The Sun.
London, England, 1859-07-04 00:00:00

DIVORCE COURT

Lord BROUGHAM moved that the return No. 44 in
the minutes of the oth of June, delivered on the 27th
of June be printed. The noble and learned lord said it was
of importance that the exact amount of business might
bo ascertained ; as it was, the increased amount of busi-
ness that had been suddenly thrown upon the court arose
from the fact that until very recently the account which such
powers at it possessed had been altogether unknown. The
amount of judicial business rendered t absolutely necessary
to determine whether or not it was further judicial
and was required. It might be that the aid might
only be temporary, but it was of importance that the ques-
tion should be settled. In fifteen months, the period of the
establishment of the court, there had been no less than 285
petitions granted for dk;solution of marriage, and 105 for
judicial separation, making in all nearly 400 cases in little
more than a year. Out of this number, 37 divorces had been
granted, but there were upwards of 110 cases waiting for
consideration. The rules and regulations of the court he
thought far from satisfactory, for as the procedure at pre-
sent existed the jury were very frequently deceived by the
collusion between the suitors. Suits were often brought
by arrrangoments made by the husband, wife, and her
paramour, and he knew an instance in which the paramour
actually paid the expenses of the husband's application for
a divorce. In his opinion it was absolutely necessary that
the Attorney-General, or some other officer appointed by
the Crown, should be present to watch all the cases on the
part of the public. The noble and learned lord said he
trusted that the noble and learned lard on the woolsack
would take the whole subject into his consideration, with a
view of devising a remedy for the evils that at present
existed.

The LORD CHANCELLOR said he felt pleased the
noble lord had brought the working of the Divorce
Court under the consideration of the house. He
agreed entirely with him as to the great necessity
of some inquiry being made into the working of the
court. What ho proposed should be done as a means
of insuring the efficiency of the court was, that all
the puisno judges should be members of the court,
and the two of them, together with the Judge-Ordinary,
should in turns sit with the Lord Ordinary, for
the purpose of making full Courts, which would,
he thought, greatly facilitate the business, until some
definite arrangement could be made. There were
some very serious alterations he thought it would be
advisable to make, and he hoped in the course of a few
days to lay a bill upon the table which would remedy the
evils complained

[LEFT SPEAKING.]

HOUSE OF COMMONS-(THIS EVENING.)

The SPEAKER took the chair at 4 o'clock.
THE CHANCELLOR OP THE EXCHEQUER.

Mr. Gladstone, introduced by Lord Harvey and Mr.
Foster, took the oaths and his seat, on his re-election for
the University of Oxford.

PRIVATE BUSINESS.

The Lords' Amendments to the Great WEstern Railway
Bill, the Chichester Harbour Embankment, and Swansea
Harbour Trust Bill, were considered and agreed to, and
ordered to be read a third time.

Onihe motion of Mr. C. FORSTER the following was
ordered :—That the minutes of evidence taken before the
committee on the Durham and. Cleveland Union Railway
Bill, in session 1858, be referred to the committee on the
Cleveland Railway Bill.