Morris tribune., 1884-01-09
NEW YORK DIVORCES.
What a Judge Says-.-The Shysteri
Who Manage Things..-A '.Round-
the. Corner Business"
rncasnarn in Detroit Free Press. ]

l''CaSpdf' III DeUrOlU free Ircso'J
Husband or wife takes a fancy to some
other person for partner, but present obi
cations stand in the way. They can be got
out of the way only by divorce, so lawyer
is hunted up petition fled, testimony pro
duced, and, prestol the whole business il
done. But not always honestly done-oh, no
not by very long shot. In great many
cases the business is fraud from beginning
to end.
We had word ON that point from the
bench itself the other day. The man who
said the word, Judge Donohue, of the SUI
preme court, has signed quite lot Of divorce
DEGREES in his time. This is what he said
'There is undoubtedly fraud in many divorce
cases, and what mean by that. is that the
business of obtaining divorces by question.
able means has not been suppressed, not
withstanding the extra vigilance to detect II
now exercised by the courts. I myself have
either suspected or been convinced in mum.
Der of cases that fraud had been practiced,
yet was unable to obtain conclusive evidence
to that effect, and the conspirators thus
escaped the punishment the law prescribes
and which they merited."
"Who are the perpetrators of the frauds'
Scallawag lawyers, Of course There's a
gang of rasca lily lawyers in New York who
make q business of getting divorces by
crooked means, and are always ready to take
up any case that comes along. They have
no professional standing, and respectable
lawyers do not recognize them at all, but they
care nothing for that. Bread and butter is
what they are after, and they'll do any
thing to get it, The Tombs shyster Of the
old times was regarded on all sides as the low
est type of the profession. We have Tombs
shysters still, but they are no longer the low.
est. The lawyers who make speciality of di-
vorce are rightfully entitled to that rank,
and get it, Their plan of operations is pretty
well known. All that the client has to do is
to put the case in their hands and pay fee
in advance. Most of the divorce suits go to
referees instead of being tried in court. If the
hearing is not actually secret it is, in most
cases, the next thing to it. There are no
reporters and there is no audience. The di-
vorce lawyer presents his case and brings on
his witnesses.
Who are the witnessess Why, in many in
stances, neither party to the suit ever heard
Of them before. They are scamps whom the
divorce lawyer keeps in tow for just such
occasions. Their testimony is a lie from first
to last. The lawyer tells them beforehand
what they must swear to, and often coaches
them to see that they have the story straight.
They swear to personal knowledge of things
which never occurred, and to acquaintance
with persons they never saw. If the other side
does not appear, as often happens, because
proper notice has not been given, the sworn
lies of the scamps go unquestioned. The
referee may possibly have suspicious, but he
must go by the evidence" and there it is.
No one has appeared to refute it He reports
to the court that the charges are proven; the
court assumes that it is all right, and a de-
cree Of divorce is issued. So the way is
clear, and the person getting the decree may
go right off and marry again. Perhaps the
other party to the new marriage is waiting
around the corner.
It all a round-the-corner business and an
exceedingly bad business every way. Ant
much more of it is carried on in New York
than the public supposes. As the trials are
not reported, unless they contain something
sensational, the public knows nothing about
them. 1t would be good thing for morals
if the divorce lawyers could be suppressed.
But they probably can't, any more than the
quack doctors, but the quacks defy it and go
right on in the old way. So would the di-
vorce lawyers, no doubt, even with law for
their suppression on the statute book