Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1883-05-22
BELVA SPEAKS.
A Talk With the Noted Fem ale
Attorney.
ST.. Uiscourses on Divorces and Tells
How the Law Operates in
Different States.

.Of the cases are still pending, but in
most of the cases where fiual action has
been taken the applicants have been
ganted divorce, and each has taken up
lis and her burden of life sIngly.
What is the reason of itH your cor
respondent asked of Mrs. Belva Lock-
WOCd, the noted female lawyer, as she
sat in her parlOrs on F street to-day
What is the reason that so many di-
vnTces are granted here? Is Washing
ton an especially easy place in which to
uh:ain q divorce"
Il don't know" she laughed. have
got good many of EN- here, though l
don't profess to be at all
Divorce Lawyer.
/ suppose | have something like seven
ty-five cases here in Washington, aud
where there are good grounds find no
difficulty in getting divorces. Ii there
are not good grounds | won't take
them"
She sat erect as she talked, spoke Wig
orouSiy, AMI checked or her sentences
with her right hand in an argumenta.
tive way. The room IN which she sat
was a parlOr just above her law Office,
which occupies the basement front of
the house, which is q residence in the
business part Of the city. The parl0r
was rather plainly furnished. The fur
nIture was not magnificent, the piano
rather aged in appearance, the pictures
mostly family photographs, and the
books which stood in little rack in the
corner had titles like these: "History
of Woman Suffrage" Eminent WO-
men of the Lane" "Woman's Future"
\ painting upon the wall was a very
fair representation of Mrs. Lockwood.
1t represented a woman
About Forty with Gray hair
brushed carelessly back from face in
which was good deal Of color, and in.
dicatiOns of good deal OF energy. The
picture was very much like Mrs. Lock
wood, except that il appeared TO have
! been painted five or six years ago. The
hair is about as gray now, the Horid,
vigorous color in the face, instead of be-
! ing confined to the cheeks, is we'll dis
| trIbuted, giving the suggestion that
| vigorous use of her tricycle., which
| stood at her door as | entered, had
| brought both excellent health and some
| tan beside.
~ never take divorce case" she
! continued, "uule>s there are good
grounds fOr divorce. That being true
find no difficulty in procuring divorces
here, and if we are to Judge Dy my en-
| perience it might be SAID that divorces
are Easy in Washington"
But, compared with other cities and
States, how do the divorce laws and
| customs here seem TO be-"
! II think it is easier to get q divorce
here than in many other places" she
| said. in Boston, now, the testimony
is all given in open court,
NO Matter How Bad 10 May BE;
no matter what the charges or how
| painful for the most sensitive party.
! Now here seldom, if ever, take teSti-
mOny in open court. When a party
| wants a divorce their deposition and
| that of their witnesses is taken right
here in my office or parlor; they are
| filed in court; the proper proceedings
| lad, and if there are good grounds for
| divorce under the law, II is granted and
| that is the end of It,"
"Aud are the requirements OF the
| law less than those of the law IN other
SIateS.p
ayes, less than those in some States.
In New York, for instance, it il much
more difficult To get divorce than
here. Yet the laws here are not espec-
tally lax in that regard. They only
grant divorce for deSertiOn during u
term of two years, for habitual drunk
enness during term of three
wears, for adultery, cruelty and lunacy,
And Some notifications
ofthese general causes. Then no at!
tention will be paid to the applications
for divorce unless the persons have been
residents Of this District for two years
or more. People often come here from
Virginia and Maryland and other points
further away To get divorces, but they
don't Get them. | don't think this Is at
all a famous place, like Indiana, or
Utah, or Connecticut, where divorce
NAV Ice had almost for the asking, but
IL is a much more satisfactory place for
such a proceeding than some other
cities could name"
Yet when il is remembered that the
resident population Of Washington
UuIittug the IiuatIug population which
has not u two years residence here's
but about 75.OOO, it brings ratio
which, ifapplied throughout the United
States. would give $4,000 divorces a
wear in the L nlted states.
Comparing the laws of the District
with those of the various States, it Is
found that
A MsrKed Inference Exists,
In New York the causes on which di-
vorces are allowed are: Force or fraud
in obtaining the marriage, lunacy or
idiOry, q prior marriage of one OF the
parties whose husband or wife are still
living, incompetence or marriage below
q certain age. Thus several causes
which apply in Washington, and for
which divorce is granted here, are not
allowed as factors in divorce in New
York.
There is great varietyin the divorce
laws of the country. In Maine, 1t Is said,
to be easier to get divorce than 1t is to
get a drink. The law reads, divorce
NAV be decreed when the Judge deems
il responsible and proper conducive t.
domestic harmony and cOnsiste Mt with
the welfare of society" In North Gallo
lima the law says: ANY just cause, at
the discretion OF the Judge" may
Dissolve the Marriage Tie.
In Virginia, il q woman is discovered
after marriage to have borne q bad
character before marriage, without
knowledge of the man who married
her, he may lie divorced. In West Vir-
GINA the shoe goes on the other foot,
and il a woman discovers that her huS-
band was q genuine rake before mar
risge she may unmaTry.
In Connecticut the law provides that
"such mischief or misbehavior rs per
manently destroys happiness and de-
tests the purposes Of marriage" shall
constitute a legal ground for divorce.
In Georgia mental incapacity is legs
ground FIR divorce. In Alabama adul-