The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1907-01-03
TO PUNISH DESERTiON.
Effort by Miss Clare Lubbock, of
State Board of Control. for Law
is Meeting With Approval.

covers vile deSertlon, but Will ade-
quately punish men for desertion of
families, will meet with favor at the
coming session of the legislature, says a
Des Moines dispatch.
In discussing the subject she called
attention a few days ago to the last re-
port of the Iowa Children's Home So
ciety of Des Moines, which institution
receives the largest number of children
in year and in whose report Superin-
tendent Slingerland said that during
the biennial period ending June 80, 400
children were received. He added:
"Of this number 122 were deserted by
one or both parents as follows: Desert
ed by father, 81; mother, 10; by both %;
total, 122. You will understand that in
many cases it has not been possible to
ascertain the exact facts in the case,
particularly when waif is assigned to
us by the court order, and sometimes
when it comes surrendered by one par
ent. The figures given are apparent
facts, according to our records
Miss Lunbeck, commenting on this re-
port, said in part:
"The simple statement of figures like
this does not bring home to our minds
the awful amount of suffering inflicted
upon the innocent victims of such in
justice. Let me cite at random one or
two eases out of the scores which have
come under my personal observation,
not that they are exceptional, but sim
ply as sample of the whole.
SIN a northern Iowa town lived a
family of four-husband and wife and
two small boys, two and four years of
age. They rented two or three rooms
in a basement tenement. The husband
was strong able-bodied man and work
ed on the section earning living wage
for family whose standard was not
high. The wife was frail little woman
and was sick in bed one morning when
the husband went to his work as usual.
There had been no quarrel or unusual
trouble. He did not return that night,
nor the next, and then it was found to
be care of wilful desertion. Neigh
bors came to the relief of the family, SO
the home was broken up, the children
given away, and the frail little wife
went out to work in a farmers family,
where she hoped to be able to earn her
own support.
another instance-one day woman
came to me and without preliminary
went direct to the point. 81 have come
to ask you to take my little children; it
may seem hard, but Miss Lubbock, l
cannot do for them any longer On in
quiry learned that the husband and
father had left them year or two be.
fore, since which time he had contribut-
ed nothing to their support. The mother
was also weak physically and not over
strong of character but she had tried to
support the little ones and give them
enough to eat. She and the children
were living in little shack, not much
bigger than pigsty. The two younger
children were left during the day in the
care of nine-year-old girl, who was
kept out of school to look after them
while the mother worked in laundry.
Worn out with the work and struggle
she had the day before coming to me
twice tainted over the ironing board. /
could learn nothing of the present
whereabouts of the father, but did not
have to go far to find that his general
reputation was bad. l also learned that
the two older children, who were boys,
had been placed by the mother in the
industrial school at Eldora. Some years
afterwards came acrossI this father.
who was then driving an express wagon
in Des Moines. and there l witnessed
the sight of big husky man managing
to support himself while charity or
ganization and a state institution, and
back of them the benevolent taxpaying
citizenship of the state were caring for
and rearing the children he had ire
sponsibly called into being.
Such instances are so common in the
experience of those who are giving
their entire time to the care of neglect
ed children that we might go on multi
plying them almost indefinitely. This is
not necessary, and moreover it would
not be quite fair to go only to those
whose point of view must necessarily be
about the same as my own. Besides a
consensus of opinion is most valuable;
particularly is this true when we find
persons in different positions, and view
ing a question from different standpoints
practically agreeing upon the same
thing.
The Iowa stockmen in session at Des
Moines last week voiced a demand for
some reforms that will be worth much
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