The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, January 28, 1906, Page 14

THE SAN FRANCISCO SUNDAY CALL. g »* DESERTION)- In St. Louls it is charged to drink and = large families. Ta Boston and Baltimors it is attributed to other causes than the size of the fam- u’(’}fln‘ to the graded school system of interfor cities the poorest families, ac- cording to the statistics, must send their children five to twenty miles to a high school, at a cost of from 15 to 25 cents a day for car fare and lunch for each child, and education to the man of small income {s entirely out of the question. DO LARGE FAM IL majori 7 o FORMER DISTRICT ATTORNEY L BYINGTON SAYS:- "Large families certainly can- not bring about desertions. The inherent feeling,of afifeotion that a parent bears towards his offspring would cause him to oling more ten- derly to his hearthstone. . I have never known a person to be other than a better man or woman, by having his children around him, and RO good man deserts his children. My experience in the Distriat }nofney's office teaches me that the love a man bears towards his children, deters him from oommitt- ing crime, and certainly, ohildren act as a deterrent to the abandon- ment of wife and husband.” JUDGE KERRIGAN SAYS:- "I think the presence of children create a stronger bond of sympathy between the husband and wife. As to the advisibility of a poor man bringing children into the world, 1s another question. Where the family have but limited means, it 1s sometimes difficult teo give them proper preparations for the struggles of life." TR, i LA — 4 L7 RABBI NIETO SAYS:~ JUDGE GRAHAM SAYS!= "The hole is the thief, not the rat; by which I mean to say that if the law placed more safeguards about the family and made desertion a punishable offence, there would be 1css of it, i In England there is less wife desertion becmuse the law has’, provided means by which the family may be cared for by the parish authorities, These authorities with the essistance of the police, may bring him back from any part of the country.” ®, "My five years' experience in divorce cases shows, that there are fewer .applications where there are children thal_z otherwise. A little mild persuasion from the Court for the sake of the children, usually brings the partners togothei‘.' #ith perfect and sincere affection, but possibly to the charity of the world. lce courts, There is no way of getting . JUDCE TROUTT SAYS:~ "1 think [ may properly say in my experience of fifteen years on the Superier bench, the evidenge adduced in any divorce gction has never '»m;ges',ed a thought, that the number of a mans' 'chudren. has influenced his action in deserting his wife. Hie pride as a father—- s natural affecetion and his i spirit as a wan, inclines him to oling to his children." ixdn pi e LARCLLLEL 2000~ the multifarious responsibilitics upon his shoulders and the knowledge evcr before him that there is no possibility of ad- vancement in his calling may brezk him down, with desertion or suicide as the final tragic result. It is easy to blame a wrongdoer. Tt is the simplest thing in the world to point the finger of scorn and shake the head at the one who sins. There are strong trees which will bear. the whirlwind and the cyclone, and: there are other trees that will fall.im face of thc tempest. 8o It is with human nature. More generally the desertion of wife and children can be attributed fo dissi- pation, which end up dafly in the police courts of every large city in the world. In these courts can be read the tragic chapters. of domestic unhappiness; in hese petty tribunals may be studied the frim prefaces to many a family deser- tion—inherited inebriety or callousness and total depravity, with the accompany- Ing depravity for kindred souls. Desertions are no doubt the most pain- ful cases which come before the magis- trates. The evidence is always conflict- Ing, but the wrongdoer—the deserter— bad as he is, hangs his head with shame “and remorse when confronted with the wife and little ones:- he has left, There are some mcn who are entirely oblivious to the affection of their chii- dren. They would abandon their off- spring with as much unconcern as a duck, deserting its ducklings, leaves the un- happy mother to face the trials and tribu- lations which may fall to her lot. It is no wonder, in the face of all the existing conditions, the mother's unhappiness would cause her to.abandon her loved ones. But the ties of affection are strong In her, and it is a rare case, indeed, where the mother deserts. The father mway, but the mother never. 4 In a city such as San Francisco the con- ditions existing here are much more fa- vorable to the man of small means. This wotld no doubt tend to make wife deser- tlons less numerous. s Opportunities for gambling in San Fran- cisco are perhaps much greater than in vther cities. A few cases may be attrib- uted to this evil. 2 As a general rule, howéver, wife deser- tions in this city are not caused by large families, but principally by drink and gambling, Magistrate Joseph Pool of New York states that the present average-number of wife desertions annually in>New York is between 7000 and §000. About three of such cases a day come in each of the po- at the exact figures because the guilty husbands are irequently charged with some other offense. According to Magistrate”Pool, who has had many years' opportunity for close observation, the prevailing cause of wife desertion is drink on the part of the hus- band. Next to drink he ranks gambling, mostly on the races and in poolrooms. The magistrate was asked specifically if he thought large families had anything to do with wife desertion. His answer ‘was nzsmphnle “No!" He said, further, ‘that, while incompatibility of temper was frequently alleged in the hij courts as a ground for separation or de tion, he could hot recall even one such case in his court. - 1t was undoubtedly a fact, however, he added, that the great majority of wives who were deserted were left with several children on their In, Philadelphia settlemént workers and police magistrates do not agree with Pres- ident Roosevelt in his race suicide theory. In the last year the courts disposed of 5825 desertion cases.. Usually the wife ap- . peared in court with one or more childten. Large families were the rule with aban- doned wives, and day nurseries have been obliged_to take care of the children of de- serted mothers while the latter work. ’ ; ing in divorce, generally ocour in ohildless families, or in cases JUDGE SLOSS SAYS:- ks *While it oaccasionally happens that husband and wife will appeal to the giveroe court after they have reared four or five children, such cases are comparatively rare, To Jjudge from court records, it would secem that desertions result- where there are not to exaeed two children.”