The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1900-12-22

years and Virginia and some other
states five years. Conviction and Inn
prisonment for crime Is q cause for
divorce in all states except Florida.
Maryland, New Jersey, New York and
South Carolina, but with conflicting
limitations. In some states the only
requisite Is an indictment found, 9TH
ers requiring a conviction and impris-
onment to follow. Even the duration
Of the imprisonment varies In different
states, some requiring two years and
from that up to seven years. and some
hold that If the confinement is in the
house of correction 1t is enough. while
a few hold to the necessity of imprison-
ment In states prison. In some states
the conviction must be after marriage,
while II directly contrary rule prevails
in others.
ut Is often the case that one law OBJ
tains in state and just over the bor-
der an opposite doctrine is established.
One Jurisdiction holds any cruel treat
ment sufficient ground for divorce and
an adjoining state requires extreme
cruelty and inhurnan treatment suffi-
Client to endanger life. The length of
time that cruel treatment must con-
tinue is only six days in one state, up
to six months in another. and still an
other state holds that the commission
Of one act Of cruelty is ample ground
for a dissolution of the marriage con-
tract. In Missouri drunkenness Is good
ground for divorce, while Texas holds
that even habitual drunkenness Is not
a sufficient ground. Aside from these
specific causes there exist in some
states vague and uncertain grounds
for divorce. such as husband notorious
ly immoral before marriage unknown
to wife, in West Virginia; fugitive
from justice, in Virginia.; gross mis-
behavior or wickedness, in Rhode Is
land; any gross neglect Of duty, in
Kansas and Ohio; refusal of wife to
remove into the state. in Tennessee:
in Georgia; three years association
with any religious society that believes
the marriage relation unlawful, in Mas
sachusetts; parties cannot live in peace
and union. In Utah; vagrancy Of the
husband, in Missouri and Wyoming;
when conduct defeats the purpose of
the marital relations, when the court
thinks it is improper and indiscreet
for the parties to continue to live to-
gether, when the parties declare they
cannot live with each other, in other
states. Divorces have been granted
upon the ground that the defendant
uses tobacco, which aggravated the
plaintiffs headache; for cutting off
PLAINTIFFS bangs by force; because hus-
band would never cut his toe nails:
because husband, during his whole
married life, never offered to take the
plaintiff out riding, which was a source
of great mental suffering and injury.
1.-THE legal remedies and proceedings
for the obtaining of the divorce pre-
monious spectacle. Delaware and
Louisiana have no statutory provis-
ions as to residence. One state does
not require previous residence: Okla
homa requires but ninety days; Ne
braska, Nevada and five other states
require six months; twenty-seven
states require one year; six states two
years; Connecticut, New Jersey and
Massachusetts Qf when married both
parties We're residents. otherwise five
years. three years, and one state
simply requires that the applicant for
divorce express a wish to become a
resident, whether he ever sets foot in
the state or not.
1.-THE property rights of the parties
to divorce proceedings are differently
affected in different states. In some
only the personal property of the wife
Is restored to her; in others both real
and personal, and still in others only
enough for her support and mainten-
ance. Owing to the present unjust sys-
tenn, or lack Of system. in divorce legis-
lation, man obtaining a decree valid
in one state and not recognized as valid
by the laws of another, may marry
again and his marriage be valid in the
state where contracted, and perhaps in
the contiguous state he will be con-
sidered bigamist and his children
illegitimate.
showing of all the inconsistencies that
exist on this subject, but enough has
been said to indicate that the existing
state of affairs is not right. These con-
tlicting statutes and decisions cast a
stain and reproach upon our system of
Jurisprudence. They constitute an ex-
traordinary combination of deceit and
fraud. According to the report of the
commissioner of labor the total num-
ber of divorces in the United States
from 1867 to 1886 was 32s,716. and. worst
of all. the showing Is that they in
crease each year steadily and regularly
in the most alarming manner. the d.
vorces of the last named year, 1886,
being three times as many as the
divorces of the first year. 1866. Figures
as to the number of divorces granted
from 1856 to the present time are not
accessible, but it is safe to say that
more We're granted than between 1866
and 1886, Probably over zoe. 900 divorces
have been granted in the United States
since 1866
The only alternative to a constitu.
tional amendment comforting upon con-
gress the right and power to rectify
these variations and Inconsistencies
which has been suggested is an at
tempt to secure uniformity by concur
rent action of the As states. This is
impossible. Whether the constitutional
amendment plan Is less difficult re-
mains for the future to disclose, but