The Washington times., 1921-04-01

, equally guiltyY Having had theiI
day In court. neither would be en-.
titled to a divorce"
Mrs. Stillman's attorneys had OBJ
jected to the introduction both OF
| the alleged confession letter" and
the set of seven letters from Beau
vais said to have been received by
| the bankers wife and later to come
into her hubsand's possession. The
exclusion Of these documents, there
| fore, was q clear-cut victory for Mrs.
| Stillman.
1T cannot be supposed" said Jus
tice Morschauser In his decision,
that both husband and wife would
have been willing to discuss such q
subject in the presence of other per-
sons. or would have consented to a
repetition of the conversation by
either party to II.
LETTER HELD CONFIDENTIAL.
Its nature, and the relation of
the parties, forbade the thought of
it's being told to others. and the
law stamped 1t with that seal of
confidence which the parties In such
a situation would feel no occasion
to exact"
The letter figuring In the Still
IitdH Sooc, HoWOvohs thC yooshSS hSA~os
Is the very embodiment of invio-
liable confidence between wife and
husband.
Among the statutes quoted by JUS
tice Morschauser to back up his rui-
ing on the exclusion OF the documents
was section 631 of the code OF civil
procedure, which provides:
"A husband or wife shall not be
compelled or without consent OF the
other, IL living. allowed to disclose q
confidential communication made by
one to the other during the marriage"
RULE STILL OBTAINS.
Even when disqualification has been
removed by statute and husband and
wife have been allowed to testify
against each other or compelled to do
so, the justice points out. "the rule
still obtained and did not affect the
exclusion of privileged communica-
tions between the spouses under the
common law rules. 1t is applicable
though terminated by divorce or by
the death of one of the parties"
Then. manifestly as dig at the
manner in which the action against
Mrs. Stillman has been conducted,
the justice proceeds:
"In the Bowman case, the wife's
administrator found among her pa.
pers letters from her husband re-
/ lating to matters in a suit In which
| he was then interested.
"The dministrator in a spirit Of
| hostility to the husband delivered
the letters to the other side. which
sought to use them, and the letters
were held privileged. (Ruled ouD.
The divorce suit was given
startling twist today by the substan'
| tiated report that James A. StillmaI
| Is prepared to produce in court "a
| real Franklin Harold Leeds to con
found his wife.
| Detectives working in the interes
of Mrs. Stillman received the repor
| and Immediately went to work OF
the trail OF the mysterious ngure.
He is understood to have been s
| chorus man on Broadway four year'
ago, associated with one OF Georg'
| w. Lederer's shows, and later grad
uated into the Winter Garden pro
| duction, "Sinbad," in which Al Jol
| son was the star.
A dappAr chap. Of about twenty
eight handsome in a chorus MAJ
way. a nimble dancer, with an en-
durable voice-this Is the most &C
curate description available of TIT
much-sought stranger in the case.
STARTED IN CABARET.
whether he was married to Flor
ence Lawlor, the plumbers daughte
who was subsequently known as Mri