The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1891-08-05
MECCA FOR M|SMATED.
Young Mrs. Blaine, Madame dc
Stures and Others May Be
Disappointed.
A Dakota Judge Thinks They Ex-
poet to Abuse the d.
vorce Law.
Hence He May Refuse Them the Relief
They Sesk From Fettery That
Are Calling.

Sioux FALLS. s. d.. Aug. A dynamite
bomb Is about to be exploded under the
divorce law of South Dakota by the position
OF Judge Aikens that the spirit of the law
must be complied with. which will result in
Mrs. j. g. Blaine Jr.'s failure to get di-
voroe. The general public seems to be un-
aware OF tho facts pertaining to the ease
with which divorces are granted in this new
state. The law has been on the statute
books for fifteen years and was enacted by
the territorial legislature in its
early days for the purpose of
inducing immigration to the then
sparsely settled prairies of South Dakota,
and the act granting divorces in a very
short period Of time contemplated that the
applicant would remain a resident of the
territory and contribute to building up the
then thlnly settled commonwealth. The
trainers of the law had little idea that the
lords of old England and the nabobs of
New England would make it q temporary
residence for the purpose of perpetrating e
fraud upon the laws of the state and the
judges who presided over it's courts.
| The result of the law is a surprise to the
citizens, for after fifteen years of silence
and unobservatjon it attracts applicants
the minute South Dakota becomes state,
who come here simply to secure a divorce
and then return to their former haunts.
The various judges who have occupied the
bench during the interim of fifteen wears
have allowed the law to run along without
special notice until certain fair parties,
such as Mrs. James g. Blaine, jr., Madame
Do Stures, niece Of John Jacob Astor,
Mrs. Snyder, a relative of the Harpers of
New York, Mrs. de Baum of New York,
Madame de Silva of New York and Mrs.
Hardy of Milwaukee,, came here so that
they might be freed from their marital
relations. after having complied with the
letter but not the spirit Of the law.
The presence of these parties has re-
suited in an inquiry which shows that
ulne out OF ten to whom divorces have
been granted have come to the state for
that purpose only. The conclusion
reached by the judges of the state is that
it's original purpose, and has converted the
state, by fraud and imposition, into Mecca
for characters of easy virtue.
Judge Aikens who presides over the
second judicial circuit. in which the city
of Sioux Falls, the largest city in the state,
is located, and in which the prominent
parties already mentioned are awaiting
their freedom from their assumed en-
thrallment, has already Indicated to the
bar here that the spirit of the law must
be absolutely complied with before he will
sign decree absolving people from the OBJ
legations which they took before the mat
rimonial altar. The result of this will
probably be that Mrs. James G. Blaine, Jr,
and Nine. de Stures and all the others seek
ing co take advantage of the loose Dakota
statutes will be disappointed with the as
surance that no person can misuse the
statutes of Dakota for their personal inter-