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, although some wives extract the
sweets of revenge from doing just this. Few courts of domestic relations
are without some wives as regular patrons who pursue their husbands not
for gain but for sport. For the most part, however, the wives of such
men are philosophical. "I only wash for meself now," said one of them.

These men, and the unreclaimed deserters, doubtless make up a large part
of the floating population of homeless men in our large cities. How
large a part it is impossible to say, for they are likely to give
assumed names and deny the possession of families. Mrs. Solenberger[43]
has noted, however, that if they are asked, not "Are you married?" but a
less direct question such as "Where is your wife now?" a story of
unfortunate married life will often be elicited. Until we have some
better method of inter-city registration of homeless men, many of these