[262] "Provided, that, when the suit is instituted by the party deserting, it appears that the desertion was caused by the extreme cruelty of the other party, or that the desertion of the wife was caused by the gross or wanton and cruel neglect of the husband to provide suitable maintenance for her, he being of sufficient ability to do so" (p. 30).
[263] Act of Jan. 31: _Acts and Joint Res._ (1872), 30 ff.
[264] Repealed by act of Dec. 20: _Acts and Joint Res._ (1878), 719.
[266] H. W. DESAUSSURE, in 2 _S. C. Equity Reports_, 644 (revised edition).
With this view harmonizes the opinion of Justice Pope in McCreery _v._ Davis rendered in 1894. While separation from bed and board--the only form of divorce obtainable in the state--"is a judicial barrier to any attempt to exercise the rights or enforce the duties of the parties affected by the judgment, yet the courts are only too willing to have the parties restored to their original _status quo_, upon good cause shown. While the remedy is a hard one, and to a certain extent interferes with the operation of the laws of nature, still woman must be protected! After all, an unbending adhesion to the laws of right living has a healthy effect upon the lives of others. If self-denial is thus necessitated, it should not be forgotten that many natures are perfected through its beneficent influence. True philosophy would extract good from every condition.... By art. IV, sec. 15, of our constitution, the courts of common pleas have exclusive jurisdiction in all cases of divorce, and by art. XIV, sec. 5, divorces from the bonds of matrimony shall not be allowed but by the judgment of a court as shall be prescribed by law. Thus the general assembly is denied the power to grant divorces directly, but is permitted to clothe the courts of common pleas with that power. This last they have refused to do by repealing the act of 1872;" and thus "we have the common law restored to us on this subject."[267]
[267] Opinion of Justice Pope in McCreery _v._ Davis, 44 _S. C. Reports_, 195-227 (1894).
Finally it may be noted that the supreme court of the District of Columbia has exclusive jurisdiction in all applications for either full or partial separation. Until recently a divorce from the bond of wedlock might be granted (1) when either spouse had a husband or wife living at the time of the contract, "unless the former marriage had been lawfully dissolved and no restraint imposed" on further marriage; (2) when the marriage was contracted during the lunacy of either party; (3) when either was matrimonially incapacitated at the time of the marriage; or (4) has since committed adultery; (5) for habitual drunkenness for a period of three years; (6) for cruel treatment endangering the life or health of the complainant; or (7) for wilful desertion and abandonment for two years. A divorce from bed and board was allowed (1) for cruel treatment endangering life or health; or (2) "reasonable apprehension, to the satisfaction of the court, of bodily harm."[268] A new and drastic law was passed in 1901. Hereafter absolute divorce will be granted only for adultery, the guilty person not being allowed to remarry. Legal separation from bed and board may be obtained for (1) drunkenness, (2) cruelty, or (3) desertion. Only residents may bring suit for divorce; and unless the applicant has for three years been a _bona fide_ resident, no decree will be granted for a cause occurring outside the District before such residence began.[269]