Daily Kennebec journal., 1919-12-27
STATUS OF CHILD
REM BORN OUT OF
WEDLOCK IN II. s.

Washington, Dec. 26-What rights
do the laws of this country give to
the child born out of wedlock? What
responsibility has the State toward
him? What method exists of placing
a part of the burden of his support
and education upon the father? Can
the child inherit property from either
his father or his mother? Has he a
right to his fathers name? Does the
subsequent marriage of his parents
make him legitimate in the eyes of
the law? These and many other
questions about the legal obligations
Of parents and of the State to child
rem born out of wedlock are answered
in a bulletin entitled '.Illegitimacy
Laws In the United States and Ger
tain Foreign Countries" issued by
the Children's Bureau of the. U. 8.
Department Of Labor. .t
The English common Law, in some
respects still unaltered in England
and in parts of the United States, re-
CARDS the child born out of wedlock
as the child of no one" He bears no
legal relationship even to his mother,
and the subsequent marriage Of his
parents can not legitimate him.
Many Of our states have altered the
common law by statutes more favor
able to the child. One of the most
radical departures is found in the
North Dakota law Of 1917. which de-
ciares every child the legitimate child
Of his natural parents, but which
weakens this broad provision by the
failure to provide adequate adminis-
tratiye machinery. Minnesota in 1917
passed a law which aims to secure
for children born out of wediock "the
nearest approximation to the care,
support, and education that they
would be entitled to receive if born Of
lawful marriage" The State Board
of Control is made the child's official
guardian: this board may bring COM
plant in illegitimacy proceedings and
must see that the child's interests are
safeguarded.
Provisions were adopted in Virginia
as early as 1885. whereby the issue of
certain annulled marriages could be
made legitimate, and whereby subse-
quent marriage could legitimate is
sue. and the child could inherit from
the mother. These provisions are not
even yet universal in this country.
Four states have no provision for
legitimation by subsequent marriage.
and many limitations are placed upon
the right Of children Of annulled or
void marriages to be considered legit-
innate.
Attention is called in this report to
the fact that our legal provisions for
the support Of the child born out Of
wedlock are inadequate-the paw
ments prescribed are often too low.
and in most of the states the ueriod
Of support is too brief, sometimes
reaching only to the child's 10th or
izth year. In one state only a single
payment OF $50 is required; in an
other $50 distributed over three years
is required. The two most liberal
states have allowances that total. in
one case. S2750 for the first is years
OF the child's life; and in the other
$3.50 for the first IL years of the
life. n
The report suggests that illeeiti.
macy legislation in the United States
might be improved by uniform pro-
vision for the establishment Of legiti-
macy; the legitimation Of children Of
null or subsequent marriages: possi-
oility OF adoption by the father: and
declaration that the relation OF moth
er and child is the same whether the
child Is legitimate or not.
In addition to a critical anaivsis of
'itegitimacy legislation in this coun-
try, the report contains an analysis
of certain phases Of the various State
laws in tabular form, the complete