DIVORCE COURT RAMP

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXX, 26 September 1936, Page 6

DIVORCE COURT RAMP

WHEN EVIDENCE IS FAKED (By Air Mail—From Our Own Correspondent.) LONDON, 20th August. Since Parliament was persuaded by influential feminists to alter our divorce law, and make infidelity sufficient ground for action by a wife, not only has divorce become far more common, but the vast majority of cases are spurious. Divorce is nowadays as deliberately “arranged” as marriage, and perhaps even more so. All divorce lawyers know this quite well. Men who refused to be branded as wife deserters or beaters, when desertion or cruelty were necessary grounds, will consent to supply-usual-ly faked evidence of infidelity. It seems to be one of the modern social conventions'. But Judges, are now adopting an attitude towards cases based on a hotel visit with an unknown, woman that,' makes solicitors increasingly shy of handling such actions; This will not-only be a blow to married oouples who are dissatisfied with their bargains, but also to those ladies; usually of blameless virtue, who make a comfortable living out of playing the role of unnamed and false co-respondent. The fee for acting as make-belief co-respondent in a spurious divorce action is anywhere between ten and fifty pounds for' a blameless night. There is also a settled rate of pay for hotel head porters and chamber maids who lend their aid to the divorce collusion. This does not apply to all hotels, of course, but any private detective agency will indicate which are the convenient hotels, and also what the appropriate fees will be. A friend of mine, who went through one of these “infidelity” farces, assured me that his hired co-respondent, a smart young woman in the twenties, was a perfect Mrs Grundy where sex relations were concerned. They spent a night in the bedroom of a West End hotel discussing the ethics of Russian Communism, and smoking endless cigarettes. The lady would not permit even a ballroom flirtation attitude. It cost my friend twenty pounds, not counting the hotel bill and tips, and was the most dreary night he ever spent, even including the front trenches at Ypres.