South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1922-02-19
DIVORCE MILL AT
DOOR OF CAPITAL
" oman Reveals Fraud Of
Ring Which Operates ON
Basis of False Rents.

WASHINGTON. Feb. 1S.-Within
sight OF the dome OF the United
States capitol near enough almost
% be called impudent. on the Vir-
Elnia shore Of the Potomac. and
therein Isl alleged % operate "a di-
vorce colony second only in fagrancy
20 that II worid-famous Reno.
on The sworn statement Of
woman householder dwelling in that
historic little hamlet. aclordins to
records recently made public. hum
dreds OK divorces have been grarted.
Investigation of some o. these
cases has shown that the persons
have never spent q nisnt I'm A.eXan-
dria and have obtained their dl-
vorcas on the sworn statement OF
laudiadies that they have lived in
their houses for one year prior &c
tho fling OF the au.t-
Rent Receipt Is Pivot.
A years residence In the state Of
Virginia belnE necessary 10 secure a
divorce. revelations made recently
have shown that parties In pursuit
Of marital disruption paid their rent
for one full year 20 a Ianflady and
then received "a receipt for same,
which they then produced as evil
dence Of their years residence in
the state Of Virginia. I'm the mean
time they whiled away the weari-
some hours that ordinarily would
have 20 be spent in Alexandria IT.
some livelier city. perhaps in WASH
inEton. just across the placid Potc-
mac.
Forty-two days was the minimum
time limit IN which a divorce could
be secured. provided the seeker for
relief was sent 20 the right attorney,
according 20 statements made by
laudladies and others and printed i'm
the local press. IL was explained
that a certain star of attorneys
adopts a. severing the bonds that
bind all too loosely, could secure
pronto service in smashing marital
ties
One landlady termed this little
Reno OF the east a "veritable haven
or refuge for Washington people.
And she had a little more to say.
Divorce Dumping Ground"
"Tou know" she declared not
without some evidence OF local
pride. Alexandria is getting TO be
the dumping ground for Washing
ton divorce seekers and 7 have lots
or them stay az my house OF
course. that is. they don't really stay
here in fact They pay me the rent
for the year, and they send them
selves an occasional letter through
the regular mail and then when
their cases come up they produce
the letters and the receipt which !
gave them as evidence Of the fact
that they have lived here one year.
It's an very simple"
dr. Wilbur r. Cats. superiutend-
Cnt OF the International Reform bu-
reau and more widely known as the
star patient in the "blue law" fever
spreading throughout the land
thinks Sc is anything but simple. "
lie thins it's awful" DIR. Crafts
said TO be explicit:
"Profteering in divorces is an
awful thing. The wholesale issu-
ance Of divorces. as * has been done
in Alexandria. is a disgrace to that
city and 20 the nation To is almost
tncouceivahle that such conditions
could obtain in Alexandria or for
that matter. elsewhere
Divorce Mills Named.
Doc Crafts then flung a rebuke
~ Reno and other Far West divorce
paradises. He said Reno was "a di-
vorce sewer" serving as a drain for
marital garbage. Those places in
the Far West are divorce sewers.