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THIS IS THE THIRD OF A
SEMES OF ARTICLES An DEAL-
ING WITH WOMEN AND
THKIK'LEGAL ItlUHTS
Air rushes in. The tightest I \ J;
seal is broken and caps } M' ^
come off quickly and easily. ^
And you always have a tight seal when
you can with Presto rings. They have the
'THE president of the National
grip and stretch that insures against can-
By
Congress of Parents and Teachning
failures, Made extra thick and extra
ers , Mrs. Arthur H. Reeve, says:
tough to withstand steam and boiling.
MARJORIE
The distinctive white Presto lip on the
The National Congress of
red Presto ring is a guarantee of Presto
Parents and Teachers will be a
quality. Only Presto has this mark.
SHULER
unit in its support of the campaign
Accept no substitute
to secure to mothers equal rightsin
SEND FOR THREE DOZEN
the guardianship of their chil-
If your dealer can't give you genuine tf 1ND SQ they were dren. Those who go down into
Presto rings send 30^ /\ married and lived the valley of the shadow for cadi
/ \ happily ever af-
child that is born shouIJ surely have a voice in
ter." Mary Smith
the direction of those lives for which they have
risked their own.
had read these words at the
When parents realize that they must together
conclusion of so many stories decide upon what is best for the children they
that she never doubted they have brought into the world, the rrodem ten-
would be true of her and John
dency toward selfish personal considerations in
the breaking up of the family will be checked,
Jones. But pretty quickly and men and women will build for the future,
after their wedding day the even if that building must sometimes be upon the
trouble began , probably both wreck of individual happiness, and out of recognized
mutual responsibility may develop that
being to blame. Things were a
mutual respect and community of interest which
little better when John , Jr., are the necessary foundations for a stabilized
came. But when he was two- home.
and-one-half years and Bobbie,
a second child , was just
six weeks old , Mary packed up
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John was cruel. In court the judge said
that John must pay a certain amount
each week for the support of the chil-
services and the earnings of their children.
Other states like Rhode Island have
changed their old laws under which the
dren , but John disregarded the order and father has rights denied to the motiier,
Mary supported them for five years. but there are still two states where the
Always her conscience suggested that right of the father over the child is so
she might have been more patient and absolute that he can even will away his
so after five years she went back to John. wife's unborn child to a guardian chosen
Again there was misery and again by him and the wife has nothing to say
Mary went away just a month before a
baby girl came. This time she secured a
divorce, but the court awarded the two
little boys to the father and only the
new baby girl to the mother. Mary
about it. There is one state where the
father can will away a child from the
mother after the child has reached the
age of 14 years. There are six other
states where the father is the sole guard-
appealed to the Supreme Court of Rhode ian of his minor children and four states
Island , the state in which she lived, but
the court ruled that the natural guardianship
of minor children, belonged
primarily to the father, even when father
and mother are living together in harmony,
and that in the event of a divorce
"undoubtedly the right of the father
should prevail unless it appears that the
interests of the child will be subserved by
a different course."
where there are qualifications which
interfere with the mother having an
equal voice with the father in controlling
the child's life.
IT
is unusual for a father to use his
power to will away a child from the
mother, but there are court records of
cases in which it has been done. It is
seldom that the father would desert his
young children , letting the mother sup-
MARY learned that when John , Jr.,
and Bobbie were old enough to work
the father could bind them out as
apprentices and that he would be entitled
to their wages, and that even if she had
stayed with John this power still would
port them during infancy, and then reappear
to claim the wages which they
earn between the ages of 16 and 21. but
there are such cases on the court records.
You may not need a better law in your
state, for you and your husband prob-
have been his. The only solace that ably talk about your children and decide
Mary had was a statement of the court together what is for their best interest.
that if John should not properly care for It is not for the sake of you and your
the two children then she might show
"that the best interests of the children
required a change of custody."
This case and others similar to it , led
men and women in Rhode Island to
childre n that the law needs changing, but
for the sake of other women and other
children who are not protected by a
sense of justice, fair play and decency on
the part of their husbands and fathers.
seek a change in their laws. Campaigns
were made by various state organizations
and a Children 's Laws Commission
How did the law ever happen to give
such rights to fathers? Not through a
mean , malicious attempt on the part of
was appointed and made recommendations
to the legislature which in 1926
passed a new law maning both parents
joint natural guardians of their minor
children , equally responsible for their
men to take advantage of the mothers of
their children. But because the laws of
the various states are inherited from a
generation when women were regarded
as too frail , or weak, or ignorant to be
care, nurture , welfare and education.
It provided also that father and mother
shall have equal powers and rights with
trusted with such authority. Under the
old laws the father had the sole authority
in the management of the child and while
neither having any right above the the mother may have taken in washing,
right of the other, and that both of or knitted stockings, or baked bread to
them shall have an equal right to the earn monev to feed and clothe her child ,
in stamps and your
dealer's name. We will mail three dozen
Presto rings postpaid. Department B'-yi
Cupples Company, Saint Louis.
. Tested and /' """ " N. For co,d PMK «
approved n .-.^jr' \ water bath ,
... by Good r£T- jL j\ steam prea-
. Houaekeep-«,» \^»W^—.e^eX aure. andhot
ing Inatl- jB^I^Hb. pack cantut
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Plant. ^*>Ha\. ^
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still the father by law was regarded as
the one responsible for the child's support
and he was allowed to collect and
keep the child's wages as his compensation.
Some of those laws are still in force.
I ; or instance in Texas the law says that
"where the parents of the minor live together,
the father is the natura l guardian
of the person of the minor children by the
marriage, and is entitled to be appointed
guardian of their estates."
THE services of a minor child belong to
the father in New York state and
therefore if the child is put to work the
father alone may collect the earnings.
Even in a western state, where the law has
been made far more favorable to women
than many other parts of the country, the
father has the right to bind his minor
child as an apprentice or clerk, without
the consent of the mother. An ambitious
mother, eager to have her child
receive an education which will fit it for
better things, and willing to work herself
or to make sacrifices in order to keep
the child in school , is helpless against an
avaricious father who wants to put the
child to work as soon as the law allows,
her content being necessary only when
the father is dead, or incompetent , or an
habitual drunkard , or has abandoned his
family. The father also has authority to
assign or contract for his children's
services during their minority without
the consent of the mother.
The Maryland father has entire contol
of the labor and earnings of his children.
Therefore the father alone may
sue for a wrongful injury to the child
and damages secured go to him alone.
While recent legislation in New Jersey
gives the mother and father equal rights
in the services and earning of their minor
child, the law does not appear to touch
upon the natural guardianship of the child
while the parents live together. Therefore
the old common law would still be in force,
under which the father is regarded as the
natural guardian and given all parental
authority and if the mother during the
father's lifetime exercises discipline over
the child , "the law presumes it to be done
by his direction and with his consent."
The father, then , is entitled tojdecide the
extent of the education of the child
beyond what is required under the state
school law, the nature of the child's
employment , and otherwise to direct the
course of his life .
In another state, which shall be nameless,
there was a case in which it was
decided that the father was entitled to
collect damages for the death of his
child and also for the mental pain and
anguish of the mother.
No one for an instant thinks that the
millions of generous, just American
fathers want these discriminationsagainst
women to continue in the laws. No one
for an instant believes that the millions
of happy, contented America n mothers
want to have laws remain which may
cause miserv to even a few other mothers
and children. The laws can be changed
as they were in Rhode Island and as they
have been in other states if right-minded
mothers and fathers ask the members of
the legislatures to do it.