Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1885-01-29
ABOUT DIVORCES.
why Women Figure Most Frequently as
Plaintiffs.


about two out of three of all the di-
yorce suits brought are instituted by
women, said a prominent LAWYER
land the causes for it are numerous
and curious. You wouldn' think, row,
that women would have more of the
aggressive spirit and pluck necessary
to go through with divorces than men,
but they have Most people are apt to
imagine that men are the ones to bring
their troubles into court; that they are
by nature likely to choose a bold surgi-
cal treatment, as it were, and get their
marital troubles ended completely. 1t
is easy to picture a timid woman cow
ering at the thought of lawyers and
courts, and preferring anything to the
publicity of the Common Pleas. RaL
all that is sentiment and exactly con
trary to all experience. 1t is the men
who shrink from the divorce courts
'How is that?N was asked.
First of all, " explained the lawyer,
"thefe is the question of expense, which
to man in moderate circumstances
means q great deal. When a mar
brings divorce-suit he does so with
his eyes open to the fact that he viii
not only have to pay the fees and ex-
penses of the lawyer retained by him,
but al-o the counsel employed by his
wife. Now, when woman resolves
upon separation, if she has any good
reason for it, she has the comforting
conviction that it is going to cost her
nothing In four cases out of five,
where the woman is the plaintiff, the
counsel eXacts, say, a preliminary fee
of S25, and it is on the distinct under
standing that, in the event of the APP
plication being successful and the hus-
band being mulcted in costs, the mon
ey is returned to her. So you see that
in the financial aspect of the question
the woman is ut an advantage.
Then" the lawyer went on, "the
woman feels her wrongs much more
than the man. Mr. Blank bears the
situation sullenly, but very we'll When
he leaves the house in the morning he
bangs the door spitefully after him, and
in a few moments is wrapped up in the
thousand and one interests of the day.
Now, Mrs. Blank hears that spiteful
door-bang and broods over it, and is
mad all the morning because she can't
reply to it. The house is her world,
and everything about it suggests Mr..
Blank, and, of course, unhappiness.
Now, Blank is a devil-may-care sort of
fellow. He gets drunk at his club,
and comes home or stays away Just as
he thinks fit. The world says nothing.
When he feels mad he can 60 to his
home, break up the furniture, and
swear at his wife until he gets tired
and then can rush out of the front door
Bnt when his wife is aggravated and
feels like annoying Blank. where is he?
That's the question: In all probability
he is having rollicking time out some
where.
Now what does all this lead to?n he
continued, theoretically. "Well, I'll
tell YOU. The woman soon begins to
seek for sympathy among her feminine
friends, and she gets it every time-I
don want you to make any mistake
about that. This sympathy-seeking is
responsible for half the marital htiga-
ton. 1t doesn take long for the lady
to magnify her troubles, and then her
friends make martyr out of her and
cause her TO believe that she is the most
Interestingly ill-used being on earth,
while in all probability she is nothing
of the kind. This ends, sooner or lat
or, in visit to the divorce lawyer, and
that settles the business. Aman doesn'
90 and relate his troubles to his friends
US a woman does. If he did the pro-
portion Of masculine and feminine
plaintiffs would be more even. 1t is
the custom of the husband to let conf
dences about domestic matters severe
ly one. and so he doesn't receive any
advice which would bring him within
the grasp OF the legal profession.
''Most Of the divorce suits brought
nowadays are for The absolute annull-
inc of the marriage. The courts have
greatly discounlenanced divorces with
alimonV. In cases where the husband
has to nay the wile's counsel the fee
allowed by the court is $50 and $50.
That's nothing, though, compared with
a case | know Of, whore husband
some years ago obtained divorce
from the Legislature. He was rich,
and it cost him $4,000. One mem
Der there, he told me, got $4,000 to
vote for the bin. Seven months after
the passage of the act the divorced wife
died, and the husband didn't give up
kicking himself for year. His free
dom had cost him just S2l, 428.50 per
month lie had imagined that his wife
was going to live for years Nova
days the Legislature can't grant d.
vorces for causes that would justify the
victim, in annlk-iDo. tO tho courts -