The Washington times., 1937-02-01
Fairfax Tells of Girl Facing Age-Od Love Problem
World Has
Become
Kinder
By BEATRICE FAIRFAX
Famous Authority on Problems
of LoUe and Murrinoe)

NrUHtOuS AuCICOIELy OW FIOOLSHtS
of LoDe and Mdrri1oe)
II wish I had the courage to
try the river, but I hate the
thought of the cold, wet
struggle before it all ends"
A girl of 18 wrote that to me a
few days ago. She continued:
when they said Happy New
Year to me and didn't realize what
was facing, felt like screaming"
The writer was facing mother
hood. Not the kind RaphaelS
brush immortalized - radiant
girl holding the Divine Babe to
her breast-nor the kind Rudyard
Kipling thought of, when he
wrote:
"f 1 were hanged on the highest
hill,
Mother O. Mine, o, Mother o
Mine,
know whose love would follow me
still,
Mother O. Mine, o, Mother o
Nine"
JOY MISSING
Nor was hers the everyday
miracle of joy that comes when
funny, cuddly scrap of humanity
an individual from the, first
breath-is put into his mothers
arms and she has her hour Of hap
piness, even if the wolf is edging
at the door.
No; the motherhood that faced
this girl was the grim, terrifying
ordeal Of going down into the val.
ley Of the shadow, with no one
nearby who cared a snap for her
fate. The baby's first cry would
seem to the forlorn girl like the
shout of the multitude, through
the ages, stone her!"
Two thousand years have passed
since Christ said: Let him who
is without sin cast the first stone"
And though the world has been
slow in following Christ's bidding,
it seems as if this plea for mercy,
uttered 1000 years ago, at last is
beginning to fall on ears less deaf.
TRAGIC DEATH
1t took the brief life and tragic
death of an unWanted baby to
bring home to women, especially,
that the pity they had often given
in secret, to unfortunate girls,
should be open and acknowledged.
A few weeks ago in New York,
an unmarried mother-made not
quite sane by her agony and
fr1endlessness-killed her baby.
The law pronounced a verdict Of
Second-degree manslaughter with
a suspended sentence.
Women rallied to her openly,
signed petitions, begging for her
life. This is a wholesome sign Of
awakened humanity. Churches,
social agencies, even the law, have
begun to see the problem of the
unwed mother in a kindlier light.
To the honor of Governor Leh.
mans administration, it will be
remembered in years to come that
those cruel letters o. w. (out Of
wedlock) are no longer written on
birth certificates. Last June, New
York State enacted a law, doing
away with this brand of illegiti-
macy.
HONORABLE STANDINGS
In Scandinavian countries there
has been no such law for years.
Every child born in those countries
is entitled to an honorable stand
ing in the world. Let him who is
without sin cast the first stone"
When Girl Meets Boy" and love
awakenS, in response to an in
stinct as natural as it is for flowers
to open under the warmth Of the
sun, neither of them foresees that
tragedy, like that of the girl whose
letter I have quoted, may follow;
but too often, unfortunately, u
does.
The recent instance in New York
indicates that the world is grow
ing kinder in its Judgment of these
young unfortunates who are most
in need of its kindness. It is to be
hoped this will prove true in the
case of the Gespairing girl who
uy7-ota fo mo