The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1912-05-10
Delahelds Are Following Old
Custom Quite Common
in Europe.
in Europe.
BY La MAnoUIsE DIE FoNTENoY.

} worthy. Judging by the scope and ac-
( ton OF somewhat similar associations
ABROAD OF being Initiated in all parts
, OF the Union.
The Delafeld Family Association"
{ rs thc name OF this new company, and
! us OBJECT is to PROVIDE permanent
E b"NN, whose BUSINESS IL viii b. TO
I see that no one in America Of the name
oil Dcianeld snail ever suffer from the
panGs OF hunger. or want [ have not
read tie articles OF incorporation bur
judging from my knowledge of such
things in Europe. | presume that tho
r.ch members OF the Delaheld family
have contributed lump sum TO begin
I with, as (; sort of endowment fun1 ana
| that everybody OF the name Will sub
I scribe according TO mis- means. The
! capital of the association Will also be
augmented by testamentary requests,
according 10 the confident eXDectatlons
! OF the founders.
In the words OF John Ross Della
field, of New York, no attorney of the
association. IF one Of our family
! should meet misfortune and not be
able to start himself properly In life,
OF properly to start his children, the
| association. viii. from the funds that
are given or bcqueathed 10 il. uppro-
! PIRATE proper amount for him. This
/ is not charity. and we shall not pau
| perize our relatives or descendants.
| The idea is rather that of a henevo-
lent association. which shall tide the
! needy ones over any financial chasms
to which they may have been brought
I The Dclatields disclaim any inton-
ton of forming any sort of arIstocracy.
or elite society. and claim that they
are merely following UP an old custom.
quite common in Europe, and brought
70 America by the early Dutch set
! tiers.
/ L, is. indeed. quite true that such
+ associations exist in Europe. There
are moro than a hundred family asso-
Citations in ermany. principally be-
la rtrfr no ~ f,, .is h
all the adult members lave :. seat and
/ Il vote. Their object is to put OH tn cir
| feet again any members who may have
/ come TO financial grief. Furthermore,
( the family name. by Furnishing and
! eXpeliing from the clan any member
( guilty OF reprehensible act.
3 The Kaiser has encouraged the
! growth Of these family associations
I Famillcn Stirt-by authorizing sew
cral Of them to elect one of their MEM
beTs TO represent 1t in the Prussian
! House OF Lords. One of the oldest of
/ these associations is that of the Seek
endorSs. a family that formed an al
! lance with the Hohcnaolierns long
/ before the latter had attained a royal
! position. For hundreds OF years the
Seckcndorffs and Hohenzollerns have
been connected by bond OF friendship.
I In all tho wars OF Germany the Seek
endorffs have played an honorable part
and IN nearly every generation they
! have had member III the diplomatic
service. 1t will be remembered that
when Prince Henry OF Prussia visited
tho United States in 1902, the chi,f
funct!onary on his staff Was Vice .Ad-
lu!gaI fTe!nerr won SeckenGOrn.
This clan has held regular meetings
for hundreds OF years. helping the un-
: fortunate. and disciplinng those OF its
members who had incurred it's displea-
! sure. Among the latter was the we'll
known Washington correspondent OF
leading New York daily, namely, NJ. G.
alF DART a., hnxT NrAry
/ quarreled with his family he was de-
/ prived of any possible benefit from
! connection with the Union" the dis
| ability did not extend TO his children,
| for when he died, In Germany,
| friendly hand was extended to them.
I Moreover, he was buried there with
/ full family honors.
/ Another such family is that OF the
boring upwards of three hundred
adults AT their annual reunion. u
I few years ago. Prince Buelow who
/ was then the Imperial Chancellor, and
( head of the family. told the hundreds
( of his unclcs, aunts, sisters and cou-
| sins. there present OF what their fam
! lily had done for Germany during the
! past zoo years and of the old proverb
! every sovereign or the House ii Hob
.nzollern has had his Buclow."
These numerous German family asso
I Citations enjoy the good Will OF the
! government. bent on preventing
/
| q ent upon public charity. and encour-
| aging high standard of citizenship
and service to the state.
| In France, too. they have what they
! call the "Conseil de famille." which
is composed of the chief adult memb crs
and its meetings are invariably at
( tended by the family lawyer. who re-
/ cords the deliberations and their con-
/ illusions. in due legal phraseoIogy The
! French family councils are sometimes
| am afraid, rather tyrannical; espcc-
tally as their decisions are usually con-
I iirmcd by the tribunals OF the country
After the family lawyer has embodied
/ the decision in legal document he
! accompanied by two members of the
! council submits IL TO the Judges OF the
/ law courts, who usually ratify the de-
] c!sion. without any further inquiry.
For they take IL for granted that the
members of the family. who have the
interests OF that family at heart, are
T far better judges of what Is best TO
+ be- done than any outsider. however
/ learned in the law. could possibly be-
although as rule they may be right
in the vast majority OF cases, indeed
yet sometimes this readiness of the
/ judges to accept the findings of the
! council has the effect of giving legal
~ to rank injustice and cruelty.
I For instance. the mother OF The late
I Due de Chaulncs, by birth n Russian
Princess Galitzin, was deprived of the
custody OF her two children, who We're
! handed over to her mother in law
/ VINO mad always hated her and turned
/ every innocent action Of the beauti-
/ ful girl into crime. The mother
| in-law. the Duchessa de Cheuvreuse,
] happened to be power In Partisan
! society," and every move that she made
against her unfortunate daughter-in-
law was promptly Endorsed and con-
/ iirmed hy the Judges. Being a foreign
! err. and not understanding French
/ law, Princess Galitzin dc Chaunes. in
despair at having her children taken
away from her. tried to seize them
arrested by the police. and again de-
, prived of them. while her sympathi-
! Zers and helpers were prosecuted for
! kidna ping, and sentenced to terms OF
! hard labor.
/ The princess afterwards died Of pri-
walton in .one of the most poverty
Strick IN quarters of Paris the Victim