paroled to truant officers, and ordered the boys not to associate with each other any more. "And judge, your honor," said Mr. R "do you mind if I use the slipper on Frank once in a while?" "Not at all," replied the judge, "on the contrary, I think it will do him good." Theodore L was to have been brought into court by his mother, but Mr. Bodine said that he had learned at the last moment that she had taken him out of the state, and that he had been sent to St. Louis to live with some relatives. He was charged with having struck his teacher with a stick, and Judge Tuthill said that was an offense he would never condone. The gavel fell and the work of the day was finished. Considerable sniveling and whining had been indulged in by the youngsters, who, almost to a unit, used the back of their hands in lieu of handkerchiefs. Harsh words had been said in the course of the day and bitterness rankled in the hearts of some who could not be made to see that all was happening for the best. Those who knew and understood all that had been taking place, however, had the assurance in their hearts that every boy and girl who came before the court that day had been started out on a road to a sweeter, purer manhood and womanhood than would have been possible for them if the Juvenile Court had not been in existence. Some lives had been saved through the interference of the state, as parent. Some had been turned aside from a path leading to the prison cell. The good accomplished by this one day in the Juvenile Court can never be estimated or measured by human standards of measurement, and as day follows day and the work broadens out and becomes more comprehensive, it becomes more and more apparent that the people of the state of Illinois now have the ax in their hands which will eventually cut down the deadly upas tree of crime and evil that is filling our land with tramps and our prisons with criminals. CHAPTER VI JUVENILE COURT LAWS ADOPTED IN OTHER STATES A new departure of any description from the existing order of things must be successful if it would be popular. Few human beings are so constituted that they care to be actively identified with any radical measure to the extent of pushing it against great opposition. Reformers throughout the United States realized that the worm in the bud, the poison that was destroying the life of good citizenship, the moth that was gnawing at the fabric of human society, until it was becoming tattered and disreputable, was the fact that the rising generation was growing up surrounded by seasoned vice and hardened criminality. They realized, too, that if the crime disease was ever to be destroyed, the work of destruction must begin in the homes and with the children, and that they must be cured by being educated and loved out of their ignorance and desolation. Every person interested in studying unfortunate conditions and helping people to rise above them knew that nothing could be accomplished along this line without the arm of the state backing them up in the form of helpful legislation. The need of legislation of this kind was discussed at meetings and before clubs, but no good was accomplished because there was no strong, guiding hand back of the movement. No battle was ever yet won without a master hand and brain to guide the army. The necessary leader was lacking among the reformers, and as a consequence, while a great deal of ammunition was used, most of it was wasted, scattered and rendered ineffective because the aim was poor, and the mouth of the weapon was not turned squarely |