Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1915-10-05
OPINION IN
S|DLE CASE
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furnished but he had found love, He
had %found'not merely a mother but a
father. God does intend to give Ito
every little folk a papa and a NAM
ma" and it is the dread of the lack
of the former if the custody of the
child is given to the petitioners that
largely controls our decision in this
case. In arriving at u conclusion
we do not consider the relative wealth
Of the respondents and Of the petit
TONERS and the material advantages
which money can furnish. We agree
thoroughly with counsel for the petit
TONERS that this question of wealth
should not be controlling. s.-1-
We are fully aware of the dominat.
ing interests of natural parents. We
realize that often the wealth of par.
ents has been "a stumbling block to
the progress Of theitS children, rather
than an advantage We agree with
the supreme court of Georgia that
poverty alone furnishes no reason to
deprive a parent Of his offspring, and
that the greatest characters in history
have been those who have been born
in the manger and in the log cabin,
rather than in the palace. ta,
We believe, however, that a child
is entitled to both a father and a
mother and that the love and suid-
ance and support of the one is as
necessary to him as is that of the
other. We believe that Mrs. Sidle
loves the child. We believe that al
though through the long years of sep
a,ation that love was not strong
enough to induce her to absolutely
insist upon the presence of the boy,
she nevertheless constantly yearned
for him. We might be willing to pass
ove this failure, Of this insistence and
Justify it on the ground that she was
hoping against hope that sometime
the boy might be brought to her with
out any disclosures as to his past.
But we still have the man Side. With
out his sincere affection and co.opera.
ton and without his love a change
from the custody Of the Clarks to. that
of the ;:ldles must be ruinous in its
consequences. In a home of love and
sympathy and interest, the boy might
Dor forget the advantages which the
resources and affection Of the Clarks
have been able to afford him. He
might, like many another child. grow
into a finer and a stronger man We're
he deprived Of these material advant-
ages. But he must, have love and
guidance and that ungrudgingly be-
slowed. At first he would be heart
broken at the change and dissatisfied
with his new surroundings. He must
have those who will bear with him,
who will love him and who will guide
him. We think that he might count
upon the loyalty of his mother but we
dare not trust the father and the wife
during eight years has been dominat-
ed by that father. He tried to destroy
the child before he was born He
sent him out a wancerer whom only
two weeks old and kept him as such
for nearly eight years. Though his
agent, Miss Wendell, he purposely de-
priyed him of the companiopship even
Of strangers when those strangers
began to show any signs of gen
uine affection for him. He has never
really adequately. provided for his
wants, even those which were physi-
cal. Even now he. gives no evidence
of, affection-merely a willingness
that his wife shall have the boy, and
he only brought the present suit be-
cause she insisted upon it and be-
cause the time had arrived when sill
enc was longer impossible. Can we
send the child to such a home as this?
We know that in the home of the
respondents he will be properly train
ed and educated. We know that. in
that home he is radiantly happy, We
know that for the first time in his life
he has really entered into a haven OF
rest. We do not know that such
things would be true if he we're given
to the petitioners. No court should
lightly set aside the claims of natural
parents, but mus. a child, who has
been treated u%nnaturally for eight
years, and who has at last come to his
own, be again subjected to the risk