The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1920-12-14
TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
Information Bureau
FREDERIC J. HAsKIN. Director.
Washington, D. c.
IMPORTED DIVORCE.

New York City, Dec. lit has re-
Gently been observed ana remarked
upon that a number OF women who
move in the most expensive society of
the country have been getting their
Ldivorces in Paris, usually along with
their frocks. Thus the lawmakers of
the fashion code have, by their own
example, laid down a new decreee for
high society.
OF recent years, there is as much
danger of bad form in connection with
a divorce as with any other social
function. Just as it is not in accord
lance with the best thought on ETH
| quette to be married in a lavender
waistcoat, or to appear at your funeral
! in a polkadot necktie, so it is incorrect
| to be divorced in your home town. The
/ law of the elite goes further to pre-
scribe the exact place where divorce
| is to be most agreeably and fashion
I ably obtained, and like all questions
of style, the social divorce center shifts
with the seasons.
South Dakota, unconsciously insti-
tuted the divorce pilgrimage as a ma
tional custom, when it made six
months a sufficient time to establish
residence in the state. This was done
| to encourage farmers, business men,
! and homemakers to come in to de-
velop the state. But it did not take
| long to see the use to which such a
I law might be put. In the modest town
of Sioux Falls a divorce colony rose,
prospered, and then fell heavily.
| For a New York lawyer was at
tracted to the beauties of the liberal
Nevada divorce and residence laws,
and by advertising them, and himself.
he started what is now a well-worn
trail from New York to Reno. Since
| then, Reno has been a resort of the
fashionable world when the marriage
bond bored or annoyed it. Yet Ne
vada claims that Reno has been mis-
judged, in that it is regarded nation
ally as a wild and reckless town.
Reno Not for Rich Only.
AS a matter of fact, there are all
sorts of people among the prospective
| divorce-seekers of Reno. There are a
few gay and dashing types, and many
| more quietly exclusive types. and
there are a great many ordinary citi-
zens from Pittsburgh, Sacramento,
New York, and other places, who have
journeyed to Nevada to get release
from troubles which their respective
states refused to recognize as grounds.
Reno lis indisputably the center of
the divorce industry in this country,
with only Newport as a possible rival
for Fashionable divorces AS a result
Reno is somewhat different from any
other city in the United States. 1t
is prosperous and attractive little
community, with luxurious shops,
theaters, hotels and cafes, all of a
scale of sumptuousness ordinarily
boosted only by large cities
Reno lawyers may well be SILVER
ing in their boots over the tendency
of fashion to turn to Paris for it's di-
vorces Once before, when Nevada
changing its residence requirements
from six months to one year, there
was an alarming decrease in the con-
tents of its Golfers. Paris, backed by
fashionable approval, may attract only
a small fraction of Nevada's clients.
population is important to the law
yers, furriers, caterers, jewelers., and
hotel men of the town.
Paris as divorce colony is a logical
aftermath of war conditions. Pass
ports for Europe have been granted
grudgingly for several years, and now
the rush for Paris is on. There is no
longer any difficulty in getting a pass
port from the government for France,
provided one agrees to pay ten dollars
for it. And there is no difficulty in
obtaining passage on a steamer, pro-
vided you make up your mind a year
or two in advance of the day you wish
to sail.
Paris offers attra otions to the fas-
tidious divorce-seeker that Reno, with
all its efforts to make visitors COM
Portable, can scarcely rival. In the
first place, Paris is indisputably a cor
rect place in which to be seen by ones
friends. And, of course, Paris offers
"a fascinating collection of amusements.
With races, cabaretss theaters, dress
makers, and milliners at hand. a sad
or impatient candidate for divorce has
plenty of diversion between the ordeais
of appearing in court.
Paris More Exclusive.
Another advantage of Paris from
the society point of view is that it
promises to be more exclusive as a
divorce colony. Many a person of
moderate means goes to Reno to gain
release from an intolerable marriage.
In Reno he or she finds employment
and settles down to establish residence
however, necessarily costs good deal
more. To get your divorce in Paris
is generally a badge of affluence.
The French divorce law is lenient.
and usually swift. The applicant ap-
pears at the court to file a petition
and a hearing is in time set. The
judge solemnly urges that the parties
reconsider before taking the fatal step,
and then, having done his duty, he
proceeds to hear the grievances and
any protests from the other side, il
present.
Kinds of Cruelty.
Incompatibility, which for a time
was one of the stated grounds on which
a divorce could be obtained by French
law, is no longer recognized as ade-
quate grounds. Cruelty, however, is
just cause for divorce, and no judge
has ever been wise enough to set down
a rule showing exactly where indiffer-
ence, lack of consideration, and I'M
kindness shade off into cruelty. In
the circumstances, the possibilities OF
the cruelty phrase of the law are num-
erouS- A young woman has been
known to offer as an example of cruel
treatment the fact that her husband
thought he played the piccolo beauti-
fully, whereas his squeaky discords
drove her wild. At least one harassed
wife, too. has used as evidence of
cruelty that the brand of smoking
tobacco used by her husband made