Stiffer Divorces

"The easy, secret Paris divorce" is to be made more difficult, so stated despatches from the French capital.

Long have Parisians been disgruntled at the facility with which rich U. S. citizens have been able to sever their marital relations. They argued that their "divorce mill" "was rapidly assuming the proportions of an international scandal; that the good name of France was being dragged through the mire of disrepute; that the situation was doing considerable harm to France in the U. S. and other foreign countries; that something must be done to end the "disgrace." And done it was.

Soon after Marilynn Miller sued Jack Pickford for divorce, tempestuous Frenchmen raised their voices in angry protest. An investigation followed, which established that U. S. citizens made false claims of French residence after a stay of only a few weeks in a hotel or a furnished apartment; that they illegally claimed residence in a U. S. state where the conditions of divorce favored their case. For example, it was stated that many people obtained divorces on the ground of incompatibility and claimed residence in those states where such ground is sustained, no French divorce being granted that conflicts with the law in the applicant's home state.

Now all U. S. divorce suits will be heard by a special section of the Fourth Civil Tribunal, presided over by Rieul Paisant, expert on international and U. S. state laws, who speaks English comme un Anglais. Thorough examination of all applications is to result under the new regime and particular attention is to be paid to the method of establishing residence and the possibility of collusion between the litigants.

Henceforth U. S. citizens seeking marital freedom in Paris will find it a more difficult, longer, costlier business. For example, not only will every statement be carefully verified in the U. S. by French agents, but claims to residence in France will be examined in such a way as to force full compliance with the laws of France.