The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1905-02-16
House Covered Itself With
Glory Last Night
AGAINST new CAUSES
All Amendments Looking to Lax 0i
vorce Law Were Given the Solar
Plexus When the McNinch
Substitute was Adopted
by Large Majority.

The House covered itself with glory
last night when it nobly responded to
the petitions of 100000 people to re-
peal all lax divorce laws.
The victory was complete and will
be hailed with delight all over North
Carolina.
Proceedings in Detail.
The House resumed its session at s
o'clock.
Mr.. Murphy. of Rowan, acted as
Speaker pro tenn.
The clerk read the bill recommend
ed by the Judiciary committee. the
minority report constituting the Nc
Ninch bill, and the various amend
ments proposed to both bills.
Without further preliminaries, Rep
resentative McNinch began his address
on the divorce question. He called
attention to the demand that had
arisen for some time from an almost
united press for repeal of the pres
ent lax divorce laws of the State.
Nearly one-half million church
members had petitioned for repeal.
the clergy of the State were solialy
pet.tioning for a repeal and even the
legal profession was nearly equally d.
vided.
The speaker argued that in the face
of such demands representatives here
had no right to vote their individual
opinions on this question. but should
respond to the appeal of their con-
Stituents, acting i'll representative
and not in an individual capacity
lie then attacked the provisions of
the committee bill, declaring that u
continuation of the present law was
bad enough but the enactment of
no lasting
shame and disgrace to the State OF
North Carolina.
The people have taken high ground
in this matter, they demand reform,
not compromise. The speaker then
entered into a dissection of the ma
iority bill, comparing it with the mi
Monty Dill and strongly advocating
that section making an act of adultery
on the part of the husband an equal
cause of divorce as that on the part
of the wife.
Mr.. Koonce offered an amendment
as follows:
Amend by adding the words IF
either party, either before or after
marriage. shall contract and commune
icate to the other any venereal disease
the injured party shall be entitled To- a
divorce absolute.
This amendment was defeated with
out debate.
Judge Winborne. chairman of the
Judiciary committee, explaining The
bill recommended by the committee
said the committee. had not recon-
mended a lax or wide open divorce
law, nor did the majority advocate
any such principle. He then discussed
the McNinch bill declaring that it was
the laxest divorce law the State had
ever had. 1t was all in favor OF the
husband and against the Wife. While
the committee bill had i'm view the
mere knowledge of the fathers, of
mans nature, and by requiring the
man to live in adultery before IT
would grant a divorce. it WAS fer the
woman's protection. Otherwise man
could by a single outrageous act. COM
United for the purpose of driving his
wife to seek q divorce actually Tree
himself from the bonds of matrimony
and make himself the beneficiary of
his own scoundrelism. Honorable men
and honorable women do not seek
divorce except for causes absolutely
imperative. He then discussed other
prvisions of the bill. showing that
four Of the causes was the old law
OF the Code, the other three being
taken from laws enacted since 1883 to
meet cases of absolute barbarty and
cruelty by husbands TO their helpless
wives. These laws were to protect
the wives of North Carolina against
brutal husbands. The speaker declared
that the abandonment feature of the
law which had been the target for
so much abuse. had been a great
blessing for the good women in the
State who had been abandoned and
deserted by worthless trifling hus-
bands In his practice over Il large
area, he had never known a case
where a divorce was obtained for this
cause among white people, but that
los so
from a dirty brute. People who rail
against the number of divorces forget
that the population OF the State has
greatly increased and that most of
them arc among the negroes. and as
TO most OF them, a law allowing mag
istrdtes 30 marry them and also di-
vorce them would not be much out of
The way. (Great applause).
He declared he would never re-
fuse to hear the cry of o noble Norti,
Carolina woman for relief from a
brutal or a deserving husband. simply
because IL great many negroes got un-
hurried. daughter and applause).
rhe speaker then read Il long list
of States iii the Union granting di-
vorces for not only abandonment and
desertion. but for cruelty, aud in
many States failure to support a
wief was cause for divorce.
Mr.. Tcimster advocated the Nc
Ninch Dill. declaring that there was
an almost united voice among the
ministry. the press and the church
members all over the State to ,epeal
the present divorce law. and in re-
Spouse to that the committee pro-
posed to pas Il law even more lax than
the existing one.
So far as law is concerned il is .
shame to make one standard of purity
for man and another for ii woman
10. n
every amendment and vote solioly
for the McNinch bill.
Mr.. Biggs began his speech in OPP
position to the committee bill ov read
ing extracts from the last message oil
Governor ANcuck and the inaugural