The evening times., 1897-05-03
LOBBYING FOR DIVORCES
Light to Be Thrown Upon Della
wares Legislative Disgrace.
ATTEMPTS MADE AT BRIBERY
Mrs. Ackian's Case One of These.
Speaker Riggin Believes the Whole
stitution Is Adopted All Divorce
Matters VIII Go to the Courts.

Wilmin gton, Del. May 3. chairman B. A.
HAZEL, of the committee appointed by the
le gislaturc to Investigate the divorce
scandal now brewing, has issued a notice
requesting all persons who have any in
formation that will help the committee to
siftthe nIatterto the bottom tocommunicate
with him without delay. The notice en-
bodies an announcementthat the committee
desires TO make the investigation complete
and effective, and that the cooperation OF
ali who feel an interest in the good name or
the State is invited.
Horace Greedy Knowles, counsel for Mrs.
Acklan, whose divorce bill is pending, said:
Il know of no reason why Mrs. Acklan
should withdraw her petition for divorce
from the legislature, and | do not think she
will do SO. The fact that she has been ap-
preached by persons seeking bribes would
certainly be no reason why she should do
So 1t is admitted that she spurned all
overtures made to her to have her divorce
accomplished by means of bribery. l do
not know whether she Will appear before
the committee to testify. / do not even
know that she knows anything to testify
II think she will let her petition for
divorce remain In the hands OF the legis-
lature. The length OF her residence iii the
State has nothing to do with the matter.
The legislature could grant her i divorce
if she only had been here ten minutes,
and could refuse it if she had been mere
fifty years The published statement tnat
charges against the legislature had been
Lob hnF Gnl nT
friends, for the purpose OF creating sym
pathy for her case, is misstatenent of
the worst kind She has not been looking
for sympathy; certainly, have not, and
l know Of no one else who could have any
such interest in it
Speaker Riggn, of the house, stated that
the matter must be siited. He believes,
however, that tn lobby, which has preyed
OH the Delaware legislature for several
years, is responsible for the nOtoIiety
given both the Ackan and the Cause
cases.
He has been compelled once this session
to order lobbyists off the floor of the House,
and if this scandal is traced TO them, they
will be debarred from the statehouse. Mrs.
Cause is a daughter OF DR.. White, the
millionaire dental instrument manufac-
turer
Inference having been made that ex-
tOrtion was attempted in the case or Mrs
Clara d. Farrow, who secured divorce
during the present session from her hus-
band, Lieut.. Farrow, an interview with
parties connected with the case shows
that even the lobby kept hands off here.
Mrs. Farrow is daughter Of the late Will
kan Daahiel, and hers is one of the oldest
and wea!thiest families of Delaw are.
The ruuors about the divorce committee
and the Investigation of them today Will
likely call "a halt on Delaware divorces in
the future Should the new constitution
be adopted the granting of all divorces viii
be taken out OF the hands OF the legisla-
ture and placed with the courts. The leg
islature has granted divorces for years,
and of late the number has been steadily.
increasing Legislative divorces have been
desi gned to help poor people, whom it was
said could not afford to pay the expenses
of a case before the courts.
So far this year nearly 1 90 divorce
bills have been introduced in the legis-
lature, and nearly all Of them have been
passed 1t is very seldom that a divorce
bill is killed, owing to the loC-Toling among
the members. The laws of the State pre-
scribe no fixed period of residence, and as
a consequence some couples have been sep
arated who have not lived in Delaware.
Speaking of divorces, James II. Hughes,
a weuknown attorney OF Dover, says:
mo one knows anything about many OF
these bills They go through the general
assembly, as a matter of course. In the
case of howard =. Springer, in which
was attorney for Mrs. Springer, who was
resisting the application, we thought the
bill was defeated, and yet it slipped
through in some mysterious way. l have
no charges to make against anyone, but it
appears that the divorces are made sub
iects of favor among the members"
Few of the divorces are talked about in