The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1905-06-25
PENSIONING I.
OF MOTHERS
by ELLA WHEELER WILCOX.

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I BY ELLA WHEELER WILCOX.
Ee1paA1s.s>s.sesaASaAs
I% ems Is being exploited by iran
i ces Marie Norton, novelist and
6Sy0| reformer.
lNE1GEJ Many years ago, before Soro-
SIS was club, Mrs. Norton agltated this
subject Speaking OF the latter recently,
she said:
our idea was to give financial aid In ex-
IRENE cases and legal aid when the con-
ditions in the home entailed special haru-
ship upon the wife and mother. There
was law intended to punish saloonkeep-
ers who sold liquor to minors or habltual
drunkards, but women were afraid to
make the complaints because OF tho abuse
to which their husbands subjected them
IL they were found out. The moro chill
dren woman had the NOR ehelpless she
became, every added child making her
more absolutely subject to the whims,
ca prices and oftimes cruelty OF the hus-
band.
Tho only solution OF the problem which
we saw then, and the only solution which
we SEQ now, Is the one proposed: that H.,
a pension from the State to each mother
upon the birth Of a child, an added pen
sion for each added child, not a pension
which should enable the father TO shirk
all responsibility. but enough to insure
both mother and child from actual suffer-
ing should the recreant father ignore his
manifest duty.
While there Is much, to be commended
in this proposition. there should be some
provision made to prevent worthless hus-
bands from propagatins their kind at the
expense of the State. Here are few sug
gestions:
When absolute moral worthlessness
could be proven against man, the birth
OF moro than three children should con-
stitute a legal separation for the wife.
TO supplement the law of pension for
4 the mother, there should be q benefit law
for the best husbands and fathers"
Good men who filled both these impor-
tant positions with dignity and pride, and
who were loved and respected by wives
and children, should BIO pensoned by the
State after tho birth OF a third child.
But the money should be held III trust
for the child.
The State should provide for children
born out Of wedlock, and the fathers Of
such children should be prevented by this
laws of the land from holding any posi-
ton Of prominence in the Government.
ed to suffer penalties imposed by nature
and society; the laws OF the land should
impose the penalties upon fathers.
Meantime the innocent offspring should
be supported and educated until the age
of sixteen by the Government.
Fathers and mothers producing the most
perfect specimens Of children. physically
and mentally. should receive some spe-
cial honor from the Stnte. The Right
Royal Order OF Parenthood'' might be an
excellent one to found and belong to 1t
might be made mark of great distinc.
ton, with an old-age pension attached.
1t would arouse in men and women per-
haps higher ideals Of fatherhood and
motherhood, and stimulate them to self
control and self-denia1, the two first re-
quisites for good parents.
It seems a misfortune that our orthodox
church society makes no effort to organ
lie and establish better conditions for
spropagating the species
Efforts OF this kind have been made and
have succeede ed wonde rfully, so far as the
Improvements OF the species iss concerned,
by the Oneida Community and the Nor
mons. Both societies. held mot herhood in
high esteem. and used every method and
effort to produce fine children.
The children born in both organizations.
sslReI on Elne EaVeraee,tEWeref Iar5 superior
Z to those born in the outside world among
the same number Of people in any ordi-
nary community.
This was because mothers were regarded
with reverence and protected from every
possible trouble and strain.
Mrs. Norton's idea Of pension for
mothers is good, as far as 1t goes, but 1t
must be strengthened by other laws which
shall tend toward the uplifting Of fathers
before Il can bring any good results to
the world. 5sSf S