Omaha daily bee., 1917-01-08
Cancellation or Divorce?
Literary Digest

The simple method of calling the parties into
private consultation has ended many divorce
suit and re-established many a home. This has
been the experience Of every judge, and the need
OF such an effort presents a serious problem IN
social efficiency. A conciliatory agency to deal
with divorce cases before they are brought into
court should not be "n the nature OF censor
ship or rigid regulatory process" think two
writer's on this theme in the New Republic. The
attempt at such delicate task ought to be in
the hands Of some one devoted to this form of
social service and connected with the courts The
likelihood OF success in such undertaking is
illustrated by case in point:
"A husband and wife well past middle life had
not spoken to each other in many months. All
communication had been carried on through the
mediation OF lawyers. The parties directly con-
cerned were called into the office OF the judge,
who left them there for while with the door
locked. Stormy wrangling followed But the
voices gradually descended to lower tones, and
two hours later when the Judge re-entered the
office the parties were willing to go home to-
gether.
IF differences can be settled after legal strife
has begun it is reasonable to demand that efforts
looking to a settlement be made in the first in
stance 1t is the part of advanced thought to
eliminate community waste by preventing the
growth OF the antisocial. We save most of the
cost of combating disease by seeking to prevent
its cause. In like manner VIC can eliminate the
infection of modern divorce proceedings
forming social service by bringing about read
justments before fling suit"
The difficulty lies in the fact that "the element
OF the profession which handles most of the
divorce cases in America owes its very existence
to such discord" Therefore, it is an act of folly
to expect effort toward peace from that source
THE more bitter the strife the more ample
the profit. The wife consults one lawyer the
husband another. Petitions pregnant with charges
and counter charges are prepared Trihes light
as air are magnhed to give the added seri-
business. Society and the law have decreed that
divorce must not be granted except for serious
cause Hence, to secure the divorce and to earn
the fee, the lawyer complies debit account which
often works serious and irreparable destruction.
Even in those cases where efforts for peace are
successful the seeds of future disagreements have
frequently been left. O..
THE lawyer is mdd1eman. He exists be-
cause mass of technicalites separates the cti-
zen and his courts. Blindly must the average man
trust his lawyer to go into the maze and bring
him back satisfaction of some desire. Whether
he gets it depends less upon the object sought
than upon the skill of the expert employed.
Such problems as are involved in the ordinary
divorce proceedings require for their solution
branch of the public service which is equipped to
investigate and advise. The court as now const-
tuted cannot do this. 1t is equipped merely to
decide which of two conflicting expositions of law
should be given precedence. Too often the judge
is merely highly dignihed referee in technical
game. The court must be equipped to meet the
concrete demands of human life Decisions must
cease to partake Of the mystic art of an ancient
necromaney. 1t must become place for the
taking Of trial balance in the immediate prob
lem at hand. Justice in order to be worthy of
the name, should be the determination of the
balance in human relationships"
Cleveland has taken the lead in establishing
eoncation court, where small suits are dealt with
in an informal way. Lawyers, bondsmen and
other middlemen of the law are eliminated, and
the judge acts as investigator and peacemaker.
The writers here think that ''the process which
works for peace in adjusting differences between
strangers could, at least, be equally helpful in
dealing with the affairs of estranged partners in
the business of matrimony.r