Mrs Langworthy's Triumph (FROM THE "TALL MALL GAZETTE.")

Te Aroha News, Volume V, Issue 222, 1 October 1887, Page 7

Mrs Langworthy's Triumph (FROM THE " TALL MALL GAZETTE.")

♦'The Strange True Story of the Langworthy Mairiage" seems likely to end a^ happily p* if ir- were the most orthodox of popular romances. When we broke oft the story Kir Langworthy was "till defiant ; Messrs Biicham were still contesting point by point of Mrs Langworthy 's case, and Mrs Languorthy herself seemed so hopeless of any redress in this country that we appealed to the public for hind* to fit her forth for an expedition to the New World, there to pursue and pro-ecute her recreant husband in the Argentine courts From that moment the tide turned ; the long series of almost uninterrupted disappointments to which Mrs Langworthy had been subjected for years terminated* and a run of altogether unexpected good luck ensued. It is not yet ceitain whether Mrs Langworthy will obtain all that she has claimed for the violation of her husband's promise to marry her legally a* well as in fact. That alone remains to be tried. Her claim, which has been amended in accordance wilh official suggestion to bring ie up to -£23,600, the lowest sum with -which she could purchase an annuity of £1,200, the amount of her present alimony, has not yet been decided by the Official Receiver. But it is as simple as a rule-of-throe sum. Mr Langworthy promised to marry Miss Long. The Courts have decided that if she had been married she would have been entitled i\<* Mrs Lanywovthy to alimony of £1,200 a year if separated from her husband. Obvioiulv the monetary value of the promise to marry her has already been asse.-sed at £1,200 per annum, and all that the Official Receiver needs to do is to asceitain what lump sum down will realise £1,200 per annum for the rest of her life. That, we believe, cannot be less than £23,600, and at that figure, therefore, the claim has been fixed. This alone remains in doubt. On all other pomt 1 ; Mrs Langworthy has achieved, thanks to the support of the public and the energy and skill of her lawyers, a complete and even brilliant triumph. At the beginning of the year Messrs Bircham ridiculed the idea of paying her more than £1,000 in full discharge- of all her claims upon their client. The judicial award in her favour amounted to o\ er £4,000, with £500 taxed costs due to Messrs Lumley and Lumley. There was, besides, the maintenance of the alleged child, which had to be fixed by the Court. Mr Langworthy denied that he had either money or debt 3 in this country. His mother produced a long array of figures, showing that so far from being the millionaire that he was believed to be, Edward Martin Langworthy was heavily in debt, and that his estates had been transferred to her as his chief creditor. As for Mr Langworthy himself, lie was beyond the jurisdiction, and he meant to stay there. How to get at him except by following him to the Argentine no one seemed to know. Fortunately at the last moment itwas discovered that the inquisitorial examination before the Official Receiver in Bankruptcy supplied Mrs Langworthy with an effective weapon for exposing fraud and defeating the attempt of the debtor to evade payment of his liabilities by transferring his property to his relatives. There was the usual fencing, Mrs Langworthy, sen., being ill or absent, and therefore being unable to face examination, a<* per the usual affidavits. But she was brought to book. So was her daughter ; and their examination brought to light sufficient to justify the issue of a restraining order forbidding them to part with any of the property of the bankrupt. Still not a penny was paid. At last it was decided to apply the engine of examination in bankruptcy to Messrs Bircham. Mr Harrington ''Charles James Groves and Mr To - the - best - of -my - knowledge - and- belief- " Danby were summoned for examination to rexplain how, when, under what circumstances, and for what consideration their client, the fraudulent and absconding bankrupt aforesaid, had caused to be executed by them a legal instrument conveying hip property to his mother and his sisters. Then, and not till then — not till the bull's-eye of the bankruptcy inquisitor was about to be turned full on to the secrets of the office in l^arliament street — did the defence collapse. Before the day arrived for the examination of Messrs Groves and Danby, the white flag was run up to the masthead, and Messrs Bircham intimated that Mrs Langworthy, sen. , would pay into Court the whole of the alimony and costs, amounting toa sumof over £4,500, and would continue to pay in monthly the sum of £100 alimony ordered by the Court. That has been done, and the money is now lodged in the safe keeping of the Court. No sooner was this done than Messrs Bircham were as anxious to provide for the maintenance of the child as they had before been indifferent. They insisted upon pressing on the inquiry before M r Registrar Middleton, in order to have the amount fixed, so that the decree might be made absolute and the payment of alimony stopped. When the question was fh\st rai&ed, Mr Langworthy, with that fine sense of honour and decency which s his distinguishing characteristic, dcclarod that

% -all he was bound to pay was 5s a week. When the case came into Court, Mr Indertvick, who js a leading Queen's Counsel, did not .deem jt inconsistent with his feelings as a gentleman to declare in open court that all the provision that was wanted for the only child of one of the richest men in South America was a bastardy order ! The Court took a different view of the matter, and sent the question down to Mr Registrar Middleton for decision. Here Mr Langworthy was represented by Mr Middloton, jun., and t&o son, in cross-examining Mrs Langworthy before his father, the Registrar, ;\ as good enough to suggest that 10s a week - that is a double bastardy order — might stsmce'to educate and maintain the heiress of the^Langwotihy estates ! The Registrar took some time to make his decision, but yesterday it was filed in Court. He awards Mrs Langworthy £100 per annum for the maintenance of "thy child from the granting of the decree nisi two years ago — that is to say, lie increases her alimony from £1,200 to £1,300 per annum - and then orders that after the decree is made absolute, an allowance of £500 per annum shall be paid in monthly instalments. That is something different from tho bastardy order of Mr Inderwick or the 10s a week suggested by Mr Middleton. Of course, as the Court is dealing with a man false and mean beyond all precedent, who, moreover, is at this moment in bankruptcy, it goes without saying that the dcciee Mill not be made absolute until the £500 per annum fixed by the Registrar is actually settled on "tho alleged child," who remains in the custody of her mother. There is another point which now comes up for consideration. Why should Gladys Langworthy bo branded a bastard, even with an allowance of C5OO a year, merely because Mr Langworthy obtained possession of the person of her mother by a fraudulent mairiage, for which he richly deserves the two years" hard labour prescribed by the Criminal Law Amendment Act for men who procure intercourse by fiaudulent pretences ? The marriage at Antwerp was declared by Sir James Hanncn to have in every respect, save that of the formalities pi escribed by Belgian law, all the essentials of a proper marriage ceremony. Dr. Potts perfoimed it in perfect good faith, accoiding to the faith of the Presbyterians of America. Mr and Mrs Langworthy were not the only couple whom lie inarued. There is a record in his evidence in Court of at least two other English couples whose marriages in fact are, through no fault of theirs, and through no fault of J)r. Potts, null and void in law. Under tho^e circumstances it has been gravely considered by counsel whether an Antwerp Marriage Continuation Bill ought not to be passed without more delay. Of course, «o far as Mis Langworchy is concerned, the day after her mairiage was coniirmed by Act of Pailiament, her status affirmed, her child legitimised, she would be_ bound to commence proceedings for judicial separation on the t-core of desertion an cruelty. But none the less is this act of justice one which may rightly be looked for, even from an overworked Parliament. As Mr Picfcon said two months ago : — There were sometimes cases of extraordinary suffering or gross personal wrong which did indirectly affect the commonwealth, and create a scandal of sufficient magnitude and public interest to be dealt with by a special Act of Parliament. It was suggested that the power of Parliament could not be better employed than in passing an Act to relieve the misery of an individual created by the special brutality and villainy of one man, on the ground that such unpunished villainy was a public shame and a scandal. This Mr Picton intimated was in his opinion a much better use of parliamentary power than the passing of the Duke of Con naught's Relief Bill."" Comparisons are odious, and there is no need to make them •in the present instance. The legalisation of the Antwerp marriages is a simple measure of public justice and of public utility. Parliament has passed many Marriage Confirmation Bills, among otheis one for marriages legally invalid that were contracted in Fiji as late as 1878. Notice to ask for leave to introduce such a bill has been given in the House of Commons, and the bill will probably be laid on the table without any delay. In view of the extraordinary public interest taken in the case, the scandalous fashion in which Mr Langworthy had set our courts at defiance, and the possible suffering and litigation that may be occasioned by the invalidity of the other marriages celebrated by Dr. Potan we venture to express a hope that Parlts. ment will pass without opposition a-i measure so simple and sq just.