The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1870-01-18

to q man TO whom nature has been as hboral
as she was TO tho Romans of the good old
times whom noses were universal ornament.
A case of clear incompatibility Is this, and the
court is persuaded TO ''deem il proper that
divorce should be granted" Then there
comes along woman with q COARSE, kinky'
and variegated head of hair, tied for life to
man with Mosaic beard of the most satisfac-
tory color. Clear 'inoompstibility again, and
the court, ON petition OF either party, does
not hesitate, after proper argument, to deem
it proper that divorce should be granted.
Next we encounter well-preserved and stiil
fascinating woman Of middle age, and hang
ing ON TO her skirts is little shrivelled dried
up wretch of man, with handy legs and en-
ostensible squint. Clear inoompatibility once
more, and the court is struck with the pro-
priety Of ''deeming it proper that divorce
should be granted And now we meet with
an airy young woman who has been driven
by her next of kin into wedlock
with robust old chap whose
days have been heightened out a hundred
years by the habits of settled life. Clear
incompatibility here, and the court is SO well
convinced of it as to deem it proper that
divorce should be granted And finally we
run against woman who has an affinity for
some man other than her lawful lord, be his
character and physiognomy as fair or as foul
as they may. The olearest case of incom-
patibility yet detected, and the court enter-
tains too high sense Of simple justice not
to "deem it proper that divorce should be
granted" Seductive as is the task, we will
tax our ingenuity no further in devising in
compatible situations, but turn this fertile
branch of the subject over to the sentimental
young ladies and romantic old maids who
have dropped the contemplation of Mrs. Mo
Farlsnd- -Richsrdson's vagaries, only because
those of the Rev. Horace Cooke present q
fresher and more inviting field for harmless
and even virtuous speculation.
If the person against whom q petition for
divorce is levellsd be resident of the State,
personal service of the summons is required
''either by reading or leaving copy at his or
her place of residence" But if, as so very,
very frequently happens, the defendant be
domiciled outside of the State, and this fact
be made to appear, either ''by the affidavit Of
dtstnterested person, or by the return of the
officer to whom such summons was direoted,"
then the clerk of the court is required to
proclaim to the nonresident defendant and
the rest of the world the fact that the petit
tion is pending, 'by publication for three
successive weeks in some weekly newspaper
in general circulation, printed and published
in such county; or, if there be no such paper,
then in the one printed and published in the
State nearest the ccinty seat of such county"
In view of the utter absurdity of this provi-
sion, as measure Of protection to husbands
and wives who are yoked to incompatible
partners, and the ease with which the require
ment of bona iae residence can be evaded,
it is a matter for surprise that the law does not
provide directly and openly for the procure
ment of divorces "without publicity"
1t is unnecessary to examine the law in
detail at any greater length, the provisions
which we have quoted being sufficient to in
dictate the extremely satisfactory facilities
which it offers to both men and women who
are laboring under an incompatibility. The
saving clause at the end, which provides that
'whenever petition for divorce remains un-
defended, it shall be the duty of the prosecu-
ting attorney to appear and resist such peti-
ton, is merely ornamental and deceptive, in
view Of what precedes it; and another clause
which provides that "a divorce decreed in any
other State by a court having jurisdiction
thereof, shall have full effect in this State, "
is as little as the Indiana legislators could in
deoency do by way of establishing q proper
degree of comfy in the business. If the di-
voroe law of Indiana were an exceptional one
in this country, it would be a fortunate
thing for society. But it is merely an exem-
plary case, and in nearly every State in the
Union the remedy for incompatibiity is as
practicable and as freely indulgsd in as in
Indiana. There is but one way of escape
from this abuse open, and that is by en-
amendment to the Constitution of the United
States taking forever out of the hands of the
States the authority to regulate all the family
relations Under the operation of such a
! provision, Congress could pass a wise and
comprehensive law which would not only
4 put an end to the disgraceful traffic in
divorces, but ensure that uniformity in the
married relation which is almost as desirable
as slender measure of stability. To look to
| the separate States for such voluntary legisla-
ton as the safety of society imperatively de-
mands is as vain as to look to the same source
for uniform action on the rate of interest,
the rights of married women, and the
amount Of property exempt from seizure, for
debt.
SENATOR RAMSEY yesterday introduced in
the National Senate bill to amend the pos
| tai laws Whish provide, that letters on which