The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-07-08
DIVORCE MILLS SILENT
NORTH DAKoTA's NEW LAW HAS
STOPPED THE oLD-TIME
GRIST OF CASES
VERY LITTLE BEING DONE
Wyoming Has Short Residence
Law Which Is Now becoming
known and Is Being TAX
en- Advantage OF.

GRAND FORKS, N. D.. July IA year
ago the first day of July the divorce law,
passed by the legislature during the So 80
session, became operative, and it is in
teresting to note the effect the law mas
had upon the number of divorces granted
by the courts since that time. The only
radical changes made in the law was to
extend the term of residence from ninety
days to one year and to make it necess-
sary for a person to be a citizen of the
United States in order to get a decree.
Previous to the time the new law went
into effect any person from any land
could secure a divorce here after resi-
dence of ninety days, providing of course
there were proper grounds upon when 20
calm one
The divorce business in North Dakota
did not gain any proportions till after the
United States congress, on May 2, 1896,
passed The law making it necessary to re-
side III any of the territories OF the United
States a full year in order to establish a
residence. Those seeking divorces then
began TO cast around fer some other state
where the time necessary to establish a
residence was short. North Dakota was
the Only state in the Union where a resi-
dence cou be established in ninety days.
and, as result, within a very short time
he attorneys began to reap harvest,
nd many of them made d regular praC-
ice OF going after the Eastern divorce
business. In the early days there were
out few divorces granted in the state
IN the clerk Of courts Office in Grand
Forks county the records show that the
first suit COR divorce was fled in this, the
First judicial district, by Francis Conlin
in May, 1889. This was the only case
filed in this district that year, and the
increase was but gradual and in proper
ton to the growing population till 1896.
Ihe court records all over the state were
fu of divorce cases, and the revenue de-
rived by the attorneys throughout the
state from the divorce business formed
an important part of their income many
of them doing an exclusive divorce bust
ness.
The business grew gradually till July
/, 1899, when the new law went into eff
feet and during the month OF June i'm
medlately preceding the courts all over
the state were actually g.utted with d.
vorce suits. In this district alone forty
eight were fled curing that month and
when it is remembered there are seven
judicial districts in the state some idea of
the extent of the business may be real
lied. From the first of July till the first
of January, 1900 but twenty cases were
MED, or but 40 per cent of the number
that had been filed during the single
month of June, before the new law be-
came operative.
There has been a steady decrease thus
lar this year, as up to date but thirteen
cases have been filed From july l. 1898
to July l, 1899, $40 divorce suits were filed
in this district alone, and if the other
six districts did as much correspondingly
the total would be about 1000 Ledru
Guthrie, city attorney of Grand Forks
who probably had the biggest divorce
practice in the state, says that during
the past year the city of Cheyenne Wyo
has been enriched by at least $1,OO0.O0O as
a result of the divorce business that has
been done there since the passage of the
new law in this state. The law in Wyom-
ing requires six months residence the
same as required in South Dakota, but
for some reason or other the former state
is getting the bulk of the business.
Mr. Guthrie favors the utmost liberality
in divorce laws as a matter of public pol
icy. He contends that the marriage laws
are at fault and not the divorce laws
He believes that if divorces are proper
at all they should be secured without ref
erence to the time the parties seeking re-
lease from the bonds of roa+rrnon, have
been residents of any particular state. He
states that there are three parties in
terested in every divorce suit-the plain
tiff, the defendant and society, and that
society has the right to say to its mem
that the only reason for prescribing any
particular term of residence in state
before a divorce can be secured is for the
purpose of protecting society, and that
any term of residence is sufficient if it
makes the party a bona fde member of
society, in the community where that per-
son may be.
Mr.. Guthrie says that per cent of the
800 or more divorce cases he has handled
have grown out of hasty and i'll consider
ed marriages, and he heartily favors a
most stringent marriage law which he
claims is the only method of reducing the
number Of those seeking divorces.
About 90 per cent of the cases Mr.
Guthrie has handled have resulted from
either husband or wife spending the sum
mer at some fashionable watering place,
and while there forming new alliances.
He added that a summer resort was with
out doubt the most fertile source of di-
vorce in the world, and he says that this
is proven by the fact that nine-tenths of
the divorce suits are started in the fall
or at least they mature" at that sea-
son of the year.