The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1913-01-07
GAY AND WICKED RENO
,-pvaDA HAS SUFFERED FROM
REPUTATION AS MART OF
EASY DIVORCE.
TIFF I'D MAY Be CLAMPED ON

Agitation Has Begun for keVlsion Oh
laws. Those PrOfiting by divorce
colony Oppose a Change and big
Fight Will Follow.
while in New Jersey Vice Chan
,o,lor Garrison is advocating sys-
~, of easier divorce by including
.,o. reasons for such separations
eEon those now incorporated in the
,,n.s If the state in Nevada deter
mined effort is being made to render
5ivorce more difficult to obtain and
Inns purge that commonwealth from
~ ndinm which has long attached
TO it. - =
Nevada long has been a mecca toT
.bosa seeking release from matrimo-
mol bonds and the city of Reno be-
,ao the largest and most modernized
- the towns of the state, naturally
hoe heen the chief domicile OF the
divorce colonists. The name OF Reno
is known all over the country IN asso-
oiotion with those seeking divorces
and MANY have believed that the do
mos of the divorce colony, which
have been widely published, were
+,,nical of the social life of the state
&c whole. Nevada as a consequence
has suffered Homeseekers have pass
ad her by and have taken up their
ohodes in other sister common
u,oa1ths where the sancity of the
marriage state is more regarded
Those having the welfare of the state
at heart and who know the injury
Nevada's reputation has brought her
are anxious to change all this. An
effort is now being made to develop
the states resources and add to the
nonu1ation and coincidently with this
and as a result of it an agitation
has been started to revise the divorce
laws and wipe out Reno's divorce
colony.
Under the present law only SIX
months residence is required IN or
der to bring suit for divorce. 1t IS
now proposed to increase the legal
term of residence to one year, and
hill TO that effect viii be introduced
in the legislature when it assemblies.
second bill will provide that no
divorce decree viii become effective
until one year has elapsed from the
date of issuance, the purpose or
which is to prevent the immediate
remarriages which so often follow
divorces in Reno and which nave
been the cause of considerable scan
DIAL.
There are two sides to the reform
of the divorce laws, however. The
merchants, many lawyers, the hotel
keepers and others who have prohEed
by the large divorce colony always
stationed in Reno are opposed to any
change. There are from 500 to 1000
persons who annually plant themselves
in Reno in order to be legally en-
titled to sue for divorce and from
many of them a golden stream OF dol
lars constantly flows. These colo-
nists are the mainstay of the cJy
They support its hotels; they rent
its available houses; they patronlze
its places of amusement. Their auto
mobiles give a metropolitan appear
ance to it's streets, and their various
wants make mercantile profits. Not
all of them are wealthy, indeed. But
those who are not obtain employ
ment and contribute industr1ally 10
the prosperity of the city. Women
seeking matrimonial freedom may
be found working as clerks, as type
writer's, as musicians, as COOKS, as
nurses, as mattresses and in many
other callings, while the men follow
their avocations, some of them even
turning to farming. Naturally, the
elimination of all these people,
whether rich or merely workers,
would mean a diminution OF business
all around and hence many business
interests will make determined
fight to prevent revision of the d.
yorce laws and retain in Reno the
goose that lays the golden egg.
Contrary to general belief the d.
yorce law of Nevada was not enacted
for the purpose of attracting divorce
colonists from other states. 1t dates
back to 1861. In that year, when
Nevada was organized as territory
congress gave approval to the stat
ures of Nevada which contained the
present divorce law. In order to en-
courage settlement Nevada permitted
citizenship to be acquired in SIX
months and at the end of that term
any newcomer could establish resi-
dence and bring a legal action, such
as a suit for divorce.