The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1889-03-14
GOTHAM AND WIVES.
Illustration Of the Curious Tangle
in the State Laws.
TITS A PRETTY KETTLE OF FISH.
The Case of Man With Three Legal Wives
and that of Woman With Two
Legal Husbands.

have no personal use for the indulgence at
forded, but it is nevertheless the fact that in
the state of New York husband may have
several legal wives, or wife may have
several legal husbands. In other words, the
New York laws shield polygamy and polyan.
dry. Up to 1878 New York state marriage
law permitted divorce, e., a real dissolu-
ton Of the marriage tie, that left both the
freed parties free to remarry.
There was a sort of nominal prohibition OF
the remarriage of the party giving cause for
the divorce within five years. OF without per.
mission of the court granting the decree, but
that was mere dead letter, since a second
marriage, contracted in defiance of such pro
hibition, was held perfectly legal, and the
only oifense perpetrated was contempt of
court. But, in the year mentioned, the
cranks who are opposed to the granting of
divorces obtained the passage by the legisla-
ture of a few innocent seeming lines amenda-
tory to the code of CT il procedure, the effect
Of which was little appreciated until the court
of appeals, in 1888, in the case of The People
vs. Faber, 90 N Y, p 1916, held that;
vorce has been granted by the courts of this
state, who during the lifetime of the plaintiff
marries again in this state, is guilty of big
amy. lie is a person having a husband or
wife living within the R. S., GS7, para
graph s." In other words, divorce, so far as
New York is concerned, had been completely
knocked out" and the empty thing that
now goes by that name is something very
different. Burrilrs Law Dictionary is fol-
lowed by both Webster and Worcester in
this definition of divorce; "a. a legal disso-
luton of the marriage contract by a court or
other body having competent authority.
This is properly divorce and called techni-
cally vinculo matrimonii b. The separa-
ton Of married woman from the bed and
board of her husband mensa ct thoro
Grom bed and board"
But that which is called divorce now in
this state is neither of those, but a unique
semi-dlssolution of the marriage contract
which leaves it in full force and binding so
far as one Of the parties is concerned, while
the other is made free and single again. That
was what Faber found out when he, five
years after decree of divorce had been de-
clared against him, supposing the old legal
limitation of celibacy satisfied, had the te-
merity 10 marry again. His viudictive for
mer wife prosecuted him for bigamy, though
she had long since been married to another
man, and be served four years and half in
the state prison for his ofense
INT what is the Offset TO thisl The divorced
person Glay legally contract another mar
triage outside the limits of the state of New
York and it is valid there. More than that;
a man who has neither been divorced nor
had a divorce granted to him in that state,
but has wife there, TO whom he has been
legally married in that state, may go out into
another state marry another woman, re-
Csurn with that second wife to New York
state, and, insteod of laying himself liable to
prosecution for bigamy by so doing, will then
have two equally legal wives and be just as
much liable for the maintenance Of one as
for that of the other; either or both may in
stitute divorce proceedings against him
for cause fancy Mary Smith and Jane
Smith asking of the court freedom from John
Smith on the ground Of ''his iniidelity to us'l
and if he leaves children by both wives when
he dies they will all have equal rights in his
estate. And he may have dozen legal
wives just as well as two, if he is able to sup
port them and his nature is one that yearns
for domestic excitement. The woman's
rights, under the present laws, are just the
same as the mans. She can take just as
many legal husbands as the man can legal
wives.
OF course there is q right and q wrong way
or, to speak more correctly, safe and an
unsafe way-of doing this thing. The matri-
monial enthusiast, who gathers to himself
wives with the reckless Indifference to method
that would be all right if he were simply
picking up chestnuts, viii be likely to come to
grief. He must remember that in all cases
certain forms of divorce must precede his
various marriages Here is positively and
absolutely truthful statement of the present
somewhat complicated marital relations Of
gentleman resident in Harlem Cwho is a well
known New York merchantl: the narration
Of the progress of his acknowledgements in which
will amply Illustrate the legal and safe course
of procedure. And, by the way, he is only
one Of q dozen in the same neighborhood who
have similarly awaited themselves Of the laws
kind encouragement of polygarly, though
none of the others have gone 50 far.
Mr.. b, the gentleman in question, is
financially prosperous; has not yet passed the
prime of life; is vigorous, good looking ard
well informed, and has been married eight or
ten years, but has no children His wife is
handsome, accomplished, aniablo and bears
an excellent character. Two years ago he
fell in love with girl employed by him as
typewriter q tall, magnificent, Juno like girl
from Boston. She reciprocated his passion,
but was altogether too well brought up and
too proper to descend to a vulgar amour.
No; she admitted that she loved him, but she
respected herself
''Wen," he said, 81 will make you my
wife"
"How can your she said in surprise, ''when
you have wife already"l
He explained to her how it would be per-
fectly practicable. Still she demurred- She
did not think it would be the proper thing for
him to cast off his first wife to marry her.
ooh! but won't cast her off. 1t will not
affect her standing at ALL" he explained
'sShe will still be my wife in New York, by
virtue of her marriage to me here and you
Ill no eor,a1Iv nv wife both hero ara in