SYMPATHETIC JUDGE

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 380, 23 March 1932, Page 1

SYMPATHETIC JUDGE

Wives’ Right to Week-ends With Men Friends. LONDON, March 11. More pungent aphorisms on matrimony and domestic relations were delivered by Mr Justice M’Cardie, the “ bachelor judge,” during the hearing of a case in which a doctor was sued for having allegedly enticed away the young wife of a grocer. He made the following observations on various aspects of the case: “Sex does not matter in friendship.” “ The basis of companionship of men and women, whether married or single, will be much enlarged in the future.” “ A w T ife is not a slave. Every good woman wishes to stand by her husband, but the law suggests that sh& can leave him.” “ What rights has a wife if she cannot go away for a week-end when she needs a change?” “It is impossible to allow religious considerations to enter into common law.” j “ A wife can eject not only a stranger, but her husband, if it is her own house.” “ Wives w’ould be condemned to permanent slavery if it were established that men could not take them out without their husbands’ consent.” Mr Justice M’Cardie reserved judgment in the case, which was held up pending a decision as to whether the evidence was Sufficient for it to go to a jury. John Pearce, grocer’s assistant, of Cambridge, claimed damages from Dr Charles Searle, alleging that he enticed away Pearce’s wife, Gwendoline, who has been called by the newspapers “ Cambridge’s Helen of Troy.” Searle denies enticement. When the case first came on Mr Justice M’Cardie passed a number of pertinent observations on the relations of man and wife. He said that no man to-day could make himself the owner of a woman under the guise of the marriage ser- “ A wife,” he said, ** is entitled to choose her own occupation, select her own political party, profess her own religious creed, decide whether or not she will bear children, and decide when each child shall be born. She is entitled to leave her husband. She is a citizen, not a serf.” DOCTOR GOING TO AFRICA. LONDON, March 13. Dr Charles Searle, of Cambridge, against whom John Pearce, grocer's assistant, claimed damages for having allegedly enticed away his wife, has sold his practice and is going to Kenya Colony, British East Africa, leaving his wife and children in Cambridge. Dr Searle stated: “ I prefer the lions of Keqya to the cats of Cambridge.” The post to which Dr Searle is going is 400 miles up countrv from Nairobi, the capital of Kenya Colony.