Postage Stamp Divorces

As it must to all judges, the temptation to utter from the bench what pass for witticisms has come at last to the Right Honorable Sir Gordon Hewart, Baron Hewart, the Lord Chief Justice of England. . . . Recently (TIME, April 25) Lord Chief Justice Hewart caused the world to titter with him by awarding "two and six" to a husband who claimed damages for the loss of his wife. Last week, Baron Hewart set out to better this quip. Said he to an attorney in open court: "If the Chancellor of the Exchequer really desires an additional source of revenue, he might consider issuing a new sort of postage stamp which husbands and wives could stick upon each other and automatically become divorced. . . . The rush to obtain divorces since newspaper publicity was prohibited (TIME, Dec. 20) has been so great that in one day 17 cases of this nature have been presented before me. . . . Some new and ingenious system such as the Postage Stamp Divorce simply must be devised to help us keep the dockets clear."

--Two shillings and six pence, or 60 U. S. cents.