Gambar halaman
PDF
ePub
[merged small][merged small][graphic][merged small]

The report of the New York Children's Court for the year just closed shows, in eloquent numbers, that a step forward, far greater than was then imagined, was taken by its establishment in September. 1902. When one considers that seven thousand children's cases were tried in that court, exclusive of some two hundred other children's cases in Magistrates' Courts because the children involved were arrested with persons over sixteen years, he marvels that the courts for children were not inaugurated years before. The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children explains this by the reasonable statement that the proper time had not yet arrived for the exclusive court in the separate building. They show that juvenile crime is not on the decrease. and that the number of arrests in children's cases for 1904 is greater than for any previous year; also that a law passed in 1892-twelve years ago-provided for the trial of children's cases separate and apart from those of adults, and that the police and Magistrates' Courts be cleared of adults not directly concerned in the children's hearings, before the youngsters' arraignment. But that did not wipe out the prison atmosphere, and those most interested sought a plan by which even greater privacy would attach to the trials of children. The City Magistrates took up the subject and Judge Deuel, the President of the Board, drafted the bill that became Chapter 590 of the Laws of 1902-the Children's Court Law. Soon thereafter the Justices of the Court of Special Sessions and the City Magistrates appointed committees to choose a suitable building, and on September third, 1902, Justice Olmsted opened the Court. Justice Deuel resigned as a City Magistrate a year ago to become a

Justice of the Court of Special Sessions, of which the Children's Court is part. In this Court of Record misdemeanants and felons are tried, and their cases finally disposed of. Much of the former method of a preliminary hearing in a Magistrate's Court and a trial at a higher court is thus dispensed with, and to that extent the object of the juvenile law accomplished-the dissociation of the child's mind from the necessarily impressive proceedings of criminal courts. This is so on a smaller scale in almost every Children's Court throughout the country, excepting where the Court is not in a separate building, in which case no more is done than was done in New York from 1892 till 1902. But the movement is a forward one, and wherever such a law exists the tendency is to improve conditions in every possible way. The popular approval of such Courts has brought with it much aid in the way of volunteer representatives acting as probation or parole officers, and to-day almost every court has its committees representing the three great religions, all looking after cases of children of their respective persuasions, with the result that a child arrested for any offense and released on probation does not go home with the notion that the whole thing was merely a formal proceeding. He is visited (in New York cases) by reprepresentatives of Mr. Jenkins, the Chief Probation Officer and Superintendent of the Children's Society; and the boy visits the probation officer in turn. The underlying motive is to have him appreciate that he has offended and escaped confinement, in an institution only to show that he can behave for an indefinite period. The average boy is wise enough to "make good," although a considerable number has been returned for misbehavior while

on probation. This, however, must be expected in the heterogeneous natures of the children of so many classes and types. Of the recent cases tried in the New York Court before Judge Deuel, the most pathetic, perhaps, was that of a family of five, all under nine years of age, who were there as direct sufferers of two healthy parents' intemperance. The father, although able to earn four dollars a day at his trade, generally spent the first four days of the week at home drinking his last week's earnings, and never thought of rent or work until he had no more money and no more rum. These cases have but one ending. The father becomes an invalid from dissipation, and where the mother also is fond of her cups the children are neglected and often abused because of the burden they become, until the family is dispossessed. Then the Courts get them for the County to support. The loss of the children often awakens the dissolute parents, and in a few cases has been known to effect complete reformation, but only a few. Rather a remarkable feature of such families is that all of the children are sound, healthy and good looking. They are rarely sick or delicate. In the case of the family referred to, the children had been on the street, in the cold, for hours before being brought to the Society's rooms, but their

For the boy, his opinion is that a period of probation does more good than confinement in an institution, and has no hesitancy in so releasing a lad whose first offense is the result of pure boyishness, and not viciousness. And the miconduct of boys is generally the result of overflow energy. This don't make the grocer whose apples are stolen or the shoemaker whose windows are broken feel more kindly toward "overflow energy," but the fact remains that were a means found of occupying boys' minds, there would be fewer arrests of juveniles. Youngsters have too little to do, and with all sorts of city ordinances against their playing shinny, base ball or "cat" on the streets, those who do not belong to boys' clubs are put to extremes for excitement. And unfortunately they generally go to extremes.

The probation boys last month found quite a surprise in store for themselves when they reported at the Children's Court the day before Christmas. The good ones got presents and the usual good advice, and those whose reports showed a decided improvement were awarded with certificates, much after the same fashion of those given at school to deserving scholars. A copy of a certificate follows:

HONESTY,

THE

[blocks in formation]

ELEMENTAL VIRTUES OF MANHOOD AND THE ONLY SURE FOUNDATIONS OF SUCCESS

SPECIAL SESSIONS, FIRST DIVISION CITY AND COUNTY OF NEW YORK

Children's Part

At a Regular Session of the Children's Court, held the twenty-fourth day of December, in the year nineteen hundred and four, this

Certificate of Special Approbation

was awarded to

Master

for his Excellent Record at School, at his Home and among his Neighbors while on Parole.

Justice

exposure only tended to whet their appetites. Judge Deuel, after directing an investigation of the case, decided to give the father another chance, he having had steady employment, taken the pledge and sworn by all that was holy that he would never offend again. He was re-established in a new home with his wife, who "to encourage her husband' also took a pledge for the limit-life. The children went to the new home with new clothes and none the worse for their several days in the Society's rooms.

Justice Deuel is not a believer in institutional life for children, except in extreme cases. He believes that the best institution is at best a poor substitute for a poor home, when there is the least effort to maintain it, and when no depravity exists.

Then the truly fortunate received an invitation from the Chief Probation Officer of the Court to attend the Christmas Eve exercises for the children in the custody of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children at which every child was presented with a Christmas token. Much good cheer was made for the little children held at the Society's Rooms on all sorts of charges from simple destitution to the gravest kind of grand larceny; and although many of them would, no doubt, rather have been at home, it is safe to say that not even such a thought crossed their minds during the several hours spent at the celebration. And as most of them went home the following day, there was no "cold, gray dawn of the morning after" for any of them.

[blocks in formation]

The JUVENILE COURT 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 sent. 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 draft, 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 Society.

CHILD BEGGARS.

An adult beggar is bad enough: his nature is set and hardened. We scorn him. He is doing his wrong knowing full well, usually, that it is wrong. For him stringent treatment is the only remedy. A child beggar, however, is a pitiable object. It can have little or no consciousness of its sin against itself and against society. We can be sure its doings are not self directed but that there is, instead, some agency of instruction behind it. This was found to be the case in most instances among the sixteen children arrested by the Visitation and Aid Society's officers recently. The parents who will send young, impressionable human beings out into the throngs of all sorts of people in a metropolitan city like Chicago for the purposes of wheedling money out of passersby through the relating of a tale of misery, are criminals in nature and should be dealt with accordingly. Stealing, lying, vice: these are only a few of the attendant. temptations to which these unnatural guardians are subjecting their offspring. The Visitation and Aid Society has undertaken to suppress the evil of child-begging in Chicago and it will succeed.

[blocks in formation]

PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE TO CONGRESS.

Social workers can but feel keen satisfaction and exhilaration over the utterances of President Roosevelt in his recent message to Congress, treating of various phases of activity in the interests of the plain people. Private initiative in almost every instance has been behind the various social betterment movements that have been inaugurated in this country Juvenile courts, tenement reform, child labor legislation, public playgrounds, and latterly anti-tuberculosis propaganda,-none of these things did governmental influence push to the fore. And even after private demonstration of their need, even their social need, was it a difficult job to interest the officials with power and purse in their hands to be up and doing for their less favored brethren. But now comes a bold call upon the nation to rouse itself to the country's needs, and the call comes directly from the President. It sounds clear and genuine. It comes from one who knows whereof he speaks. Now may social works take cheer the head of the United States of America is backing them up.

STATE VISITATION OF CHILDREN.

We print herewith a proposed law to provide for the visitation of children placed in homes by agents of the State Board of Public Charities. Other states like Massachusetts, Indiana, New Jersey, Michigan and Minnesota have long since assumed responsibility for dependent children. Illinois has thus far left it to private agencies, not only to care for homeless, dependent children, except the orphans of soldiers, but also to supervise their own. work.

Objection is sometimes made to the subjection of the work of private agencies to the supervision of the state.

One answer to this objection is the fact that children placed by private agencies have been successfully supervised by state agents in Indiana and Michigan, without any interference with the work of private agencies; a second answer is that this legislation is being advocated by representatives of private agencies which will be affected by the proposed legislation; a third answer is that the partial supervision over private associations caring for dependent children which has been exercised by the State Board of Charities for the past five years, has been wisely and satisfactorily maintained.

Experience proves that when this responsibility is placed upon intelligent and conscientious people they are quick to realize the importance of the work and to exercise corresponding care.

The chief difficulty to be anticipated is that the appropriation provided for in the bill ($6000 per year) will be inadequate to the performance of the work. It will cost not less than $5 per year for each child to exercise proper supervision of children in family homes. There are probably now in Illinois at least 5000 children who would come under the provision of the Act. This would require $25,000 per year instead of the $6,000, which is contemplated in the bill. This difficulty will be parti! met by the provision of the bill allowing state authorities to accept the visitation of agents of the institutions, provided such visits are made under the direction and according to the rules established by the State Board of Public Charities; but it is probable that when this work is fairly inaugurated the state will arise to the sense of its importance and will make adequate provision.

PLACING AND TRANSFER OF CHILDREN.

If there is one thing needed in the way of new legislation it is of the kind that will conserve the true interests of those children who either through dependency, delinquency or defective condition must be cared for by other agencies than their own parents. Up to but a short time ago utter chaos reigned in child saving work. But fortunately common sense, (at first uncommon) and conscience are more and more guiding the activity of workers in this great field. The two proposed laws printed in full in this issue should be carefully read, especially by Illinoisans. They are the result of much thought and experience. Their provisions are apparently so sensible as to make one wonder if there can be objections to them. Should there not be a strict official order as to who shall become the guardians of children and through what process they shall gain such responsibility, how they shall keep a record of their work so that the proper authorities may know what is being done with helpless little ones? This order is laid down in the Act to Regulate the Surrender, Placing and Transfer of Children. It dars to presume that children are at least as valuable as chattels and that they ought to receive as much consideration in their passing from hand to hand.

JUVENILE COURT RECORD.

The JUVENILE COURT RECORD in 1905 will need to put in some good work in order to maintain the precedent it has been setting for itself during the past year. Readers will pardon the pride it takes

in the large and fruitful work it has accomplished. Indeed, they may take to themselves as much credit as they will in the results attained for it is they who have helped spread its circulation and who have advanced the cause for which it stands. 240,000 copies of the paper have been published and sold during the year 1904 and these have gone to all points of the compass. In addition to this, 5,000 copies of a 112 page pamphlet on the History of Juvenile Courts and 5,000 copies of a pamphlet containing a uniform Juvenile Court law were circulated widely. As a natural result of its unique position in this field the JUVENILE COURT RECORD office is looked upon as a center of information for everything pertaining to work in the interest of unfortunate children. Besides carrying on a literary propaganda the RECORD has done much to spread its cause by sending out speakers to other cities wherever a request has been made for such service. This it is ever ready to continue to do.

HELP JUVENILE COURT WORK.

Chicago readers of this paper can show their endorsement of the work of the Juvenile Court by attending the very high class musical and dramatic entertainment which is being prepared as a benefit for the fund which covers the expenses of probation officers' salaries and of maintaining the Juvenile Detention Home. The affair takes place on the evening of February 2 at the Auditorium and is in charge of the Juvenile Court Committee, Mrs. Joseph T. Bowen, chairman.

BUILDERS OF SOCIETY.

The Visitation and Aid Society has just issued its sixteenth annual report. Briefly, it shows that from August 31, 1903, to August 31, 1904, four thousand two hundred and fifty-seven applications for assistance were received, that 2,107 children were assisted, 105 transportations furnished, 78 patients sent to hospitals, and that 1,820 persons otherwise assisted. This must be admitted a splendid showing for one year.

And yet, as the chairman states in his report, statistics give no clear idea of the work that has been performed. Aside from the record exhibited by figures, "thousands of homes have been visited, relief afforded in many cases to sickly, delicate mothers, children placed in school, medicine and medical aid obtained, hospital assistance secured advice and counsel given careless parents, the aid of the Juvenile Court invoked to compel parents to do their duty toward their children, and hundreds of other acts of mercy performed." The society's help, in all cases, goes out to the suffering irrespective of race, color or creed.

It is an easy matter for people of wealth to put their hands into their purses and give money, but the Visitation and Aid Society does far more than this. Its members and agents go out into the homes of the sick, the weak, or the unfortunate and strengthen the failing and encourage them toward right doing. Such workers are builders of social order. They are bridges of the great chasm that exists between wealth and poverty, and of such our day has not enough. Its report shows that the Visitation and Aid is not only a charitable society, but an organization that is endeavoring to make for justice.— New World.

JUVENILE COURT NEWS

OREGON

State Senator Dr. C. J. Smith, of Umatilla, will probably present a bill to the coming Oregon legislature providing for a juvenile court for the state of Oregon. The bill is being drafted by the attorney of the state board of charities and correction, of which Senator Smith is a member.

The bill will provide that in every county of more than 50,000 inhabitants, such as Multnomah, a member of the judiciary department shall preside as judge over the juvenile court, while in counties of less than 50,000 population the probate judge shall preside. This will provide a court for every county, however sparsely settled it may be.

ENGLAND

(Special Cable to The Pittsburg Gazette.)

London, Nov. 26.-England is soon to adopt another American innovation which meets with very general approval on the part of penologists and those interested in the welfare of friendless children. This is the establishment of a special court for the trial of charges against young boys and girls. The success of such courts in the United States has attracted the attention of humanitarians in London, and some months ago the Howard association sent Mr. Edward Grubb to the United States to make an investigation. The result of his inquiries has been altogether favorable, and a movement has already been inaugurated which I will result in the establishment of similar courts in London. The need for such courts cannot be denied. In London there were 405 children under 12 years of age before the police magistrates during the past year. Many of these cases were frivolous and needlessly took up the time of the courts; others could not be properly dealt with by the existing court machinery.

The London county council is in sympathy with the movement, and parliament unquestionably will soon be asked to give the necessary authorization for the establishment of the courts, and no doubt is felt that it will be granted.

[blocks in formation]

plans, which will be ready for builders for estimating in about a month, provide for an ornamental fire-proof granite, brick and terra cotta trimmed structure, four stories high, to measure 36x99 feet.

The building will accommodate over fifty boys and girls, with separate sleeping rooms for each. The equipment will be up to date, and one of the features will be a brick fire and smoke proof tower to be located in one end of the building. All of the doors on the tower will be controlled by electricity, so that it will be impossible for any of the inmates to escape from the institution. In case of fire the doors can be thrown open by pushing buttons, arranged in different parts of the building, the locations of which will be known only to the attendants.

NEBRASKA

A juvenile court should be established in Omaha. There is something in the cry of the ill-treated child which reaches the hearts of all men and women. The child who, by evil or immoral example of parents or associates, falls into the evil path

is not to blame-nor is the parent or associate to blame entirely. The state at large, the great father of all the people, is primarily to blame for allowing such evil influences as surround the child to exist. I propose to use my best efforts to see that something is done for these poor unfortunates by putting on the statutes a law which will allow the state to step in and be father and guardian of children who are not rightly treated, or are under immoral or vicious influences. I would suggest a law which would prevent their being thrown in jail with a lot of hardened criminals where they would become more hardened and more evil by coming in contact with people of low and immoral tendencies. A law which would carefully watch over these children, change their surroundings and place them under good influences would be of incalculable benefit to the growing-up generation. This is broad and scientific charity and the state is the proper party to administer it.

Take the case of the four boys lately arrested for robbery and who were contemplating robbery of the street car conductors. There were Joe Trattner and Mike Doran, boys of 18; Harry Madison a boy of 16, and Roy Case, a young man of 21. Only one of these had reached the age of manhood. Does anyone think that these four would now occupy the unfortunate position they now are in if they had been under proper influences when they were children?-Harry A. Foster.

COLUMBUS, O.

GIVE THE CHILDREN A CHANCE.

The obstacles in the way of the establishment of a juvenile court under the act of the general assembly seem to have been sifted down to the fact that the common pleas judges and the probate judge, to one of whom the work would fall, are exceedingly busy with their present duties. They seem to be loath to take up the new task says the Dispatch.

But if a juvenile court cannot be established in this way, it may be secured in another. Judge Wildermuth long ago took up the work and has done what he could to save the children from the shame and moral contagion of a common police court hearing. He is willing to continue this work which everybody admits is so worthy, but some things are necessary to make his work effective. The chief need is for a probation officer to look after the cases now numbering between forty and fifty and see that, after the children leave the court, their surroundings are such as to promote their well-being. Another is the securing of a place apart from the prison in which to hear the cases. The objection has been offered that the police are too busy caring for burglars and offenders of the ordinary kind to make it possible to detail a man even for a part of his time as a probation officer. This seems short-sighted, and it has been very properly retorted that, if a proper effort were made to save the children, there would be fewer criminals to deal with. The expense of patching out Judge Wildermuth's plan and making it really effective is so small and the benefits promised are so great that the board of safety, which has this matter in charge, ought no longer to hesitate to take the desired action. If there is still doubt, action might be taken as an experiment, its permanency to depend on its efficacy.

[graphic]

CLEVELAND

successor

Governor Herrick has chosen well in selecting a for the late Judge Thomas E. Callaghan, of the insolvency and juvenile courts. It was no easy matter to find a good lawyer who possessed the peculiar qualifications called for in the same degree in which they were united in Judge Callaghan. He had the knack of dealing with boys, however wayward, which is demanded in the juvenile court, and his happy way of getting along with the youngsters brought before him was more a matter of tact and sympathy than of legal training and acumen.

Thomas H. Bushnell will bring to the office left vacant by so singularly well qualified a judge as his predecessor a clear legal mind, ample experience in his profession and, best of all, the right temperament and character for the delicate and by no means easy duties of the position which he is about to fill. The new judge of the juvenile court has the kindly nature and instinctive kinship with boys and girls which his work will demand. He is neither too old nor too young, and all his antecedents and environment augur well for his entire success. Judge Bushnell was born in Burton, Ohio, in 1857 and is the son of Rev. Ebenezer Bushnell of that village. He attended the public schools at Fremont, O., where the family moved when he was a boy. Later he entered Western Reserve college at

« SebelumnyaLanjutkan »