The San Juan islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1898-1914, 1913-01-03
RENO FAR BEHIND
Chicago Judges in Two Hours
Trv 100 Divorce Cases.
an Trials Are Uncontested' ana ="
Most Cases Court Has No Alterna-
rive but to Issue Decree-Ch'i-
dren Are the Sufferers.

cbicago.-Between the hours Oh ~
and noon the other day JUDGES
string in the courts Of Chicago neaIu
1oo divorce cases. Not one OF the
suits was contested. In nearly esei5
case the judges have no aiterna'i'e
but to grant DEGREES.
Most of the litigants have cnlioren'
When the DEGREES are entered LII
,ago will have at least 100 new u.
vorce orphans" The divorce orphan
Is the most miserable orphan III 'no
world. Between the child and one OF
It's parents the law has placed par
rier Too often the other parent
doesn't care"
Recent dispatches announce tnat
the Nevada legislature is about 10 pu.
the "easy divorce mill" at Reno OUT OF
business. It really daes not matter'
Compared with Chicago Reno Is an
|infinitesimal dot on the map as oil
vorce center.
Figures compiled from the census
returns show in spite OF the fact II
Is the best advertised divorce mill
town in the world and that persons go
there from all over the country for the
express purpose of obtaining legal
separation. Reno judges during the
period from 1887 to 1906 granted only
327 DEGREES.
In the same period Chicago courts
ground out 1906 divorced couples.
AS an "easy" divorce town there Is
little choice between Chicago and
Reno. This is not because OF the lax
lily of Illinois divorce laws. It is due.
to the fact that the food of divorce
litigants in the Cook county courts Is
so overwhelming the judges find 1t
physical impossibility to give every
case the consideration 1t ought to
have.
The record Of fifty divorces an hour
made the other day repeats itself day
after day. There is no time for in
quiry, little opportunity for reconcilia-
ton, multitudinous chances for fraud.
The court hears the story of the plain
tiff and the confederation of one or
possibly two other witnesses. A
prima facie case is made out. The,
evidence is written up" It comes
back to the judge in due course Of
time and he has no choice under the
law but to enter the judgment which.
the bill of complaint asked for.
The divorce courts make more or
phans in Chicago than death. Judge
Kavanagh said that an average of 175i
persons die in Cook county every
week. The divorce DEGREES granted.
In the same weekly period quarduples
that number,
Divorce orphanage is much more
pitiful than the orphanage of death"
the Judge added, because of the dis.
grace and shame that follows these
children throughout their lives. The
sanctity of the marriage tie seems to
be becoming less and less regarded.
Year by year more and more persons
come to our courts to be relieved of
wife or husband
Another shameful feature is the
number of men called before the
courts because they neglect to pay ALI
mony after separation from their
wives and families. Many seem to
think their whole responsibility ends
when the divorce decree is signed in
the courts.
1T is fact there are many in
stances In which the same man has
three broods of children by three diff
ferent wives
One OF the alarming features of
our divorce evil is the fact that It
pervades practically one strata of So
ciety here and that the largest body
Of our citizenship 1t obtains especial
" among the ordinarily wellto-do peo-
ple-the middle class. We have COM
paratively few divorce cases among
the wealthy class.
I'VE find almost no divorce cases
among the poor