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Four months

Scotch

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Five months

Bohemian

I

Six months

French

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Seven months

Colored

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Russian

Grecian

Lithuanian

Danish
English

Canadian

Hollander

Slav

Polish

Not stated

37

56

56

COURT THIS YEAR WHO HAD

51

46

41

42

Thirteen years

27

31

Fourteen years

24

16

3

NUMBER OF BOYS RETURNED TO

BEEN IN COURT AT SOME
TIME SINCE ITS IN-
CEPTION.

Delinquent boys paroled second time

the court since the establishment of the court

Total number of hearings.. ... 19,593 There is a great difference between the number of active probation officers and the number of commissions issued. There are many persons granted commissions to look after a special case. Of the 149 commissions issued, only about 35 are in regular attendance at the sessions of the court.

In that part of the report giving the nationalities I wish to say that were the word "nativity" used, it would be more accurate, as possibly not more than 10 per cent of the delinquent boys are of foreign birth; the same may be said of the dependents.

Respectfully submitted,

J. J. McMANAMAN, Assistant Prosecutor and Chief Probation Officer.

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Robbery.

Malicious mischief.

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E. FELLOWS JENKINS, Chief Probation Officer. PAROLE REPORT.

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1,204

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Sentence suspended.....

749

Committed for violation of parole.

146

Discharged.....

73

182

8258

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After fifteen months' practical application of the provisions of probation and a careful study of the subject from every possible point of view, it has shown itself to be a most wise departure. The method of individual counsel with the child, who has no fear of punishment and who learns to eschew wrong lest he may suffer for the misbehavior which occasions that counsel, is of inestimable assistance in keeping erring children on the right path. There is small cause for complaint against the conduct of boys generally now on probation. They report to me with the most gratifying regularity, often as many as 150 boys and girls in a single day. Boys now understand better than ever what probation means, and those over twelve invariably fully understand the leniency shown them and improve every opportunity. In many cases where wayward boys are arrested for petty offenses and released the reports show that although they were entirely ungovernable previous to their arrest, the fact that they have been released on probation rather than sent to a reformatory institution encourages them to seek legitimate employment and to behave.

The probation of children has shown a great saving to the county treasury. For instance, during the fifteen months that the

present system of probation has been in operation, 1,204 children were released, and it is reasonable to state that at least 50 per cent of that number would have been committed to institutions under the old method. At the per capita rate of $104 a year for the support of children in institutions, this represents a saving to the city of the enormous amount of $72,904. This includes conditions that may have made it a larger or smaller amount.

Probation is not an experiment in this city, although many people believe such to be the case. During a single year sentence was suspended upon 3,000 children charged with various offenses on condition that they improve in their conduct or suffer commitment in default. This went on in the General and Special Sessions courts and before the city magistrates for a period of over twenty years, and it has been my duty in many such cases to personally recommend to the court that sentence be suspended, in order to give the child an opportunity to show true contrition. The probationer was then required to report to private individuals, clergymen and school teachers, and to the New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, and a child so released was rarely returned to custody for recurrent misbehavior. But the method was not systematized as is now the case, and of course much fewer children were released. The law under which children are now released on probation was the natural outcome of the method in operation by the New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children under the direction of the courts for so many years.

Probation in this city is quite different from that enforced anywhere else in the country. No city has such a complex population as this court must dispense justice to, and that fact aloneif nothing else were considered-makes it a matter of greater difficulty to impress upon the child what its conditional release means; and many scores of the boys released could scarcely speak our language.

Valuable assistance has been rendered me by the ladies of different religious persuasions who attend the children's court and by school teachers having the immediate charge of boys on probation. Respectfully submitted,

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THE JUVENILE COURT IDEA.

Charities, the New York magazine of philanthropy, reviews the growth of the juvenile court idea. It is rich in promise of child saving for the future. For the past, it tells of accomplished reform under different state laws and amidst varying local conditions.

Justice Julius M. Mayer of the New York juvenile court divides the children who have been before him as follows:

I.

2.

Mischievous children.

Children who commit crimes because of temptation. 3. Children who commit crimes because of environment and bad associations.

4. Children who commit crimes because of parental neglect and for incompetency.

5. Children with what may be called criminal tendencies. 6. Children who are runaways and vagrants.

7. Disorderly and ungovernable children.

8. Children who are neglected or abused by their parents. The classification is carefully followed out. The arrests are caused by any number of offenses, from playing ball in the street to stealing. "Fagin" is a reality on the east side, and the punishment, if possible, must be dealt out to the older boy or man who teaches larceny rather than to the boy who stole a handful of marbles. He is released in care of the probation officer. A QUEER NEW YORK CASE.

Justice Mayer came in curious contact with the recent New York election. Not long since some of the "Seventy-fifth streeters" and the "Seventy-sixth streeters" were arrested. With perfect frankness and utterly unconscious either of the humor of the situation or of its seriousness, the leader of the "Seventysixth streets," a boy about 12 years old, said to the court that "Seventy-fifth streeters had stolen the election." It appeared that the "Seventy-sixth streeters" had saved up considerable wood and other material for bonfires on election night and all this material had been captured and secreted by the "Seventy-fifth streeters." Whereupon, according to the exact account of the leader of the "Seventy-sixth streeters," the "Seventy-sixth streeters declared war." The war consisted of a stone battle in which about 100 or 200 boys engaged. It is safe to say that not one in ten of these boys realized that the stone battle involved any danger to others than themselves. Hence the additional difficulty of determining what to do in such cases. On the one hand, the citizen upon the thoroughfare and the real estate owner must be protected.

THE DIFFICULT CASES TO DEAL WITH. "The difficult cases to deal with, however," says Justice Mayer, "are the cases of children whose parents are industrious and reputable, but who seem to have no conception at all of their duties toward their children. They fail to make a study of the child. They fail to understand him. Frequently the father, who could well afford to give his child recreation, or a little spending money, will hold his son by so tight a rein that the child is bound to break away. Only within the past few days a boy stole from his employer, having found an outlet for the disposal of some small wares at about one-quarter their cost price. It developed that he had been a good, hard-working boy, and had ' given every cent of his wages to his parents, who, on their part. had allowed him nothing but his car fare, and yet the boy was bringing home each week $4.50 earned by labor from 8 or 9 o'clock in the morning until 6 o'clock at night."

JUDGE LINDSEY'S IDEAS.

Judge Ben B. Lindsey of Denver has worked out the juvenile court idea perhaps further than any other judge. His methods are original and his account of them in Charities is picturesque. Judge Lindsey, more than most men, has been able to win the hearts and confidence of the boys brought before him. They tell him their stories confident that he will pull them out of their scrapes. Regular meetings of all the probationers are held and the judge gives little talks, not in patronizing words of one syllable, but in the boys' own street vernacular. In this issue of Charities Judge Lindsey tells of the workings of the juvenile court in Denver, Colo.

DEVELOPMENT OF THE IDEA.

The development of the juvenile court idea is traced in this issue of Charities by President T. D. Hurley of the Chicago Visitation and Aid Society. Years of discussion and agitation ended in the defeat of a law proposed in 1891. In 1899 the Bar Association joined in the movement and the juvenile court law was passed.

This law has spread rapidly over America and is now taking a strong foothold in London and Japan. Juvenile court laws have been adopted in Wisconsin, Maryland, Missouri, Colorado, Kansas, California, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Indiana, Connecticut, Minnesota, Louisiana, Delaware and the District of Columbia. In Michigan and a few other states it has failed of passage, but unremitting agitation is expected to accomplish its establishment.

Juvenile Court Record

Published by the Visitation and Aid Society.

T. D. HURLEY Editor, 79 Dearborn St., Chicago, Ill. Eastern Office, 53 W. 24th St., New York City.

The JUVENILE COURT RECORD is published monthly, except in the month of Ju'y. Single copies, 10 cents. Subscription price, $1 00 per year.

Entered at Post Office, Chicago, as second-class matter.

The JUVENILE CO! Br RECORD is the official organ of and published by the Visitation and Aid Society and will deal with social problems in child saving work and give an account of the workings of the Juvenile Court.

NEW SUBSCRIPTIONS can commence with current number.

WHEN RENEWING, always give the name of the postoffice to which your paper is now being cent. Your name cannot be found on our books unless this is done. Four weeks are required after the receipt of money by us before the date opposite your name on your paper, which shows to what time your subscription is paid. can be changed. This will show that your remittance was received.

CHANGE OF ADDRESS-Always give both your old and your new address when you ask us to change.

PAYMENT FOR THE PAPER, when sent by mail, should be made in a postoffice money order, bank check or dra't, or an express money order. WHEN NEITHER OF THESE CAN BE PROCURED, send 2-cent United States postage stamps; only this kind can be received.

LETTERS should be addressed and checks and drafts made payable to JUVENILE COURT RECORD, 79 Dearborn Street, Chicago.

ADVERTISING RATES made known on application.

AGENTS are authorized to sell single copies and take subscriptions, who bear credentials signed by the President and Secretary of the Visitation and Aid -ociety.

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With this issue THE JUVENILE COURT RECORD begins its fifth year. In glancing back over the years that have passed since THE JUVENILE COURT RECORD first took up its weapons and squared itself to do battle in the cause of child saving, we cannot be censured for a certain thrill of satisfaction at the work that has been accomplished through our efforts.

Five years ago Illinois had placed at her disposal a law intended to aid the agencies interested in saving boys and girls in order that men and women might be made of them. Many feared that, with the limited means at hand, the Juvenile Court never could be established. Some even doubted whether the law ever would be effective in doing the work it was meant to do.

The moment the other states realized that the new idea was a distinctive success, requests began to pour into our office for the copies of the Illinois Juvenile Court law, and for information in regard to the method of carrying on the work of the Cook County Juvenile Court. All of these requests were promptly and gladly complied with

by us, and to-day, as a result of our work, juvenile courts have been established in sixteen states, in Canada, in England and in Japan.

Our doctrine has ever been to keep the children out of court if possible. We have insisted from the first that home was the proper place for a child. If the home was not what it ought to be then influence should be brought to bear on it that would make it a fit place in which to rear children. By all means, wherever possible, the family should be kept together.

If the task of uplifting the family prove too great a one to be mastered, then the child should be placed in a good home. We believe there are enough childless homes in this country for every homeless child.

We have stood consistently by our belief in the past as we shall continue to do in the future, and the star of hope that shines above the wilderness of sorrow points us to a time when every home in our land shall be lifted up into God's sunlight of love and wisdom. We believe there is that in the Juvenile Court law which will make this condition possible and believing and trusting in the ultimate perfection of results we shall go on spreading the glad tidings of child-saving over the whole world.

CHICAGO'S JUVENILE COURT NEEDS. About four and one-half years ago Chicago stepped out from the ranks of her sister states, and assumed, in the eyes of the whole world, the position of champion of children's rights. July 1, 1899, the Cook County Juvenile Court began its work along the new lines of reform. That the work has been well accomplished, no one can deny. More than 11,000 cases have been placed on the docket of the Cook County Juvenile Court. This, alone, means that 11,000 cases have been dealt with outside of the police courts that otherwise would necessarily have been disposed of there.

Not alone were children kept out of the police courts, but they were kept out of jail. In spite of the fact that Cook County has a jail as nearly ideal as it is possible for a jail to be, the fact remains that incarceration, even in an ideal jail, is morally and spiritually miasmic in the case of a child. Jailer Whitman's figures showing the decrease in the number of children cared for in Cook County jail since the Juvenile Court has been in operation have been published at various times in THE JUVENILE COURT RECORD, and tell a story so forcible that he who runs may read.

As a result of the effective probation system in operation in Cook County, a great deal of good has been accomplished-just how much good will never be known, for it has been brought about so subtly that it cannot be put into words. The figures in the report of the Chief Probation officer tell only part of the story. Of the real heart and soul work, of the lives of entire families uplifted out of the quagmire of sin and despair into the noonday sunlight of hope, figures must of necessity be silent. As a result of the probation system thousands of children that have been brought into the Juvenile Court by their parents as unmanageable or absolutely incorrigible, have been returned to their homes and have been either sent to school or set to work under the personal supervision of the probation officers. Of still more importance in considering the work that has been accomplished by the Juvenile Court is the fact that many children have been kept out of court who, under the old conditions would with positive certainty have been placed under arrest. Under the kindly advice and authoritative influence of the probation officers these children have become orderly and useful.

Granting all the good that has been accomplished since.

July 1, 1899, by the workings of the Juvenile Court, Chicago finds herself to-day facing a stern proposition. She must decide, and make her decision quickly, whether or not she shall resign her proud position as leader of the Juvenile Court movement and retrograde to a second or third-rate court. The fact is daily becoming more prominent that unless certain needs of the Cook County Juvenile Court are met, it certainly cannot continue to be a really genuine aid to good citizenship.

History is repeating itself. When the powers that be provide a good thing, they are ever apt to lay back and point to their laurels, and forget that the world is moving on at an alarmingly rapid pace. They are prone to emulate the proverbial hen that laid an egg once a year and then cackled about it all the rest of the time.

In 1899 Chicago philanthropists were glad to take anything they could get in the way of Juvenile Court legislation. The experiment was still untried. While everyone interested in the new movement had unbounded faith in the ultimate results, they found it exceedingly difficult to impress their belief upon the legislators. They were compelled to take, thankfully, what was held out for them.

As a matter of fact, the Cook County Juvenile Court never has been properly equipped. Over and over again the story has been told of the seemingly insurmountable difficulties that had to be overcome before the court could be opened. To be quite frank, those difficulties never have been overcome. They have merely been glossed

over.

The first and the problem most difficult of solution that confronted Chicago agencies when they were struggling to open a Juvenile Court was the lack of a proper place where children might be cared for pending the disposition of their cases in the Juvenile Court. The problem still remains unsolved. To be sure, the present facilities for caring for the little wards of the court are better than they were in 1899. The children are no longer cared for in a mad-house, as they were at that time. No one, who is acquainted with those first months can do else but wonder how it was possible for the stream of difficulty to be forded, and the movement saved from a premature death. But even with our improved facilities, the system of caring for the children is all wrong.

It is not right that private charitable institutions should do the work that ought to be done by the state. The Juvenile Court is part of the machinery of the state, operating under the laws of the state, and it is just as proper for the commonwealth to provide a place of detention for her little wards as for her to provide police stations and jails for the adults who come under her jurisdiction. The Juvenile Court of Cook County has earned, many times over, the price of such a place of detention by the money she has saved the state. Hundreds of thousands of dollars that otherwise would have been spent in the prosecution and punishment of children, have been saved the commonwealth by the kindly corrective methods of the Juvenile Court. And yet this institution, the most intensely practical in the whole machinery of the state, the most economical, the most effective, is crowded into a corner and compelled to take a back seat whenever the question of expense arises.

In 1899 Illinois stood alone in this movement. To-day she has a competitor in almost every other state in the Union. Other states have readily grasped the value of the Juvenile Court as a weapon in dealing with crime degeneracy, and dependency, and have gladly furnished the means necessary to carry out the idea intelligently and effectively. Unless Illinois makes a move in this direction she must step back and permit others to take the leadership.

Not only is a place of detention necessary, which shall be entirely under the authority of the court, but different arrangements must soon be made in regard to the court room where the children's cases are heard. The courtroom, at the present time, is absolutely inadequate both as to size and equipment. Many cases are heard with demoralizing publicity that should be heard privately. The children under custody cannot be protected from the observation and comment of idle curiosity seekers. Under the existing conditions it is necessary to bring children from the Detention Home, on West Adams street, to the courtroom on the third floor of the County Building. Publicity, delay, great inconvenience and needless expense are the results of the arrangement. Offices in the court room for the probation officers are entirely out of question. The lack of proper accommodation causes waste of time and strength, and it naturally follows that under such conditions the work of the probation officers cannot be properly supervised and co-ordinated.

It has been suggested that the public-spirited citizens of Chicago ought to contribute money for a Juvenile Court building, which would furnish, at the same time, a place of detention for the children, a Juvenile Court room, and offices for the probation officers.

While we recognize the necessity of such an institution, we protest against the suitability of its being secured through the donations of charitably-inclined citizens. That is not the solution of the problem. The logical thing to do would be for the county to erect and maintain such a building, but in this instance the logical thing is not practical. The practical solution of the problem would be for the city to furnish the building, and the county to maintain and officer it. The city of Chicago has at her disposal several buildings in the central sections that could be used admirably for such a purpose, and we believe this will be found, eventually, to be the most practicable method of meeting and overcoming, all at one time, the difficulties with which the Cook County Juvenile Court are battling.

Denver has gone a long step forward in combating this evil in providing for the children a magnificent detention home, but we feel that it is not out of reason to ask Chicago to go still further, and provide a central Juvenile Court building, entirely separate from any other building, which shall be a veritable haven of hope for the child who, through misfortune, comes under the jurisdiction of the Juvenile Court. We believe it would be possible and eminently practical, if such a central building is provided, for parts of it to be utilized for the offices of the various children's aid societies. A small rental could be charged for the office room, and in this manner an income could be secured that would help to defray the expenses of maintaining the building.

Another necessity of the Cook County Juvenile Court is the constant demand for more probation officers. Men and women of tact, intelligence, high ideals and unlimited patience are needed. A bill is now being drafted and will be presented by THE JUVENILE COURT RECORD at the next General Assembly providing salaries for the probation officers. This will make it possible to secure as many officers as may be required to carry out the work of the Juvenile Court in spirit as well as in letter.

We do not believe we are asking too much. We are pleading for Illinois to take such action as will make it possible for her to once more take her position as the leader of the whole world in child saving work, and our faith in the high ideals of those in power is so great that we believe they will take cognizance of our needs, and provide for the Juvenile Court as munificently as it deserves.

DENVER HOUSE
HOUSE OF DETENTION OPENS.

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Denver's new detention house, the third to be established in the United States, is now open, and December 12 started on its career of usefulness when it received five boys committed there by Judge Lindsey of the Juvenile Court.

For weeks Mr. and Mrs. J. P. Wright, superintendent and matron, have been working to get the roomy old Du Bois house at 2844 Downing avenue in order. The last curtain was hung Friday night, the nine little white beds in the dormitory were made, and when the first boys were ushered in even the table was set for supper.

The exterior of Denver's detention house is pleasing, for it is painted a cheerful yellow and its front door is shaded by a long, hospitable-looking veranda, and there is a large front and back yard. The interior is delightful and when a boy has been greeted with Mrs. Wright's motherly smile and had a grasp of Mr. Wright's strong hand, it would almost seem that he could easily decide to be good there.

PLACE ATTRACTIVELY FURNISHED.

The place has been attractively furnished. At every window but those in the little office there are pretty white curtains. The carpets are soft and warm looking. In the reception room, where there is a bay window, is a piano. Just back of this room is the little dining room that Mr. and Mrs. Wright will occasionally use for themselves and visitors.

Then comes the boys' dining room, and in the table furnishings is found a suggestion of the plan which will be adopted in caring for the boys. All the table cloths and napkins are of snowy damask. The service is dainty porcelain. There is pretty glassware and silver. The kitchen has all the appointments that are a part of any good housewife's kitchen.

Upstairs all the rooms are interesting. In front is the school

RECEPTION ROOM.

room, for every boy sent to the detention house will go to school five or six days a week. This has been fitted up with a desk for the teacher, who will be Mr. Wright, and a number of tables and chairs. The dormitory is a pleasant sight to see. It is composed of two large, airy rooms. There are nine little white

beds.

If Denver's detention house has the law back of it and if a boy who is committed there can not leave at his own sweet will, the fact is not to be impressed on him. He is going to be made part of a very delightful family. He is going to study and play, have a clean bed to sleep in, good things to eat and in every. way is going to have the home influence about him.

There is also a hospital room, where if a boy is ill he can be tucked away in a bed away from noise.

METHODS TO BE USED.

Regarding the methods to be used, Judge Lindsey, whose efforts have secured the detention house, says:

"The boy will find the teaching fitted to him; not the boy to the teaching. The school will be ungraded so that a big boy will not need to feel embarrassed at his backwardness. I firmly believe this method may save many a boy from being a criminal.

"Many boys are not fitted for the educational system of the day. Often, if a teacher would spend half an hour after school with a certain case she can win that boy and help him out of his perplexities. Very often when she can't, he needs a doctor.

"That is to be one feature of the house of detention. I shall have a physical examination made of each boy by a competent

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Reception day in the juvenile court at Colorado Springs, Colo., is becoming one of the most popular, in point of attendance, of any of the days recognized in the courts of El Paso county. Judge Orr presided at the reception recently, and it was attended by between 75 and 80 youngsters, 12 of whom were girls. This is the day set aside by the judge of the juvenile court for the purpose of hearing reports from the children who are under the care of the court for minor offenses, and is considered a part of the operation of the delinquent law passed by the last legislature. In conversation Judge Orr said: "Yes; the delinquent law is working very satisfactorily here. We had a long line of youngsters who called to make their reports regarding their conduct, both at school and at home. In many cases where articles have been stolen we have the children working and devoting their income to replacing the property taken. We do not insist upon all of the children bringing reports from their teachers, but aim to keep posted upon them by being in personal touch with the teachers. We have not had many cases where it was necessady to send the delinquent to the reform school, after trying this method, and I am firmly convinced that under the procedure many lads are assisted in doing right and aided to become good citiezns where, under the old system, they would have been sent off to the reform school and acquired more meanness than could be eradicated in a lifetime. Yes, you can say that the new system is a thorough success here."

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