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Page 22
One of the most important items in desertion cases, and one far too
often neglected, is the verification of the marriage. Much seeming
indifference and confusion on this point is probably caused by the
quasi-legality in many states of common law marriages. The case worker
should not forget, however, that a common law union is often only a
device on the part of one or the other of the two to avoid prosecution
for bigamy. When it is established that the marriage is a common law
union, a strong suspicion should be set up in the worker's mind that
there may be some legal barrier to a ceremony, and careful inquiry
should be directed along this line. Not only does the verification of a
marriage give the worker a sound basis on which to proceed to court
action if necessary, but the copy of the actual marriage record, where
that can be procured, gives much valuable information as to dates,
addresses, and names of relatives and witnesses. A transcript of the
record will usually be furnished by the registrar of vital statistics
in the city where the marriage took place (if in the United States) for
a nominal fee of fifty cents.
It is much more difficult to verify marriages which took place in other
countries, and social workers are often appalled by the prevalence of
the so-called "American marriage" among immigrant deserters, who trust
to our happy-go-lucky methods for protection against a prosecution for
bigamy.
Such was the case of Orfeo Pelligrini, who came to this country and
took a new wife when his children in Italy were nearly grown. His
Italian family came to America through their own efforts a few years
later, and Orfeo found that he had underestimated the character of
his eldest son, who traced his father, had him arrested and taken to
the city where his original family was living. Orfeo, now forcibly
reunited to the wife of his bosom, walks softly under the threat of
bigamy proceedings, while the "American" wife refuses to take any
action on the ground that "he didn't go away from me of his own
wish, and why should I put him behind the bars?"
* * * * *
Of an altogether more simple mental make-up was the Slovak laborer
who brought his pregnant "American wife" and two children to the
district office of a charity organization society, saying that the
relatives in Europe of Anna, his first wife, had sent Anna to this
country, and she was on the point of arriving. He added that, as
manifestly it was not possible to support two families on his wages,
he would like to provide for his second wife through "the Charity."
A district secretary who has worked for many years with Italians is
authority for the statement that marriages in Italy are always
registered at the man's legal residence, no matter where the marriage
took place. "Careful Italian parents, if they cannot get reliable
information in other ways, write to the 'paese' of a suitor for
information in regard to his conjugal condition. A marriage which takes
place in America is customarily registered with the consul for
transmission to the home town in Italy."
In some countries of Latin America great confusion may be caused by the
fact that a marriage performed in church is not legal in the eyes of the
state unless a second ceremony is gone through before the civil
authorities. A Guatemalan woman, deserted in this country, had no
recourse in law because she had had only the church ceremony in her
country. Her claim to the status of common law wife was invalidated by
the man's producing proof that he was already married at the time the
religious ceremony was performed.
Having established the fact that a legal marriage has taken place, the
case worker must keep in mind the possibility that it may have been
later dissolved. It is not at all uncommon to find that a deserter who
has gone off with another woman has started proceedings to get a divorce
by "publication." This can happen when the two have gone to a state
where such unfair divorce procedure is permitted. Publication in these
cases takes place in local newspapers which there is little or no chance
of the wife seeing; and she may later find herself a divorced woman with
no legal claim for support for herself or children, and suffering under
charges of misconduct without having had a chance of being heard. The
National Desertion Bureau found this proceeding so common an abuse that
it established a clearing bureau in its central office, and its local
representatives in different parts of the country notify this bureau as
soon as any action for divorce is started by a man with a Jewish name
against a wife whose "address is unknown."[23]
What are some of the other points at which the investigation of cases of
desertion may differ from the technique generally accepted? The
superintendent of a desertion bureau, in answer to this question, said
that he emphasized "neighborhood references" more than in the ordinary
case. Social workers have become very wary, of course, of much inquiry
among present neighbors; but where the protection of the woman or the
children is involved it is often necessary to procure the testimony of
people who live nearby or in the same house. A deserted family is
usually so much a center of neighborhood interest or sympathy, or both,
that it is easier than in some other types of cases to secure
information from neighbors, tradesmen, and so on, without augmenting
neighborhood gossip.
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