The Holbrook news., 1911-03-24

C44..4 ----Oo44 vCLlUn ana tue IneLL O- politan police authorities.
 The deserting husband and father has attained the dignity of a civic problem. He is looming up so large as an item of municipal expense that special laws are being passed to pun ish his offenses. special officers are being appointed to track him down and special courts are being estab- lished to try his case.
 In New York city alone an average of 40 assertions day are brought to the attention of the city officials. The number of cases in which the deserted families are cared for by relatives or charitable societies is beyond reckon ing. Cincinnati is said to lead western cities in the number of assertions, but Chicago, St. Louis, Philadelphia, Bos- ton, cities large and cities small, cities north and cities south. have finally discovered that the deserted family must have the aid not of church and charity workers but of the law.
 New York city deals with this prob lem in what is known as the domestic relations court, whose blunt slogan is "bring 'em together" and the num- Der of divorces prevented in the dingy court room is known only to the re- cording angel
 "The general cussedness of the men, the incompetency of the women, the other man or woman coming be- tween husband and wife"-in this order do the causes of. desertion run. %4 0E ;oI1 0f kho Only the husband VOWS it's all due to the increased cost of living.
 "The high cost of living?" echoes the magistrate thoughtfully, in re- sponse to a question 'I don't know II don't knowi Of course money is what we're after for these deserted wives and children, but there are other problems to solve here. Tie husband may start out in married life meaning well, but he marries girl who knows nothing about homemak- ing, and that is the first cause of their quarrels. Or she wants more clothes than he can buy for her-and good times. These moving picture houses have a curious fascination for mar ried women They admit sitting in moving picture house hour after hour when they ought to be getting meals for their families. The moving picture show has taken the place of the cheap novel with this class of women.
 And then the girl who has earned her own living often has trouble with her husband. She is used to spending her money as she likes, and she wants to spend his the same way. Often he does not earn double what she did. and she misses her income. A man ought to consider the earning capacity of a woman before he marries her. The very fact that she has earned so much before marriage may make for their unhappiness. Or she may return to the store or factory rather than live on his wages. Women of this class are no longer economically de- pendent upon men.
 "In both of these cases there is hope of reconciliation. But when an- other woman has come between hus- band and wife we don't try to bring the couple together. Then it's simply a case of forcing the man to support his family, whether he will live with them or not.'
 William Desmond, for a score of years chief of the St. Louis detective bureau, while in official position had constant occasion to study this prob lem seriously. In answer to a gen. eral inquiry of the subject, MT. Des- mond declared that most husbands ran away because of inability to keep up wiz --~ ~-ocassion" in the l