The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-01-24

of that name shall ever suffer from the bangs of hunger or want.
 Spur magazines of recent date dis cusSes the arrangement in this manners.
 q have not read the articles of in- corporation, but judging from my knowledge of such things in Europe, l assume that the rich members of the Delafield family have contributed lump sum to begin with, as a sor, of endowment fund and that everybody of the name has subscribed according to his means. The capital of the asso- citation will also be augmented by testamentary bequests, according to the confident expectations of the founders. In the words of John Ross Delatield of New York, the attorney of the dsso- ciation "If one of our family should meet misfortune, or not be able to start himself properly in life, or properly start his children, the association will, from the funds that are given Of be- queathed to it, appropriate proper amount for him. This is not charity, and we shall not pauperize our lela- tives or descendants. The idea is rather that of a benevolent associa- tion, which shall tide the needy ones over any financial chasms to which they have been brought.
 The Delafie1ds hail originally rom Colmar, in Alsace. They came to Eng land with William the Conqueror, in 1066, flourshed in the reign of Henry III and played an important role un- der Henry VI, when Sir Thomas Dela- field of Ailesbury is on record as hay ing taken an active part in the wars of the roses.
 'In Europe family associations such as that of the Delafields are not only benevolent, but also disciplinary. While their primary object is to put on their feet again all members who may have come to financial grief they endeavor to protect the honor of the family name by punishing and expelling from the clan any member guilty of his- honorable or criminal act. In Germany the Kaiser has encouraged the growth of the Familienstift, as it is styled there, by authorizing several of them to elect one of their members to rep resent it in the House of Lords. The German government, too, regards such | association with good will as preventing | the members thereof from becoming g dependent upon public charity a.id as
 encouraging a high standard of citizen ship and of service to the state.
 "In France what is known as the | consul de famille is composed, as in | Germany and Austria, of all the adult
 members of the home, the meetings be-
 ing invariably attended by the family | lawyer, who records the delibera tions
 and their conclusions in due legal | phraseology. The French family coun- | cils are sometimes, where disciplinary
 measures are concerned, disposed to be l tyrannical, especially as their decisions | are usually confirmed by the .rsbu-
 nals of the country. After the family
 lawyer has embodied the decision in 8 | legal document he, accompanied by | two members of the council | submits it to the courts o1 | law, where the judges usually ratify
 it without any further inquiry. For thS judges take it for granted that tho
 members of the family who have it. | interests at heart are in far better
 position to determine what is best tt
 be done in specific cases than any out slider, no matter how learned in tn, law. Such decisions usually relate t, lthe deprival of parents of>the guar dianship of their children, on accoun
 of unworthiness or the vesting of tn
 management of their property III tn
 hands of family trustees, because o
 extravaganza"