The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-09-17
Forum, Of The People
Divorce by Mutual Consent"
Editor of The Age-Herald

To the Editor of The AgeHerald:
 Several artciles have been written on this subject lately, and have been criticized by some who cling to the old idealist method of living and teaching. Modern times have come to stay the time will come when di- vorces will be granted by mutual consent with out the necessity of one partner or the other being compelled to have something recorded against him or her lowering their standard Of morality and disgracing their offspring. Dur ing the past fifteen years l have secured nu- merous divorces for couples young and old. However, ninety per cent. of them come be- tween the first and fifth years of marriage, and ninety per cent. of them really and truly are caused by incompatibility, nothing more nor less. One or the other approaches law yer and they are advised the grounds of di- vorce in this state they state no such ground can be proved, yet they are determined to se- cure divorce and immediately on their initiative start out to comply with the tech nicality of the law. On their next trip to see a lawyer they are prepared to prove ground, which is often by collusion, as will be shown by the number of uncontested cases, though our divorce law specifically states collusion | is bar and no divorce can be granted where this is shown. The case is not contested and no effort made to show collision and the di- vorce granted, thereby securing through col fusion and lowering of their morals just what I advocate, divorce by mutual consent, with compulsory provisions for the care and education of the offspring.
 A couple may be charming to others on several occasions, but one can see the evil dence of their driving, each other mad. "They chafe each other like raw surfaces. They hate each others jokes, opinions, likes, dis likes, habits, virtues, faults, clothes, voices, of @ho;, er;o du of this. They do not throw things at each other, except sarcasms and baleful glares Whether they are capable of cutting each others throats I do not know, though l see by the papers that this most ancient form of divorce is still being practiced."
 Ninety per cent. of those desiring divorce agree that they should be divorced. They cannot agree on the method. For in these beautiful free states of ours, with their forty eight divorce laws, including thirty-five differ ent grounds, there is not one single state that permits couple to get divorce by mu- tual consent.
 Their life is misery the husbands eff ciency becomes impafyed his earning power reduced, which brings on more trouble. The wife takes no interest in her home seeks other companionship. The children, if any are neglected and unhappy. They had better by far be with one parent under pleasant conditions or in some institution where one or both should be required to contribute their support and maintenance. "When they fell in love. the law permitted them to get married quietly. Now that they have fallen out of love, the law should permit them to get di- vorced just quietly and respectfully, as they got married, provided they make proper provisions for responsibilities incurred as re- quired in the dissolution of any other part nership.'
 Women are able now to earn in many cases more than their husbands. They are begin ming to spurn alimony. Like many others, believe that divorce should be removed en- tirely from the courts and handled by com mission whose duty it would be to clear up the situation. This will doubtless come. "A 'loveless marriage is a joke, a matter of in- difference to many of the enemies of divorce, but to the people whose dreams of bliss are thwarted, the absence of love renders the union an uncleanliness." Why? Because when advised by lawyer they have no ground, one or the other is willing to commit an act complying with the technicality, thereby sow ing seeds of immortality, compounding crime, in order to dissolve the partnership, which could be handled by a commission by mutual consent.
 Space will not permit of my going further into this question. The quotations herein are taken from the writings of Rupert Hughes in the Cosmopolitan, with whom I fully agree. Ordinarily lawyer would be slow to make this statement, but I believe the liberty and happiness of human beings of far more inn portance than fees derived from the hand ling of divorce cases.
 ALBERT F. WHITE.
 Birmingham, Ala, Sept. Il, 1924.