The southern argus., 1891-09-24
BREACH OF PROMISE.
Reasons Why Lawsuits ON These Grounds
should BE Abolished.


Should BE Abolished.
Itwould be q bold man who would
undertake to say of any especial law
that it is positively the most idiotic upon
the statute book, but certainly it is not
too much to claim that there are not
many things which for absolute futility
and folly are to be compared with that
which allows the bringing OF suits for
damage in the case of breach OF prom
,se of marriage. That there are certain
theories upon which it In possible FOR Q
man who is sufficiently sentimental and
sufficiently short-sighted to be able TO
delude himself into supposing that the
law is capable of rational defense is
possible. but it is difficult not to feel
that he who should rashly undertake to
defend it would quickly find himself in
trouble.
Whatever may be the theory OF the
status it is, of course, with its actual
working that we are at present con-
cerned. The whole idea is sufficiently
grotesaue that person whose heart is
broken by blighted affection should be
capable of going before judge and jury
and swearing to the reality of this
disaster, to say nothing of the added
absurdity of supposing that If the injury
has indeed been done it is to be helped
by the payment of sum OF money. 1t
is obvious that the only persons who
could be supposed capable of doing this
are the persons whom it would be utter
" absurd to suppose capable OF any
genuine affection whatever, and yet less
of having their hearts broken by the
detection of any lover. One remembers
the story of the young lady in the En-
glish courts who had settled upon her
by a wealthy old dotard an annuity of
considerable amount, to be paid, the
settlement stated, ''as long as she loved
him" The tickle fair one having in
continently married man of her
own age and left the elderly admirer
desolate, the latter attempted to have
the annuity discontinued, whereupon
the shrewd charmer went before a
notary public and took oath that she
still loved the elderly person. There
upon it was decided by the courts that
she was still entitled to the annuity and
she got it.
Those whose hearts are really broken
by the breaking of an engagement of
marriage do not take the fragments to
court to display them, and the law Is at
it's best only device whereby vanity
sore wounded may avenge itself. At
worst 1t is one of the most outrageous
Matchmaking schemes which it has
ever entered into the heart of man to
devise, whether legally or otherwise.
There are too many creatures of both
sexes who lay their plans deliberately
to make the statute q means to aid
them to dishonest gains, and not infrc-
quently they succeed AS for the law
as promoter of matrimony, it Is to be
doubted If there has ever been a mar
breach-of-promise law which has not
been failure, and which had not better
a thousand times have been left I'M
done. 1t is as feeder of the divorce
courts that the law gets In it's most
effective work. The unions that are
enforced through the fear of damages
are generally undone by the latter
tribunal-or should be-
1t is surely high time that this bar
barous survival of former stupidity
were removed from the statute books
which it disgraces, and the sooner the
legislators understood this the better.
1t might be worth while to have once
in ten years a session of the legislature
at which there would be no power to
pass laws, but only to expunge needless
laws from the roll. There would be a
good deal of useless rubbish cleared
away in this manner, which is now in
the way, and which is either stupidity
inefficient, Or which works real harm;
and at the very first session of this
sort, who can doubt at this advanced
stage of the worlds progress, they
could be persuaded to do away with that
infinitely absurd law which relates to
breach of promise of marriage. Boston
Courier.