DESERTION AND DIVORCE IN PHILADELPHIA.

In Philadelphia, where city and county are coterminous, there are three separate courts having jurisdiction over marriage and family matters. The Orphans Court has jurisdiction over the issuance of marriage licenses and their custody; the Court of Common Pleas has jurisdiction in matters pertaining to divorce, annulment, and legal separation; while the Municipal Court has jurisdiction over virtually all other family areas, including desertion and non-support, and child custody. Since 1950 was a Census year, the Municipal Court Statistician, Mr. Frank S. Drown, acted upon the suggestion that the data on desertion and non support for this year be assembled in greater detail, thus adding some new dimensions to his material. The divorce data were procured from the divorce testimony of cases heard in Court Number Six, one of the seven Common Pleas Courts in Philadelphia which handle divorce actions. In the assignment of the cases to the courts a mechanical numbering device is used which assures the randomness of cases among the courts.