Wife Deserters and Suicides by Editor

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Apr 16, 1914

Wife Deserters and Suicides

By Editor

MANY men have faced grave crises in their financial affairs. Many husbands and fathers have come to a place in their experience where it seemed an utter impossibility to provide necessary food and clothing for those dependent upon them. Some have heroically struggled on, and time has shown that their struggles were not in vain. The tide has turned. God has recognized their loyalty to those they love, and has opened the way before them. Others, with perhaps no faith in God, have cowardly committed suicide or deserted their wives and children. We say that they have cowardly done this, for this we believe is the true word to designate this course. Speaking of this, the Cincinnati Times-Star says:—

Of cowardice there are many kinds—from the purely physical to the moral and spiritual. But the cowardice displayed by a man who deserts the woman he has sworn to love and cherish, for better or worse, deserves the contempt of every right-minded being. The Cincinnati department of charities and corrections reports that since January 1 no less than fifty wives have lodged complaints of this character with it. A most unsavory record!

A majority of these cases show that the misnamed husbands deserted their wives and children without making any effort to provide even temporarily for their care. Driven to desperation by lack of employment, many a man has felt that those dependent upon him would be no worse off, even though no better, without him. Yet the man with real courage does not desert in the face of such odds. Only cowards do that.

We rarely hear, on the other hand, of wives deserting husbands when troubles of the ordinary kind loom large on the horizon. They turn momentary bravery into steadfast courage, and fight side by side with their mates.