery is made a criminal offence in the case of a man who, without the consent or connivance of the husband, has illicit intercourse with a woman who is known to be the wife of another man.
Canada. The British North America Act, 1867, by section 91, conferred upon the Parliament of Canada exclusive legislative au- thority in relation to marriage and divorce, but by section 129 all laws in force in the provinces of Canada, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick were continued in such provinces respectively, and, by section 146, the provisions of the Act were extended to other prov- inces admitted to the Union. In the provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward I. and British Columbia, there existed at the time of the Union courts of divorce, and they still continue to exercise their functions. The grounds in those provinces are as
follows: in Prince Edward I. and New Brunswick, adultery, im- potence, or consanguinity, and, in Nova Scotia, cruelty as well.
The Privy Council, the highest court of appeal, decided in 1919 (Walker v. Walker) that the English Act of 1857 applies to and is part of the substantive law in all the provinces of Canada except Ontario and Quebec. There being no divorce courts in Ontario and Quebec, recourse for relief must be had to the Parliament of Canada by private Act.
Union of South Africa. (a) Cape Province. According to Roman Dutch law, which is in force in that province, the grounds upon which divorce may be granted are adultery, malicious desertion, un- natural crime, perpetual imprisonment, long absence, and refusal of marital privileges, though it would appear that recourse is seldom, if ever, had to the latter four grounds. (6) Province of Natal. Divorce is granted on the ground of adultery or malicious desertion for not less than 18 months before the suit. These provisions, however, do not apply to the native tribes, which are governed under their own system of laws.
Newfoundland. There is no law relating to divorce.
New South Wales. By the Matrimonial Causes Act, 1899 (Act No. 14, 1899), Part IV., ss. 12-6, divorce is granted, on the petition of a husband, for the adultery of the wife, and, on the petition of a wife, for the adultery of the husband, if the husband is domiciled in New South Wales when the suit is instituted, or such adultery is incestuous, or is coupled with (l) bigamy, or (2) cruelty, or (3) desertion, without reasonable cause or excuse, for three years or upwards. In addition to the above, on the petition of either party, if domiciled in New South Wales for three years or upwards, divorce is granted for malicious desertion during three years or upwards; on the ground that the husband has, during three years, been a habitual drunkard, and has left his wife without means of support, or has been guilty of cruelty; on the ground that the wife has, during three years, been a habitual drunkard, and has neglected her domestic duties, or been unfit to discharge them ; on the ground of imprisonment for three years under commuted sentence for a capital crime, or under sentence of seven years or upwards; on the ground of conviction for attempt to murder or inflicting grievous bodily harm ; on the ground of the respondent repeatedly assaulting and cruelly beating the petitioner; on the ground that the husband has been in the last five years frequently convicted, has had sentences of three years in the aggregate, and has habitually left his wife without support .
New Zealand. By the Divorce and Matrimonial Act 1908, No. 50, as amended by the Acts 1912, No. 22; 1913, No. 69; 1919, No. 53, and 1920, No. 70, either husband or wife can obtain a divorce for adultery or wilful desertion for three years. If the wife is living separated and the husband leaves her without reasonable main- tenance for three years he is deemed to have wilfully deserted her (Act of 1913)- If either husband or wife fails to comply with a decree for restitution of conjugal rights the other can obtain a divorce forthwith, and the Court may in its discretion dissolve any marriage on the petition of husband or wife where the parties have been living separate for three years under decree of judicial separation or magis- trate's order or deed or merely by mutual consent (Act of 1920). Where the husband has been an alien enemy the wife, if a natural- born British subject, can divorce him if he has left New Zealand for more than 12 months (Act of 1919). Habitual drunkenness for four years coupled with cruelty or with leaving the wife without means of support, or, in the case of the wife, coupled with neglect of domestic duties, is also a ground for divorce. Other grounds are conviction and sentence of seven years or upwards for attempting to take the life of the petitioner or any child of the petitioner or respondent or the conviction of the murder of such a child or the fact of being a lunatic confined in New Zealand for an aggregate period of seven years within 10 years of the filing of the petition.
Queensland. By the statutes of Queensland, Matrimonial Causes Jurisdiction Act of 1864 (28 Viet. c. 29) and Matrimonial Causes Act of 1877 (39 Viet. c. 13), the provisions of the imperial statutes (20 and 21 Viet. c. 85, 21 and 22 Viet. c. 93, 21 and 22 Viet. c. 108, and 22 and 23 Viet. c. 61) are reenacted, so that the law is substantially the same as in England.
South Australia. In South Australia divorce is granted on the same grounds as in England, except that in the case of adultery coupled with desertion in a wife's suit one year's desertion is sub- stituted for two years.
Tasmania. The provisions of the imperial statutes (20 and 21 Viet. c. 85, 21 and 22 Viet. c. 108, 22 and 23 Viet. c. 61) have been made applicable by statute in Tasmania, so that the law is substan- tially the same as in England.
Victoria. In Victoria the petition may be presented and decree granted on the same grounds as those at present existing in England. In addition to the above, on the petition of a petitioner domiciled for two years in Victoria, a decree may be granted on the ground of desertion for three years ; on the ground that the respondent husband has been a habitual drunkard for three years, and has left his wife without means of support, or has been guilty of cruelty; on the ground that the respondent wife has been a habitual drunkard for three years, and has neglected her domestic duties, or rendered herself unfit to discharge them ; on the ground of imprisonment for three years, under commuted sentence for a capital crime, or under sentence of penal servitude for seven years or upwards; on the ground
