ld rascal portrayed by Frank Bacon in his play "Lightnin'" is
typical of this kind of husband.

There is no ground for outside interference in such an arrangement as
long as both are satisfied and the family as a unit is self-supporting.
It is often a serious problem to the case worker, however, to know how
to treat such a family if the breadwinner-wife becomes incapacitated.
Such was the case when Mrs. Laflin fell ill with tuberculosis. Her
relatives described her husband as "that little nonentity of a man." He
had no bad habits and was pathetically eager to work, but though only a
little over fifty he was prematurely aged and incapable. The solution
had finally to be institutional care for the entire family, Mrs. Laflin
in a hospital for incurables, Mr. Laflin in a home for the aged, and
their two young daughters, through the interest of a former employer, in
a good convent school. "Uncomplicated" non-support, as in the case of
Mr. Laflin, is, however, rare in the experience of the social worker.

Out of a group of 51 non-supporters selected at random from the records
of the Buffalo Charity Organization Society in 1917, 46 showed some
serious moral fault other than non-support. Alcoholism is probably the
commonest of these complications; and, as has been pointed out in the
previous chapter, is probably a primary cause as well. It will be a
matter of great interest to social workers whether the "non-support
rate" is reduced after July 1, 1919. Grounds for hope that it may be are
found in the fact that some remarkable results have been obtained by
moving alcoholic non-supporters and their families from "wet" into "dry"
territory.

Another vice that has a direct relation to non-support (much more direct
than to desertion) is gambling. The gambler carries no signs of his vice
upon his person as does the inebriate, and it is therefore hard to
detect. It undoubtedly does not appear in social case records as
frequently as it should. Case workers should have it in mind as a
possible explanation, whenever there is a marked discrepancy between
what a non-supporter earns and what he contributes to the home.

With the non-supporters rather than with the deserters should be put
the group of men whose wives tire of supporting them and either put them
out or leave them. These men are often not only morally, but mentally
and physically, so handicapped that there is nothing to be gained by
constantly pursuing and arresting them, al