Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 3.djvu/393

 THE RELIEF AND CARE OF DEPENDENTS 379

The obligation of relatives needs further comment. The parent must care for his minor child. The earnings of the minor (where no limitations have been made) may be taken and used by the parent. Between the parent and the minor the duty of support may be said to be reciprocal. This, in many of our commonwealths, has been extended so as to include more distant relatives, and to include parent and child under different conditions. This reciprocal duty has, in a number of states, been extended to parents and their indigent adult children and to adults and their indigent parents. 1 In West Virginia and Oregon a further extension is made so as to include not only the parent and the child of the indigent, but also his brother and sister. 2 In other states another extension is made so as to include grandparents, parents, children, and grandchildren. 3 And, finally, in seven states it is extended so as to include all in the direct line from grandparents to grandchildren as well as the brothers and sisters. 4

There are limitations to this duty of support on the part of

1 This extension has been made in the seven states of New York (sees. 147-159, p. 2279, Birdseye's R. S.), New Jersey (sees. I, p. 2510, Gen. Stat.), Georgia (sec. 764, Clarke, Cobb, Irwin's Code), Michigan (sees. 1741-1744, Annotated Stat.), Wisconsin (1503-1506, R. S.), North Dakota (2787, Rev. Code), and South Dakota (2612, Terri- torial Code of Dakota).

See sec. 18, ch. 46, the Code [of West Virginia, 1891, and 3944-3945, Hill's Annotated Laws of Oregon.

'This is the case in Massachusetts (sees. 6,8,9, 10, ch. 33, R. S.)New Hampshire (sec. 12, ch. 83, R. Pub. Stat S.), Vermont (sees. 2822-2824, R. S.), Maine (sec. 17, ch. 24, R. S.), Rhode Island (sees. 5-13, ch. 79, Gen. Laws), Connecticut (sec. 3318, Gen. Stat. as amended in 2893), Pennsylvania (sec. 1700, Brightly 's, Purdon's Digest, as amended in 1895), Delaware (sec. 14, ch. 48, Rev. Code), Alabama (sec. 1466, Code of 1886), Mississippi (sec. 3148, Thompson, Dillard & Campbell's Annotated Code), and Iowa (sees 2117, 2118, 2120, 2137, McLain's Annotated Code) eleven states in all.

4 This farthest extension is found in the seven central and western states of Illinois (sees. 1-3, ch. 107, Hurd's K. S.), Minnesota (sees. 1951-1952, R. S.), Nebraska (sees. 3926-3927, Compiled Stat.), Montana (sees. 3201-3202, Annotated Stat.). Colorado (sec. 3388, Mills' Annotated Stat.), Nevada (sec. 1982, Bailey & Hammond's Gen. Stat.), and Washington (sees. 1596-1597. Laws and Code of 1896).

[Hereafter when the revised code of a state has been once mentioned, it will not be repeated, but the reference will be given by sections only.]