The laws of many states contain a provision that the marriage of a person who has completely disappeared and not been heard from in a period of years can be set aside by the proper authorities.  This makes legal the remarriage of the spouse.  In nearly all of the states divorce can be obtained on the ground of long continued desertion.[27] The wisdom of advising such a divorce, however, should receive careful individual consideration, particularly in relation to the religious faith of the client and the attitude of that faith toward divorce.

3.  Man’s Whereabouts Known; Man Unwilling to Return or Support.—­Many types of deserting men are included under this catch-all heading—­the so-called “justifiable deserter;” the man who has fled to escape his creditors or is a fugitive from justice; the man who has elected to try life with another mate; the wandering hobo who means to come back some sweet day but not now; the cowardly pregnancy deserter; the low-grade irresponsible—­a motley crew.  They are grouped together here for convenience, since they constitute those with whom coercive measures have most often to be used.

A good example of the “justifiable deserter” is found in the story of Williams.[28] This man, when home conditions became intolerable, tried to secure his children’s safety through the courts but did not obtain a hearing.  He left home feeling that he was fully justified.  The lame point in his self-defense was his failure to support his children, and it took a court order to rectify this in part.

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Joseph Mellor is in a more logical situation in his refusal to provide for his wife, since he is paying the board of his child in a good institution.  He makes no charge against her character, but insists that her quarrelsome and dictatorial disposition makes her impossible to live with.  She had haled him so many times into court and lost him so many positions that Mellor, who earns a good salary, will deal with her only through his lawyer, who keeps his client’s whereabouts secret and will not trust the social worker interested even to the extent of arranging an interview.

It is generally impossible in cases of such deep-seated antagonism to make any plans looking toward reconciliation.  The “justifiable deserter” can usually be reasoned with, and once he understands and admits his responsibilities, can often be made to live up to them without judicial process.

A ship steward deserted his wife, who was both alcoholic and paretic, taking with him his only child whom he placed with his relatives.  The woman was devoted to the boy and broken in spirit because she was not allowed to see him.  The steward claimed, probably correctly, that he was not responsible for the woman’s syphilitic condition.  The following extract from the record of the first interview with the man is quoted to show the lines of argument which were effective