SUPPORT OF A FAMILY.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XII, Issue 3806, 9 May 1891, Page 3

SUPPORT OF A FAMILY.

As Application for Cancellation. In the R.M. Court this morning, before Colonel Roberts, R.M., Mr Beard applied that the order made some time since that Edward Brown Sough ton, carter, of Masterton, should contribute fifteen shillings per week towards the support of his wife and family, who reside at Maitinboronqh, should be cancelled, as he (Songhton) could not afford to maintain two hemes, and was quite prepared to provide a home in Masterton. Mr Pownall appeared to oppose the application. Edward Songhton, on oath, de» clared that he had not illtreated his wife and family. He was in work and was willing to keep them in Masterton, He could not aff I to keep two homes. Cross-examined by Mr Pownall: I reside at the Feraridge. I have never illused my wife. She refused to live with me at Masterton. 1 have no other reason in making the application than that I wish my wife and famuVto live with me. ifr Pownall submitted that the Court had no jurisdiction in this case. There was no power to cancel an order made for the purpose of compelling husband and wife to live together. This was only a ruse to get rid of the liability. Mrs Soughton had said she would sooner starve than live with her husband again, after the ill-treatment to which she had been subjected in the past. The cruelty was quite clear from the evidencegiven in the late case. Songhton j had conducted himself as a brute. If; was cancelled, the wife and family would practically be left upon the hands of her relatives for support. - Mr Beard maintained that the application was quite legitimate. The previous erd'er was not made on account of cruelty, but from failure to support. The Bench: Taking the circumstances of the case into consideration I feel it my duty to cancel the order. The order is cancelled.