The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1929-11-22
Mother Who
Rears Child
Has Claims
BY MARTHA LEE

Marriage is a sacrement whereby
man and woman are joined together
in wedlock for better or for worse,
for richer or poorer, in sickness and
If It'll, until death do us part.
re is a sacred thing and
be respected as such.
go, outside influence brought to
bear on man or wife, influencing
one or the other TO break away
from the bond, is absolutely wrong
and should not be tolerated. If
there is such a thing as retribution.
an individual through whose fault
a married couple is separated surely
viii be punished.
There is no one so deSpicable as
man who leaves his wife and
child for any shallow reason; there
is no one so destitute as a mother.
left with her baby, with no means
of support. What a pathetic pic
ture, that of a young wife. return
ing to her fathers house. obliged
TO admit her marriage was a fall
ure, through no fault of her own.
Deserter Has No Claims
A father who deserts his child
in its infancy has no claim on II
as it grows to adolescence. How
typical of his nature is the father.
who is so heartless that he can
leave a baby. and then when the
baby is old enough to be cOmpan-
ionable, asserts his paternal in
stincts and claims the child as his
own and attempts to take it from
its mother, who has cared for 1t in
it's dependence.
II a woman has a good home.
can give her child proper care, and
rear it in a wholesome environment,
she should not surrender it to the
father, or TO the fathers relations.
The mother has right to keep
the child. and is justified in resent
ing outside interference.
Dear Miss Lee-when I was 20. mar
ried a boy two years my junior. We had
two little girls; one died when only two
months old. and the other now is ten.
When she was only IS months Old, her
~H%@
he was leaving me; that his parents
thought he should find some one younger
than I. and that I should keep the baby
because his parents did not want to be
bothered with her. They thought him
too young to be tied down.
took the child and went home to my
parents. After the divorce. the court
ordered him to contribute So week to
the childs support. He did this for
several months, then married again and
left the state. Since then. I have sup
ported the child myself with the help
Of my parents.
This fall my former husbands brother.
speaking for him. offered me 5000 to sign
q paper releasing him from all future
responsibility. and agreed to sign paper,
in return. to the effect that he never
would try to take the child from me. or
try TO see her. Isl
complied with the request. but no
sooner had received the money, than
the brother came to me saying that they
we're going to visit John, and could they
take Dolores with them. let her go.
He sent her back with n new hat and
coat. The brothers wife came to me
later and said that John wanted Dolores
to live with them; that he would sup
port her, and that If I was the right
kind of mother / would give her that
opportunity. I refused. because had
cared for her during the years her father
neglected her and felt that I had first
claim. But he refuses to help her any
as long as she is with me.
They want her every Saturday and Sun
day, and her father wants her for Christ
mas and all next summer. don't want