Show LOOKS VERY LIKE OFF WITH THE OLD ON WITH THE NEW AS citizens displeased at number of divorces there STRONG PROTESTS MADE governor in favor of making the laws more stringent clergy and leading citizens dislike having their beautiful city get record like that of the nevada town JEW YORK that dear old song of the sorrowfully mated I 1 m on my way to reno I 1 m leaving town today tell all the boys and all the girls YOU meet along broadway Cro adway life in reno must be grand husbands marching hand in hand singing the battle cry of freedom must be put away in moth balls it does not fit reno la to be wiped off the map tell the song writers to forget reno and get busy on detroit last year detroit broke all her capital records for divorces nearly 1100 were granted in twelve months this was an average of nearly tour decrees a day for each court day be eldes detroit has a judda who has broken the record for granting dl corces in eleven months of last year be decided favorably on cases new york divorcees are flocking to detroit said rev dr rank a rowland of the cass avenue methodist church and unless there Is a speedy reform we will reap the shame of reno and nevada the pastors statement was based on these facts first attracted by the lax divorce laws of michigan men and women from all parts of the east and south take up residence in detroit there they may procure their decrees upon any one of seven grounds Second The geographical location of detroit la such that its far easier of access than reno besides detroit Is far more attractive than its longer established rival detroit Is a mod ern city a very pretty city with ex traction service a great park belle isle in the middle of the river theaters hotels apartments and res tarrants tau rants ln fact everything that at tracts one to a city of the so differ ent type besides a year s residence in detroit costs far lees than at reno third a divorce colony Is gradual ly taking form more correctly there are two colonies one for winter the other for summer ih the autumn and winter the live in a row of apartment houses fronting woodward avenue here they live in private bultes men and women like their brethren and sl steren in the riverside hotel at reno with the coming of spring however these apartments become deserted down to ehg banks ol 01 abo detroit river migrates the colony the ground on which al lows absolute divorce Is a case or take your pick one of seven and these seven are adultery it one of the parties has been sen fenced to imprisonment in any jail prison or house of correction tor three years or more desertion for a period of two years it one of the parties was incompetent at the time of marriage habitual drunkenness extreme cruelty whether practiced oy using personal violence or by any other means when the husband ahall grossly or and cruelly refuse or neglect to support his wife tn new york absolute divorce can bo granted on only one ground that f adultery it a divorce Is granted in such case the guilty party Is de barred ficro marrying again during the life of complainant excepting that after five years have elapsed the judge granting the decree can modify this provision and permit the defend ant to marry again if the ludge seea fit to do so separation for a term ol 01 years or forever may be granted in new york on the grounds of cruel and inhuman treatment abandonment non support etc but this doea not permit the parties to marry again in detroit however they dont bother with separations divorce Is so much easier with the seven gates without guardians and in spite ol 01 all these things the pulpits warn ing the average of four divorces a day the colony the lax law the judge who Is the record breaker with bis decrees ta eleven months objects strenuously to any publicity con the proceedings of oits dl vorce courts last month he wrote a letter to the publisher ot a detroit newspaper that has instituted a cru sade against the new reco idea in pirt he said all divorce cases should be beard in camera the state being represented by counsel in much the same manner as it now in ter venes in naturalization proceed ings such representation would in sure against fraud and collusion and would moreover give a vitally inter ested party the state its day in court no publicity other than the result arrived at the granting or refusal of the decree sought should be had finally this judges decisions and the notoriety detroit was likely to obtain came to the attention of gover nor of michigan from the capital at lansing he promptly issued a statement in which be declared the divorce laws should be made more stringent this statement follows in michigan should be made as difficult as possible at present it ta too easy 1 would make marriage aa easy as possible and dl vorce as difficult as possible it appears evident that our laws governing the litter lack stringency lamentably were married people aware that they could not separate on inexcusable and inconsequential excuses there would be more effort toward bringing harmony in the home and a better appreciation of the responsibilities men and women assume when they marry there Is no reason why marriage should be hedged about with rules if those who enter into this contract realize that once they have become man and wife there Is no easy way to break it if men and women knew they were marrying for life they would either pause before taking the vow or else they begin home life thoroughly understanding that each must do his or her share toward harmony and accept the ties as chev are not as a temporary bargion to be abrogated at the of either or both on the heels of the governors words detroit was jerked up by a statistical report it came from bee detary of state frederic C martin anle and was given wide publicity in part this report eald the frequency of divorce tn the state of has become ap palling we are heading toward a second nevada detroit another reno the consideration of petitions for divorce occupies a very considerable port of the time of the courts of this state and the magnitude of the question can hardly be shown bet te than by examining the official returns hied in the department of state by the clerks of the different coun ties according to the statements received there were bills or dl vorce pending in the courts of michigan on january 1 1910 most of these were in detroit the number of new bills filed during the ear was 66 making a total of cases unde consideration by the courts during the year ethcie were divorces granted in michigan luring the year only sixty three w ere refused 21 were withdrawn or otherwise disposed of and would apparently go over as divorces pending for the present year taking as the aggregate number of cases before the courts then the number granted would constitute 20 2 per cent of the total number of petitions while no less than li per cent remained pending the numbers refused and with drawn together amount to only li per cent such a as the above should be taken only as a very general one and not as precisely in the ratio ot grant ed to actions legun in the michigan courts the divorces granted ar based upon petitions filed during and preceding years and with an in creasing volume ol 01 divorce business more than the average number 0 cases begun in 1910 un acted upon thus apparently rendering the ratio ot cases granted somewhat too low secretary martindale baya that when the figures tor 1911 which he Is not able to give out yet are issued they will show a surprising increase he adds that the number ot detroit a pending cases Is staggering so much tor the situation from executive viewpoints now let us listen to what the clergy catholic and protestant has to eay concerning it when the right rev john S foley bishop of the catholic diocese or detroit was told that 1 divorces had been granted in detroit in eleven months he exclaimed awgull aw rul some way somehow the public conscience of the city must be aroused against this evil that Is threatening the integrity of the am lly and the nation divorces are now granted on such frivolous pretexts in the state of michigan that men are beginning to have no regard tor the marr lago tie even as a civil contract the eacret character in which the church holds it seems to be absolutely disregarded do I 1 think that the reform of the state of michigan on the new york model would serve a useful purpose well you know what I 1 stand for the divine legislation which demands that what god hath joined together let not man put asunder so I 1 do not believe in any divorce at all still I 1 think that a reform in the divorce laws of michl gan would be a step in the right dl certainly there la something terribly at fault in the civil enact ments as they are at present to have brought us to such a pass representative of detroit a protest ant body rev dr leete of the cen aral methodist episcopal church baa said the enormous record of dl corces granted in detroit Is fast alv ng this city a bad name moreover the city Is becoming a center for men who desert wives and children in other states and who come here to gratify evil affinities it not checked by an aroused public sentiment judges who place a loose construction upon the statutes will destroy the foundations of society and such men should receive the condemnation which their acts deserve the state laws should be changed so that honi arable people who and t absolutely necessary to obtain divorce or self protection need not bear the suspicion which attaches to the great majority of those divorced divorce with remarriage should be allowed only in case ot proven adultery marriage 11 benses censes should state whether the aco pie entering upon the hymeneal con tract have been divorced and chev should name the cause for which the divorce was ranted legal separation tor necessary reasons should be honorably distinguished from be attempt to form legally polygamous re 1 alons reno consciously catered to dl and got them detroit with her easy laws and attractive sur founding achieved the same result all unknowingly so today detroit has its thomas its riverside its truckee just like the little city in sevada and the colony Is growing and growing As this growth Is very distasteful to the respectable citizens of detroit steps are being taken to nip the budding new reno before it can obtain full bloom last month a new rule or having a proctor from the prosecuting actor ney s office report on each divorce hearing went nto effect it Is under stood that on his report wilt depend largely the judge a decision also as pach complainant takes the stand he must answer these questions how long have you lived in D troll what la your present address are there minor children and it so what arrangements have been made tor their care have you ever been divorced before has personal service on the defendant been obtained this Is expected to make things difficult for the colony yet such reforms are but minor the trouble rests authorities say with michigan a divorce laws and unless these b changed the new reno will surely grow and prosper new york pres |