New-York tribune., 1913-11-17
SAYRE, SOON TO WE'D,
OPPOSES EASY DIVORCE
FianCe of Presidents Daugh-
ter Thinks Uniform Law
Should Be Enacted.
MURDER NOT WORST CRIME
Whitman Assistant, Who Quits
Post To- day, Says Swindlers
of Poor Are Viler than
Those Who Take Life.

Francis B. Sayre. who will resign as
,re of District Attorney Whitman's as
sistants to-day, and will become the
husband Of Miss Jessie Wilson. daughter
., the President, on November 25, has
gathered some ideas on marriage, divorce
and the inequality Of the law since he has
heen in Mr.. Whitman's office.
He does not believe in easy divorce.
Marriage he considers q pact the
solemnity of which should not be en-
dsnpered by lax divorce laws. He would
have the same standard in every state.
The law would be the same everywhere
and rich and poor would he treated alike.
AS things are now, he believes that not
only does the poor man have a harder
time TO get the benefit Of the law but
that the law itself does not recognize
ss serious offences which. morally, are
worse than murder.
"some Of the murderers l have met.
sdlQ MI. odN lNt lAeNN iNeAAis HNNi' 'N-~
decent fellows. what / mean being that
they did not inspire me with the loath-
ing that comes from contact with Grim
,inals of a different class. In the ma
tority Of cases the murderer commits his
crime in the heat of passion. Parasitic
crimes committed in cold blood seem to
me 10 he far worse than murder.
''The man who practises wholesale petty
swindles on the poor is to my mind,
guilty of viler crime than murder. II
Is with such loathsome offences that we
have most TO do here in the complaint
bureau. In time ! believe that they Will
be punished with severity commensurate
with the moral baseness Of the crime.
The poor in New York are preyed upon
night and left. Swindlers and deceivers
live off their meagre savings. l have
found that even the labor union, intended
as the protection of the workman, can
be used 70 oppress him. 1 am not crit
icising the labor union. l believe in It.
But instances have come to my attention
when the union has been used by unscru-
pulous officials 10 prevent the poor man
from earning living One man was thus
driven to suicide.
u have handled most of the abandon
ment cases that have come to the office
in ths past few months, and the In
equality Of the law is apparent there. We
don't get any marital troubles from Fifth
avenue. There are very few complaints
Of abandonment from native born fam
flies. Most of the husbands of whom we
get complaints are immigrants.
People Of means don't have to bring
such troubles here. If the wealthy hus-
band runs away ne goes TO Reno. If ne
has the price he can shuttle of his mari
tal responsibilities without much diffl-
Guilty.
q don't mean to say that l think
easy divorce 10 be the solution Of the
abandonment problem. l don't believe IN
easy divorce A young man approach
ing marriage should appreciate the full
gravity of the undertaking and should
realize that II is a serious and permanent
relation. Easy divorce. l believe, would
result in widespread immortality.
What l do think is that the law should
be the same for rich and poor. The
New York State divorce law / consider
an excellent one. But / think that the
standard should be the same everywhere.
Il believe that up 10 sixty or seventy
years ago in England there were legal
separations, but no divorces. The stand
ard was the same throughout the coun-
try. A law which made the steps to dl-
vorce difficult, and was the same through
out the country, would undoubtedly work
hardship on the individual. but would,
believe. be Of great benefit 10 the people
as whole. The history of the world
has shown that IT is necessary for the
Individual TO suffer that humanity may
benefit"
Tomorrow Mr.. Sayre will meet MS
brother, the Rev. John Nevin Sayre. who
is returning from Germany on the Gros-
ser Kurfurst. He went to China more
than year ago as a missionary lnteno-
ing 10 spend the rest Of his life there
His health broke down, however, and ne
went TO Germany to study. lie Is coming
to attend the wedding.
Mr. Sayre will go TO Washington OH
Thursday and expects TO remain there
until the wedding. He has been in the
District Attorneys office since September
1870