Los Angeles herald., 1910-02-01
GRAND JURORS
SENT ON TRAIL
OF GREAT EVIL
"MATERNITI HOMES" TO BE
INVESTIGATED
PRACTICES OF CERTAIN PHYsI-
CLANS ALSO INCLUDED
Judge Wilbur Calls Attention to Sit-
uation Revealed by Wilson
Case in No Uncertain
Terms

delve into the secret workings of the
many maternity hospitals of Los An
geles, the other having for it's purpose
the disclosing, if possible, of alleged
criminal practice by numerous physi-
clans of this city, were set on foot by
Judge Wilbur of the superior court
yesterday, when he called the grand
| jury into his department and instructed
the nineteen men that facts brought
to light during the Wilson "quadruplet"
hearing last night demanded the turn
ing on of the strongest inquisitorial
searchlight in an effort to stamp out
offenses of this character and cause
the arrest and prosecution of persons
suspected of violating the law pertain
ing to this class of cases.
The usual method of procedure in
| prosecuting the general run of crimes
Is by filing a complaint, sworn to by
some interested person, but this plan,
Judge Wilbur told the jurors, could
not be depended on in cases where
| newborn infants are abandoned or
where criminal operations are per-
formed. The reason, he added, was
because no persons could be found to
affix their signatures as complaining
witnesses to complaints, and, even if
they could be found, the testimony they
might give probably would lack cor
roboration.
Up to Grand Jury
For this reason, the court explained,
the work of ferreting out these crimes
devolved on the grand jury, and the
prosecution must be based on indict-
ments returned on the evidence dis
closed in the investigation.
The jurors returned to their room i'm
mediately after Judge Wilbur finished
his statement and, it is understood
took the first steps looking to the
carrying out of the instructions. In
his statement Judge Wilbur said:
"At the time you were impaneled 1
informed you the prosecution of crime
was done by complaint and informa-
ton, and that ordinarily speaking,
crimes would be prosecuted in that
way There are however, crimes where
there are no persons to come forward
as complaining witnesses, and there
must be some person In this position
before an offense can come to the at
tention of the court.
During the past week my attention
was called to a situation demanding
the attention of the grand jury-a class
of cases where no persons could be
found sufficiently interested to swear to
complaints. I refer particularly to four
children, all less than one month old,
| brought into court as dependent chill
dren. The evidence In that case was
taken in shorthand and will be referred
to you in typewritten form. L Will re-
| fer to the matter to prove to you that
it is sufficiently serious to demand an
investigation.
Abandonment Is Felony
"Under the law it is a felony to aban-
| don a child under the age of Ia years.
You will observe in connection with
! ho thp tpGtimnnU
discloses the fact that they were taken
to the home of Mrs. w. w. Wilson and
there she pretended to give birth to
! them, palming them off on her husband
and the general public The parents
of only one of these children have been
discovered.
! "A Mrs. Smith testified in the case,
the general purport of her testimony
being that she knew nothing of the
parentage of the children except that
she was called by telephone and noti-
| fed that the infants were held for dis
position She procured the children
and gave them away.
| ST do not intend to enlarge on the
seriousness of the crime of child aban-
donment. The law imposes an obliga-
| tion on parents to care for their Off
spring. and if they fall in that duty
the public has to bear the burden. This
| careless way of leaving children strikes
at the very foundation of society. 1
wish you to investigate this particular
case, with the object of fixing the re-
sponsibility of these children and for
abetting the crime"
Judge Wilbur then spoke of the GRIM
inal practices alleged to be carried on
by many physicians in Los Angeles,
saying: y
"In the hearing the other day it was
said by Wilson and his wife that
criminal operation had been performed
sine time ago. The name of the physi-
clan was not disclosed, but the only
dissension between the husband and
wife concerning the affair centered
around the expense, as to whether So
or s25 should be paid. 1 am advising
you to prosecute this case or any others
that may come to your attention"