Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-06-23
Tenth Of O Series.


courts are the first to recognize
that laws cannot curb divorces
so long as social attitudes en-
courage them. "Some people
wear their divorces like badges
Of honor" one judge remarked.
''They don't think much more
Of divorce than of trading in an
old car. Some actually boast that
they have been married three
or four times"
The celebrity world is, of course,
noted for its multiple marriages.
Gene Cavallero of the Colony
Restaurant In New York said in
a recent interview, "A very
ticklish problem is the seating
of celebrities who from time to
time have changed their legal
mates. Usually they marry in
the same circle and we try to
separate them so that the pres
ence of an ex-huSband or wife
won't disturb their digestion.
S Couples-27 Marriages.
Zone night recently there were
five couples represented-at diff
ferent tables, fortunately. got
on my adding machine and came
up with the amusing statistic
that 81 marriages were repre-
sented among the five couples"
Hollywood is the pace setter.
The attitude toward divorce in
the movie colony is typified in a
wire-Service dispatch from Santa
Monica, Calf, on April /. which
began, "A fearful Zsa Zsa Gabor,
chic in mourning black. today
divorced actor George Sanders
Cher third husband) in six min
uteS." !.
Perhaps the height Of casual
ness was achieved by two couples
from Pomona. Calf, who went
to Las Vegas, New, last April
and both got divorces. They then
went to the marriage license
bureau together and thence to a
justice of the peace, where each
married the others ex-mate.
They served as one another'S
witnesses and went home to
Pomona together.
Prior to the Civil War it took
an act of the Legislature in most
States to get a divorce. This
followed the British pattern Of
requiring an act of Parliament
to dissolve a marriage absolutely.
But here, as in England, juris-
diction was gradually shifted
over the last century to the civil
courts.
South Carolina was the final
State to make the shift. Prior
to 1850 there were no court
divorces in South Carolina; q
marriage could be dissolved only
by special act of the Legislature.
There is still no divorce in the
Province of Quebec, Canada, ex-
cept by special act Of the Cana
dian Parliament. e- =
Divorce Master Setup.
Today many States have come
full circle. Having brought di-
vorce into the courts, they are
easing it out-at least partially
because the flood Of cases is
too much for the courts to
handle. The usual method is to
set up a system of divorce COM
missioners" or masters" These
are lawyers who. for fee, hear
the evidence in divorce cases and
then make a recommendation to
the court. The courts role is
little more than a rubber stamp.
The Philadelphia system is a
typical example. To cope with its
divorce business philadelphia
had 5,273 divorces in the record
year of 1916, was down to $3.50
by 1949O, the seven Common
Pleas Courts in the city set up
a system of divorce masters. I"
A master is any lawyer appointed
by a Judge to hear a particular
case. He takes the testimony in
his Office, where it is impounded
in secrecy. He makes his recon-
mendation to the judge, and all
that the public is let in on is
the final decision.
Here again we have come full
circle. The dissolution of a mar
riage, which once was regarded
as so much the public's business
that an act of the legislature
was required, now is regarded as
hardly the public's business at all.
Divorce masters often are
selected from beginner lawyers
who can use the fees (about $125
per case) from political favorites,
and sometimes. of course, solely
on the basis of competence. In
any case. couples in marital
trouble are often neither as seri-
Gus nor as responsible about
testifying privately over law
yer's desk as they would be about
proceedings in a court of law.
Abraham L. Freedman, city
solicitor of Philadelphia and