Wheeling majority. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1907-192?, 1916-03-16
The Mothers Pension System

from her the children she already has,
if her bad husband deserts.
The Legislature of every State is
importuned to appropriate millions of
dollars to build and maintain institu-
tions for ieeole-minded Children, born
because society compels mothers to
live<witn bad husbands, and because
organized charity wants to prevent de-
sertions. : -
Would il not be wiser for society to.
encourage bad fathers to desert? In
vestigation has shown that these bad
men, after t-ey desert, seek the un-
married hailot, who does not bear
children at all.
When will the taxpayers wake up to
the real facts, that it would be cheaper
and wiser to encourage bad men to
desert and thus save the great ex-
,pense caused by the feeble-minded
children they continue to produce as
long as they stay at home?
But let us see the real reason that
organized charity does not want the
deserted mother given a pension.
In the famous White House Charity
Trust Conference, it was resolved that
they favor Mothers Pensions, provid-
ing they collect and disburse the pen
sions
Charity statistics show that it costs
20 per cent to collect their funds, that
it costs so per cent to disburse, and
therefore only 25 per cent would be
left for pensions if they handled the
money.
AS the pensions are now administer
ed by the Juvenile Court for the bene-
mot including deserted mothers),
there is practically no extra expense
of administration because the pen
sions have reduced juvenile crime to
such an extent that these courts have
little else to do but administer the
pensions which abolish juvenile crime
and child poverty, whereas, under the
old system the courts spent all their
energy Furnishing crime and poverty
The twenty-siX States that have
adopted the Mothers Pension Sys-
tenn will distribute $4,000, 900 during
this year, and every dollar goes to the
mothers for the benefit Of their chill
dren. !
1t is a well demonstrated. fact that
charity" gets most of its funds by
appeals based on the restitution and
suffering of innocent children, so if all
poor children were taken care of by
the Mothers Pension System, public
ly administered, there would be little
suffering left on which Charity"
could collect funds.
Now when R&mother and her chill
dren are deserted, organized charity
sends out begging letters telling of
their great distress and asking rich
people to send money to help relieve /;
the distress, deploring the fact that
this mother cannot get pension when
charity itself went to the Legisla- |
ture and prevented her getting a pen
sion.
When organized charity is asked the |
question, "Do you provide for the de-
serted mother, whom you prevent get
ting pension, better or worse, more
or less. or just the same amount as
the pension?" they decline to answer
because no matter how thew answer,
they are convicted of penalizing the
deserted mother and her children in 4
OiuOI lHdt LH0y may Collect money. III
Surely charity does not claim that II
they provide the same amount to the
deserted mother and her shildren as
the pension that they pfexenE 4epfss
ting. as that would be Furnishing the
innocent for the sins Of the father.
Surely organized charity would not
adopt such q cruel method and admit
It.
Surely charity does not claim thatl
hey provide more for the destitute
deserted mother and her children than
he pension, for that is absolutely nm
me
Surely charity does not claim that
her provide the same amount as the
pensions for then there would be no .
'eason for charity preventing the des-
flute deserted mother and her chil-