ADVOCATES of the extension of divorce are prolific in devices
for the advance of their propaganda. At one time they make the
utmost use of the Press by exploiting some unhappy marriage for the
purpose of pointing the moral that divorce and remarriage are the
remedy for such a case. This device having become somewhat stale,
they have resorted to another, which threatens to be more effective
than the use of the correspondence columns of a newspaper. We learn
that a large number of cinematograph plays has been imported from
America, having for their object the visual portrayal of the
miseries resulting from ill-assorted unions, and the happiness
attained through the relief afforded by the Divorce Court. Apart
from the question of divorce, the plays are said, in some cases, to
be of more than doubtful morality, and certainly not fit for the
juvenile audiences on which the picture-theatres very largely
depend for their support. It is easy to foresee the result of
accustoming children and young people to the spectacle of separated
wives and husbands and their subsequent adulterous contracts. In
the next generation there will not be left a shred of regard for
the sanctity of marriage. We are glad to find that this regard is
not yet extinct among the spectators of picture-plays of the kind
to which we are referring. At a recent exhibition, we are informed,
the play was received in dead silence by the company present. This
speaks volumes for their good taste and decent feelings but it does
not exonerate the exhibitors from the offence of helping to
demoralize the people whom they attract to their shows. A rigid
censorship is needed for these entertainments. . .