The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1919-06-17
THE CASE OF
 BOBBY ASCHE
Victoria A. Larmour De fends Right of Parents to Designate Religious Train ing of Their Children.

l A1 10 ItdItl lilil lIle Dau exam Die ! set by some editors, is responsible for
 the fiippant and shallow comment on ! the Bobby Asche case which we have | noted in Bridgeport.
 | Briefly stated, the case of Bobby Asche is that of a founding who was
 placed by mistake in a family home | of religious creed other than that | of the child's parents. The mistake | having been discovered, public of
 ficials are endeavoring to keep faith with the public by rectifying a situ- ation which is contrary to the laws
 of the state and the practise of all | standardized child-pla cling agencies. | The inference of Fridays editorial | is that laws which reach out of a ' distant past' have no right to control | Bobby Asche of the twentieth cen- | tury. The newness or oldness of a law | does not affect it's validity or its jus ! tice. ScOrn of the past is an unbe- coming folly. The scorner of old laws and lawmakers might find it profita- | ble to compare the legislative acts l of the si1ty-fifth Congress with those
 of the First Congress. Or. better still, he might refresh his memory be re- reading the Declaration of Indepen- 1 dence, the Constitution of the United Sates and the Magma Carta.
 Bo5bys mother is blamed because she tagged the little waif with her ! denominational preference,' which act of hers now interferes with the child's remaining with a well-to-do couple who prefer another brand of Christianity" Modern materiallists
 may consider such language humor- ous. l confess that I am one of the many million Americans who still cherish and rever things spiritual. There are millions of us-Jews, Cath olics, otestants-who distinguish be-
 tween the things that are Caesars and the things that are Gods. Those things that are of God and the soul are to us too sacred to be spoken of in the same terms as either pickles or baggage. Furthermore, we hold that, however reprobate the poor mother may have been, she is to be admir- ed rather than berated for maintain ing at least some faith and some con- cern for the spiritual welfare of the child. Besides, no one knows what tragedy and suffering may have been the share of this unfortunate mother, perhaps herself hardly more than child.
 The writer of the editorial seems much concerned because "the adher- ents of the law and of the church
 picker over the fine point of what shall become of Bobby Asche," while so many little ones in the great city "starve and are bruised and stunted." This may sound like sympathy for the neglected children of the city, but in reality 1t is not. The hundreds and thousands in whom the commenta- tor professes such deep concern arc just so many Bobby Asche's If one Bobby's case is not worth serious att tention. then none of the others are There is. unfortuna teIy, a strong ten deuCy at present to overlook the in Gividual and look to the masses. This is un-American. It is socialistic. We remain a democracy only so long as the rights of the individual remain supreme. We are American only so long as liberty of conscience is pre- served. Bobby Asche's mother, who soever or whatsoever she may be, was a human being living under the laws of the United States of America. As such, she chose to indicate the reli- gious belief in which she wished her child instructed. In doing so, she was merely exercising her inalienable right.
 The editorial complains that little is being done for the children of the | slums of New York and the law and i the church never get very much excit- | ed over these conditions" This is a AilpHN hiliel4A dtCuodl4OH- Ihe idN IS ! evidently meant to refer to the ad- l ministrators of the law. These men cannot be blamed for laws which they are appointed to execute. It is not ] the business of the judiciary but of legislative bodies to remedy any law which is found unsatisfactory. It should also be remembered that the most perfect laws will not necessarily make perfect state or city. The ac-
 
 more unfair. in view of the immense sums of money spent by the churches and the unlimited service rendered by their members in the countless re- lirious organization and institutions that exist solely for the protection of children.
 The American point of view, at least as expressed in our papers and magazines, Is becoming alarmingly materialistic. The well-to-do- home is a material good which is ap- preciated. The conscience of the moth CT and the spiritual rights oS the child are as nothing in comparison. Sim liar logic would have kept every rich | mans son out of the trenches. For | tunately such logic did not prevail | during the war. Nor does 1t rule when | the average American does any real | thinking. The trouble is that most of | Ine llnle we TuD Only the OI u | situation. This superficial treatment l of serious problems is dangerous all 1 ways, but especially so in the columns of a publication which reached many | thousands many of whom thinks per- haps even less deely than the edi- torial writer.
 The case of Bobby Asche is not | merely a spectacular incident afford ing the editorial writer a chance to | try out his humorous vein. Rather 1 it is the case of an American cfti- !; zen, deprived of his normal home training. to whom public officials are endeavoring to guarantee the same | spiritual training which the parents under normal conditions, would have given the child. This right of the parent to deteynins the reli- gious training of his or her child is an unalienable part of the guarantee of liberty of conscience which is a fundamental basis of our federal con-