The Delinquent Child and the Home
Chapter 5: The Orphan and the Homeless Child: the Problem of Misfortune
Sophonisba Breckinridge and Edith Abbott
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IT HAS been shown that many of the children dealt with by the court come from homes separated by habits of thought and language from much of our American city life, and that into this life the children are often forced to enter in a peculiarly solitary fashion. It has also been shown that many come from homes of poverty. Neither of these groups, however, presents to the court a problem of such difficulty as is presented by those children who come from homes not merely strange or poor but broken; the children who are fatherless, motherless, or wholly orphaned; the children who are virtually, if not nominally, homeless. For the immigrant child, the probation officer may prove the necessary friend and guide; for the child from the home in which poverty is a factor in promoting delinquency, the probation officer may secure relief, find work, alter conditions of employment, or in some other way succeed in putting the family on its feet; but for the child who has lost one or both parents or has been deserted or abandoned, the problem is that of providing a substitute for the family life which is needed, and of performing the extremely difficult task of supervising the new group of which the child has been made a member.
While this misfortune of being motherless or fatherless may make it easy for children in any social stratum to "get into trouble," the loss of either father or mother is much more serious for the children of the poor. Such substitutes for parental care as can be provided are usually too expensive to be enjoyed by those of limited means. It is therefore closely related to the fact of delinquency that the orphan children of the court come, for the most part,, from families in which the misfortune of death is
(91) accompanied by extreme poverty, and that in many cases the misfortune is directly traceable to conditions of vice or crime or degradation in the home. So far, then, as the court's wards are concerned, the problem of the orphan child is usually more than a problem of simple misfortune; it is rather a problem of children left wholly or in part unprotected in tenement homes or in neighborhoods where many temptations are offered that are not met by those in more favorable surroundings.
The following tables, which present such data as could be obtained from the court records and from the family schedules concerning the parental condition of the children of the court, show how large a proportion of them have been deprived of the advantages of normal parental care.
| Parental Condition | BOYS | GIRLS | TOTAL | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number | Per Cent | Number | Per Cent | Number | Per Cent | |
| Father dead. | 1557 | 13.6 | 494 | 17.8 | 2051 | 14.5 |
| Mother dead. | 1013 | 8.9 | 353 | 12.7 | 1366 | 9.6 |
| Both parents dead | 349 | 3.1 | 173 | 6.3 | - , 522 | 3.7 |
| Separated or divorced | 166 | 1.5 | log | 3.9 | ' 2 5 | 1 |
| Father deserted . | 181 | 1.6 | 99 | 3.6 | 280 | 2 0 |
| Mother deserted | 95 | .8 | 19 | .7 | 114 | .8 |
| Both parents deserted | 117 | 1.0 | 34 | 1.2 | . 151 | 1.0 |
| One or both parents in prison | 15 | .1 | 9 | .3 | 24 | .2 |
| One or both parents insane or in in institutions[1] | 30 | .3 | 15 | 5 | 45 | .3 |
| Neither parent immigrated [2] | 11 | .1 | 2 | .I | 13 | ,1 |
| Total abnormal . | 3534 | 31.0 | 1307 | 47- 1 | 4841 | 34. 1 |
| Total apparently normal . . | 7543 | 66.1 | 1428 | 51.6 | 8971 | 63.3 |
| Parental condition not reported | 336 | 2.9 | 35 | 1.3 | 371 | 2.6 |
| Total number of cases | 11,413 | 100.0 | 2770 | 100.0 | 14,183 | 100.0 |
(92) In Table 19 it appears that 31 per cent of the delinquent boys and 47 per cent of the delinquent girls before their appearance in court had lost one or both parents by death,-desertion, imprisonment, or similar misfortune and that they had not had the benefit of the wholesome discipline which normal family life affords.
| Parental Condition | BOYS | GIRLS | TOTAL | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number | Per Cent | Number | Per Cent | Number | Per Cent | |
| Father dead | 116 | 19.9 | 30 | 19.1 | 146 | 19.7 |
| Mother dead | 57 | 9.8 | 32 | 20.4 | 89 | 12.0 |
| Both dead . | 25 | 4.3 | 7 | 4.5 | 32 | 4.3 |
| Separated or divorced | 12 | 2.0 | 12 | 7.6 | 24 | 3.2 |
| Father deserted | 21 | 3.6 | 13 | 8.3 | 34 | 4.6 |
| Mother deserted | 2 | .3 | 1 | .6 | 3 | .4 |
| Both deserted[3] (or one deserted and one dead or insane) | 10 | 1.7 | 15 | 9.6 | 25 | 3.4 |
| One parent in prison [4] | 2 | .3 | 7 | 4.5 | 9 | 1.2 |
| One or both parents insane or in Institutions [5]. | 5 | .9 | 3 | 1.9 | 8 | 1.1 |
| Neither parent immigrated | 3 | .5 | 1 | .6 | 4 | .6 |
| Total abnormal | 253 | 43.3 | 121 | 77.1 | 374 | 50.5 |
| Total apparently normal . | 331 | 56.7 | 36 | 22.9 | 367 | 49.5 |
| Total number of cases . . . | 584 | 100.0 | 157 | 100.0 | 741 | 100.0 |
The further data gathered in the family schedules for 1903-04 indicate that the figures in Table 19 understate rather than overstate the extent to which the court's wards have been orphaned. Thus Table 20 shows that among the children from whom this more detailed information was secured, 20 per cent of the boys instead of 14 per cent were fatherless, and 10 per cent instead of c) per cent were
(93) motherless; and among the girls 19 per cent instead of 18 per cent were fatherless, while 20 per cent instead of 13 per cent were motherless. In addition to the homes broken by death are those in which divorce, separation, or desertion have left the children practically orphaned. Here again the more accurate data from the family schedules show a larger number of children deprived of parental care than do the court records. According to Table 20 only 57 instead of 66 per cent of the boys, as indicated by Table 19, and only 23 instead Of 52 per cent of the girls, belonged to apparently normal families. It is also significant that there were 75 homeless boys in this 1 903-0.t group who had no families to be visited and who are therefore not included among the fatherless or motherless children for whom family schedules were secured.
Of the danger which must be faced by the child wholly orphaned and left alone and in poverty in a great city, little need be said, but a few cases should perhaps be cited. There is thirteen-year-old colored James, for example, fatherless and motherless, who was used by an older man in a bold attempt at burglary, was arrested, put on probation, but disappeared wholly from the knowledge of the court and cannot be traced; and twelve-year-old Robert, who, after the death of his parents, is charged with cutting another boy and committed to the John Worthy School for eight months, then put on probation, paroled to the manager of the acrobatic troupe of a great circus organization, six months later again brought into court charged with loitering about street corners in bad company, committed to an institution for dependent boys, and after his release wholly lost track of. Fourteen-year-old orphan Charles was first placed on a county poor farm, then became the ward of a children's aid society, was placed successively in four different homes, and was finally brought to court as incorrigible and was committed to the John Worthy School.
It is evident that the young girl who is orphaned or abandoned in the city may easily become delinquent. It may be interesting, however, to note the following fairly typical cases, taken from the long list of girls with no real homes who come into court year after year. Such cases show what a device for gathering in fragments of humanity the court may prove when once adequately equipped with agents to discover those in need of protection, and
( 94) with the means of training and safeguarding those who have been found.
Dorothy, a seventeen-year-old German girl, fatherless and motherless, was the unmarried mother of an eighteen-months-old baby, which she had left in a " Home." She was arrested twice within ten days, once in a "notorious saloon," once in a "bad hotel." She said she had been "on the street" ever since her mother died, but was quite willing to go to an institution.
Amanda, a fourteen-year-old German girl, lived with Mrs. M., whose eldest daughter was immoral and whose eldest son drank and took advantage of Amanda. It was recognized that the child was not vicious but wholly untrained, and after being brought into court for immorality, she was committed for nine months to the House of the Good Shepherd. After her release she was placed in an unfortunate home, but after being put in another home where she has the care of two small children she seems to have improved enough to be permanently released from probation at the age of seventeen.
Mary, a fifteen-year-old girl, fatherless and motherless, frequented the company of vicious persons and was said to be "a wilful wanderer in streets and alleys." She was committed to Geneva, where she completed the eighth grade. After her release she completed a high-school course and is now teaching.
Myda, a sixteen-year-old girl whose parents are dead, came from a country town to Chicago to give birth to an illegitimate child. She refused to divulge the name of the father of her child or to care for the child. She was not vicious, but weak and irresponsible, and had no home and no one to care for her.
Carrie, a girl whose parents died when she was about six years old, was committed at the age of nine to Geneva and was later released. At the age of thirteen she was brought into court for immorality and committed to the Erring Woman's Refuge.
Grace, a Norwegian orphan, sixteen years of age, had been dancing in Oriental scenes in cheap theaters and sleeping in empty flats. She was committed to Geneva for immorality.
Pearl, a motherless girl of seventeen whose father lives in a country town, lived in different rooming houses in com-
(95) -pany with one man for a number of weeks, and was for three weeks in a house of prostitution.
Pearl, a thirteen-year-old motherless girl whose father lives in Michigan, lived with a prostitute sister in whose house she was assaulted by a man to whom her sister claims to be married.
The number of children who are wholly orphaned is very much smaller than the number of those who have lost only one parent; but even this slighter misfortune is a heavy one, as the surviving parent usually proves quite incapable of playing the part of both father and mother. Whether it be the father who attempts to carry the burden of training and care along with the burden of support, or the mother who adds the responsibilities of wage-earning to those of the home, the result will probably be disastrous to the children. But of the two, the loss of the wage-earner is apparently the more serious because for him no substitute can be found, and if the mother is compelled to support the family, the home is either confused by becoming a work place or neglected because of her absence.
Among the 1557 fatherless boys who have come into court as delinquent are many children of working mothers. There is, for example, the case of the nine-year-old Irish boy whose father died when he was only four years old. The mother supported herself and five children by washing and managed to keep the bare home clean and sweet. But she could not at the same time take care of her three boys and keep them off the railroad tracks. The result is that one is in Pontiac,[6] another has been in the John Worthy School, and this lad of nine is brought into court a second time for offenses connected with the railroad. He is said to be "fond of his mother and always good to her."
In the case of a Norwegian boy, one of four children, who had a good home in a very poor neighborhood, there was a similar situation. The father died; and while the mother was away washing, the boy got in with a bad gang. To be sure, when the mother married again, the stepfather was watchful and even severe; but it was too late, and the boy is now in Pontiac.
There are many cases of delinquent girls who, when they were
(96) too young, were obliged to share with the mother the burden of family support. There is the case of a Russian Jewish family where the father died leaving seven small children. The mother worked out by the day, trying to support them; the home was miserably poor, dirty, and disorderly. The oldest daughter also worked hard, giving all her wages to her mother, but by the time she was seventeen she had been in court, and in Geneva, twice. In another case, a mother who was left with six children tried to take care of them by washing and cleaning. The oldest girl, who was allowed to go to work in a department store, became "very immoral" before she was sixteen, and was sent to Geneva by the court. Many similar cases of fatherless girls whose mothers worked, may be found not only in the family paragraphs but in the histories given in the court records. Some of these seem much more unfortunate, but perhaps for that reason less typical, than those which have been given. There is Lena, for example, a fourteen-year-old German girl whose father is dead and whose mother is a scrubwoman. The girl slept in hallways and toilet rooms, was brought into court on the charge of immorality, and committed to Geneva. After being released she was returned to the court charged with soliciting men on the street at night, and was again committed to the institution. Another case is Roslyn, a colored girl, whose father was dead and whose mother was a domestic servant without a home for the girl. Left alone and unguarded she went with bad company, was brought in as immoral, and committed to Geneva. Two other colored girls are Laura and Geraldine, sisters, fifteen and sixteen years of age, whose father is dead and whose mother is a laundress. The mother, who was away during the day, soon found the girls uncontrollable, and asked that they be taken in charge by the court.
Almost inevitably the fact that the mother goes out to work means that the home is cheerless and untidy and that the children have every opportunity to stay away from school and live that life of the streets which is at once so alluring and so demoralizing. A long record of cases like the following might be given to show how direct is the line of descent from the working mother to the delinquent child: "The mother took in washing and had a hard struggle for years; . . . was not able to look after the children
( 97) properly"; " the boy had never had proper home care; he was kept out of school to deliver washing for his mother"; the mother "has always been away from home all day, and the children have been left to look after themselves"; the mother "went out to work and left the children in charge of a neighbor, who did not treat them properly"; "while the mother was a widow working away from home, the boy got in with a bad gang"; "the mother supports the family by washing; . . . the boy is said to have very little care at home"; after the father's death "the mother had to go to work, and there was no one left to look after the family"; "the mother supported the family by washing and cleaning; the children were left alone all day."
It is clear then that, in the family where the father's death is accompanied by poverty, disaster to the children may easily result. In families in this class, the loss of the father is likely to be more disastrous than the loss of the mother. That is, of course, quite unlike the situation in the ordinary well-to-do family where the father's death does not mean any material change in the family resources, and where the children probably suffer more from the loss of the mother, who is the more intimate parent. But in the poor home, when the father dies, the entire income of the family is suddenly cut off and not only is there the difficulty involved in a radical readjustment of the standard of living, but there is in effect the loss of both parents, for the mother if she must earn money is no longer able to perform her real duties. That is, when the father dies, there is no other way of providing a new wage-earner than for the mother to give up her household duties and make a brave effort to do work for which she is not trained. On the other hand, when the mother dies the father may secure a housekeeper, one of the older children may succeed in taking the mother's place, or a woman relative may be at hand to tide over the interval until the probable remarriage. If, however, these substitutes for the mother's care are not found, or if the father deserts his motherless children, or fails to provide the necessary supervision, the children are likely to come to grief. There is, for example, the case of the boy who, after his mother died, became the family housekeeper, getting the meals for his father and brothers. When the boy became a ward of the court the father said "a little boy could not
( 98) possibly be good all the time when he had had no one to look after him from the time he was eight years old." Or, there is the case of the boy who was allowed to run wild after his mother's death, the family were in very comfortable circumstances, but the housekeeper did everything she could to keep the boy out of the house; he became a truant, then incorrigible, then a forger, and is said to be "still bad." Or, there is the home in which after the mother's death there was a frequent change of housekeepers, so that the boys were not "made to mind"; the older brothers were uncared for, the little sister was backward, and the youngest boy was brought into court at the age of eleven for stealing.
Again and again, too, one finds in the court records the case of the girl "whose mother is dead and whose father is unable to control her." Frequently the girl is only thirteen or fourteen, but her father thinks she is "associating with immoral persons" and feels helpless about saving her. Sometimes the father is distinctly at fault, as in the case of Julia, a thirteen-year-old Danish girl, whose mother was dead and who had the care of a very poor home, an attic of three rooms. The father spent his money for other things and gave the girl only 10 cents a day for food; she was poorly clad and found to be undernourished. She was tried in another home, but was later brought into court on the charge of stealing; she was said to be "a liar, rebellious, and uncontrollable." Or, there is the similar case of Ethel, a sixteen-year-old girl, whose mother is dead and whose father gave up the home and went to live in a boarding house where the landlady was willing to have the girl around, but was unwilling to assume any responsibility for her. The girl soon became wayward, was brought into court first on the charge of being immoral and having visited a house of prostitution, a second time as incorrigible, and a third time as a vagrant.
In connection with the effect of the mother's death and of neglect by the father, notice should be taken of some of the many cases of girls who have been abandoned. They are obviously to be classed, so far as their circumstances are concerned, with the homeless girls who have become delinquent, but in the court records their histories show them to be definite cases of abandonment. Some specific notes of these motherless girls whose fathers have completely abandoned them may be useful. The cases
( 99) which follow are those of girls for whom no family schedule was secured, but whose stories are told in some detail in the court records.
Daisy, a seventeen-year-old motherless girl whose father abandoned her, had been living for two years in a house of prostitution.
Mary, another motherless girl abandoned by her father, was brought by her brother into court because he could not control her.Emma, a fifteen-year-old motherless girl whose father has abandoned her, frequents wine rooms and dance halls.
Annie, seventeen years old, motherless, whose father has never immigrated, wanted to see the world and ran away with a theatrical troupe. She was arrested on the street in an intoxicated condition, and was committed to the House of the Good Shepherd.
Vera, an Italian girl of sixteen whose mother died when the girl was three years old, lived with her father in California until two months ago, when he sent her to Chicago. A charitable society found her a home, from which she escaped; she then stayed at the Young Women's Christian Association until the superintendent turned her over as incorrigible. She was committed to Geneva, but is now keeping house for her father in a western city and seems to be doing well.
Minnie, a seventeen-year-old girl brought to court on the charge of larceny, was motherless and abandoned by her father, and had got in the habit of " staying out late nights."
Reference has been made to the probable remarriage of the surviving parent; and the stepmother or stepfather as a factor in the life of the delinquent child is undeniably important. It is not to be suggested that the presumption is against the skill and affection of the step-parent; but the possibilities of misunderstanding will be readily admitted, and many cases are found in which the friction that has developed is detrimental to the children of the family. The problem, however, is not one of misfortune, but is rather one of confusion in the home, and as such will be discussed more fully in a later chapter.[7]
The situation of the orphaned child may seem to be mitigated
(100) when there is a relative able and willing to serve in the capacity of a guardian. Sometimes, however, in the absence of wise control, the possession of such relatives is by no means an unmixed blessing. The relatives are often old and irritable and out of sympathy, possibly resenting the care of the child at this unseasonable period of life when the burden of child-rearing should be laid on younger shoulders. If the boy or girl stays away from home and refuses to obey there is almost inevitably doubt and friction and a final resort to the authority of the court.
In the case of one boy who had a good home, but who had lost both parents, he and his sister were claimed by a stepmother, two aunts, and a grandmother. The children lived with the grandmother most of the time, but soon grew very wild. The girl has been in the House of the Good Shepherd twice and is there now; the boy, at the age of fourteen, was brought into court as a vagrant and put on probation; later he became a messenger boy, then ran away from home, and is now in a reform school in a western city on a charge of grand larceny. Another boy lived with his grandmother, who tried to care for him after his mother's death. She was a kind but incapable woman, and although he was dutiful and gave her regularly all his meager wages, the home was evidently unpleasant, and he became a vagabond, running away and sleeping under sidewalks. In another case the uncle and aunt, while possibly well-intentioned, were most severe to a little eleven-year-old orphan boy who was left in their care. He met with an accident after which his leg had to be amputated. Later he was brought in as incorrigible and put on probation; and after three years he was again brought in as incorrigible and sent to the John Worthy School.
Other cases of children who have fallen into the hands of relatives unfit to be guardians are found in the histories of the delinquent girls. Two motherless Geneva girls, for example, belonged to a family of four children left to the care of an old grandmother. The father was a drunkard who neglected the children and criminally abused one of the girls, the grandmother drank, the house was very dirty and ill-kept, and an aunt who lived with them had a very bad temper and quarreled continually. Helen, a seventeen-year-old orphan, lived with her grandmother who,
(101) she said, persecuted her and who was obviously unfit to have the care of a young girl. Helen was brought in as incorrigible and committed to the House of the Good Shepherd. Annie, a Polish girl, fifteen years of age, whose father killed first her mother and then himself, lived with a sister who neglected her or was quite unable to care for her, and who finally brought her into court in a shocking physical condition, on the charge of incorrigibility because she kept disorderly company.
To be classed with the wholly orphaned are those cases of peculiar misfortune in which although only one parent is dead, the surviving parent is quite unfit to care for the children. In the court records a long list of such cases is to be found in which the child is practically abandoned or homeless, and although delinquent, so obviously the victim of misfortune that the fact of delinquency needs no other explanation. There is, for example, eighteen-year-old fatherless Mary, whose mother has been sent to the house of correction, who herself is simple minded, and having become pregnant is brought in on the charge of disorderly conduct. Jennie, a fourteen-year-old fatherless girl, whose mother is a paralytic at Dunning,[8] having escaped through a window from the convent where she had been put, is brought into court as incorrigible. Anna, a girl fifteen years of age, whose father is dead, had lived in a house of prostitution since she was twelve years old. She was committed to Geneva and showed great improvement; but after her release she became the mother of an illegitimate child. Agnes, a fatherless American girl whose mother is an invalid, was brought into court at the age of thirteen as a vagrant because she would not work and slept in vacant buildings. She was committed first to an institution for dependent girls, later paroled to her mother, and brought into court again on the charge of disorderly conduct and sent to Geneva.
In many of the cases which have been given, the misfortune has been caused by, or is accompanied by, degradation and vice. There are the cases of the death of the father or mother following intemperance which had already so demoralized the family that there was little hope of ever reclaiming any of the children. There are, too, the cases of suicide which have sometimes followed other
( 102) evils in the home. In the family of one delinquent girl, the father, when crazed with drink, committed suicide; the mother had a doubtful reputation among the neighbors but married again; one brother was not very bright; one girl had St. Vitus' dance and seemed weak mentally; and while the stepfather has been good to the girl, there is little hope of saving her. In another case, the mother had committed suicide and the children had no care; the father was a drunkard with the cocaine habit, so vulgar and so indecent in the home that the girl's morals were thought to be in danger and she was brought into court. The family was destitute and had been a public charge for years; one boy was in the parental school, one in the John Worthy School, and one girl in Geneva.
In a large number of cases where the court records state that the child is fatherless, the father is really not dead, but has deserted the family. In the case of 21 girls out of 157 for whom family schedules were obtained the father had deserted.[9] In many of these cases his presence had been a constant source of demoralization in the home, and it was not a serious calamity when he finally deserted and abandoned all responsibility. This might even seem to be for the good of the home, but only too often the family was demoralized beyond hope of recovery. Such cases are to be found in the histories of both delinquent boys and delinquent girls. A long list of cases might be given in which such facts as the following appear from the family histories.
A family of 13 children; father a drunkard who deserted them; mother scrubs and cleans; "a very poor, dirty, and crowded home."
Family "very degraded"; father, a drunkard, criminally abused two little daughters (who later became delinquent wards of the court) and then deserted the family to avoid prosecution. Mother married again, but stepfather also drank and was so abusive that wife and children left him.Father, a man of bad habits, deserted; mother drank; she said girl had inherited unfortunate tendencies from father.
(103)
A family of fourteen children, six of whom died; father was immoral and cruel to his wife, and very unkind to his children; he deserted, leaving family to charity; the girl left home because of ill treatment and became immoral.
Father, professional gambler, utterly irresponsible, deserted his family; one boy was always "wild" and one girl went to a house of prostitution.
Father and mother, both shiftless begging people who will not work; father periodically deserts family, who were all in Home for the Friendless at one time and who are often destitute and a public charge. Father is now in old soldiers' home and three of the children are in a soldiers' orphan home.A family of six children, one girl delinquent; home dirty and untidy with two beds in parlor; mother has a bad reputation, drinks habitually and always has the house full of men. Father deserted at one time, and family has been helped by a charitable society constantly for two years.
A family of seven children; father, an habitual drunkard, supposed to be a fruit peddler but really a common tramp; deserts periodically but always comes back; very brutal to wife and children when he is at home, and responsible for demoralization of two older girls; family a county charge and on records of three relief societies.
A very degraded home; father drunken and immoral, abused girl's mother shamefully before her death; criminally abused girl when she was only seven and then abandoned her. Girl brought to court at the age of twelve on charge that she was "growing up in crime."
And more cruel often than the death of the body is the passing of the mental powers, leaving the physical frame tenanted with strange spirits, so that the home is inevitably either confused by the presence of the demented member or shadowed by the consciousness of the reason for his absence. There are a number of instances in which it is probable that both insanity or mental weakness and delinquency are effects of a common cause, or joint evidence of degraded habits of living. In the following cases, for example, it appears that desertion, vice, and brutality accompanying insanity greatly increase the tragic consequences to the child.
(104)Lillie, a German girl, seven years of age, whose father, now dead, is said to have been as near a brute as a human being could be, whose mother is insane, and whose sister is abnormal, was brought in as incorrigible and immoral.
Vera, a seventeen-year-old girl, whose father's address is unknown, and whose mother is insane, found employment as a barmaid in a concert hall, and afterwards became a prostitute.
Rosie, a sixteen-year-old Russian Jewess, whose mother is in the hospital for the insane, and whose father abandoned her, was brought into court on the charge of immorality.
Annie, a fifteen-year-old girl, whose father was frozen to death and whose mother is of unsound mind, has two brothers who are imbeciles. She is herself feebleminded, and has been the mother of three illegitimate children-probably the children of her imbecile brothers.
It has been difficult in many cases cited to avoid the impression that with misfortune there were found low standards of conduct and either immoral practices or their consequences in physical, mental, or moral weakness. In many cases the evidences of degradation are not implied but explicit and obvious. To a consideration of them the following chapter will be devoted. In this chapter an attempt has been made to point out the possible consequences of a failure on the part of the community to make good as far as possible in the case of every child, the loss through death, desertion, or insanity of that parental care and nurture which should be the lot of all children.
