The Survey, Volume 30, Number 2, Apr 12, 1913Various
History
The Survey, Volume 30, Number 2, Apr 12, 1913
Various
Charities -- Periodicals; Social problems -- Periodicals; United States -- Social conditions -- Periodicals
This did not seem to unnerve him. He made repeated requests for release
and the remission of the fine, but when reminded that he had money in
the bank and should evidence his good will by applying part of the funds
to his family, he became sullen and would not yield.
There was one point that Zepnick apparently overlooked. A husband and
father is responsible for the necessaries furnished to the wife and
children if he neglects to provide for them. Any stranger may make the
necessary provision and hold the parent to account. In this case it was
the United Hebrew Charities. After consultation with the National
Desertion Bureau it was decided to institute a civil action and attach
the money that Zepnick had in the St. Louis bank. The necessary papers
were drawn by the desertion bureau. Then, through Bernard Greensfelder,
a St. Louis attorney, a writ of garnishment was served upon the
Commonwealth Trust Company and the money, amounting to $790, was
attached.
Notice was served by the bureau’s representative upon Zepnick at Sing
Sing Prison, and what a change! For once he became meek and tractable.
Realizing the futility of opposition, he defaulted and confessed
judgment. On February 11, of this year final judgment was entered
against him in the sum of $790 which less court costs left a balance of
$755.43. The United States Circuit Court of St. Louis sent a check for
the money, which was at once turned over by the Desertion Bureau to the
United Hebrew Charities. Although the struggle lasted for five years,
some little redress has been secured and now the Zepnick family will be
able to enjoy a legitimate gratuity. Zepnick himself, however, is still
obdurate and is believed to be in London and thus beyond the
jurisdiction of our courts.
THE ITALIAN AND THE SETTLEMENT
Said an American afterward: “It was not a man who spoke but a bewildered
people.” The speaker was Vittoria Racca, professor of political economy
at the University of Rome, and his audience was a gathering of
settlement workers in New York to whom he endeavored to interpret the
protests of the Italian immigrant usually heard only as a grumbling in
dialect. Professor Racca has a two years’ leave of absence in which to
study the opportunities for his fellow country men and women in America
and the efforts that are being made in their behalf. He purposes to
write a book on the subject when he returns.
The speaker described the Italian parent in this country calling his
children to his knee and crying in tragic amazement: “These are not like
the children we had in Italy.” Whence, he asked, came this strange brood
and how was it hatched out under the parents’ wings? With his
explanation was bound up sane advice for many of his listeners.
More stress, said Professor Racca, should be laid on the building up of
human personality by settlements. The buildings should not be so fine
that the Italians do not feel at home. He went on:—
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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