NOTES FROM DIFFERENT STATES.

CONNECTICUT.

Connecticut has no juvenile court. A general probation law, however, was approved May 22, 1903, which provides for the appointment of probation officers and defines their duties. Section 3 of this act says:

"Whenever any minor shall have been arrested, the clerk of the court before which said minor is brought shall, if practicable, notify said probation officer in advance, and said court may commit said minor to the care and custody of said probation officer, both before and after trial; and the trial of such minor shall, whenever practicable, be held in the chambers."

DELAWARE.

Delaware has no juvenile court, but Mrs. Emalea Warner, of Wilmington, Del., writes that the matter has been discussed at several meetings. "We take this care, however-that our police matrons and our society agent are always with the children in court and the judge orders the court cleared when children come before it. The need of a juvenile court law, however, confronts us in Delaware."

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

There is no separate juvenile court in the District of Columbia. An arrangement, however, has been made between the District Commissioners, the justices of the police court, and other officials interested under which separate sessions are held daily for the trial of juvenile cases. The court is presided over by the police court judges, and is spoken of as the juvenile court. An attempt is made to pass upon children's cases in the method and in the spirit which characterizes the juvenile courts of other cities. A definite effort will be made to secure a juvenile court in the city of Washington and providing a special judge to take charge of it, and arranging to have its sessions held in a building distinct from the police-court machine of the District. Mr. John Wesley Douglass, agent of the Board of Children's Guardians, in his report to that board for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1903, says:

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The juvenile branch of the police court has continued its triweekly sessions for hearing children's cases, and the probation officer has made investigations and recommendations which have aided the court in making suitable dispositions. The general purpose and plan of the juvenile court is undoubtedly wise and has worked well in many ways, but in my judgment our present system can be improved very greatly by having a separate and distinct court, because (1) the present judges, already overworked, can not give the time necessary to inquire carefully and thoroughly into the lives and homes and parents of children brought before them; (2) the court rooms are not suited for children, either materially or in their prevailing atmosphere and accompaniments; (3) a juvenile court should meet daily, or twice a day, at a regular hour, and not, as now, at the convenience of another branch of the court; and (4) a juvenile court should have jurisdiction over all juvenile delinquents and dependents sought to be maintained at public expense, impossible as at present organized and administered. Other good reasons could be adduced. An ideal system for the District needs, as it appears to me, is briefly indicated thus:

"1. A modern centrally located house of detention, in which would be a suitable room for juvenile court.

"2. The establishment of a juvenile court, officered and equipped and clothed with ample authority, before which shall come all cases involving children under 16 years, whether as violators of law or as petitioners for public support.

3. A reorganization of existing institutions and agencies so as to form a correlated system covering the entire field of public child caring and child saving in the District of Columbia. Under such a system public interest would be officially safeguarded and the rights and needs and placements of children properly adjudged."

LOUISIANA.

In an act approved July 8, 1902 (act No. 136), it was provided that when any minor under the age of 16 years shall be charged with vagrancy or any other

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offense the accused shall be brought before the court for a preliminary trial, and if the court is of the opinion that the accused may be guilty the date of the trial shall be fixed not earlier than three days after the date of such preliminary examination. It is made the duty of magistrates and sheriffs to keep such minors separate from prisoners, and judges are required, so far as practicable, to have a separate and distinct trial from the hour fixed for other cases.

MASSACHUSETTS.

Massachusetts has no juvenile court, but Boston was one of the first cities to set apart special hours for the trial of juvenile offenders. The probation system was first developed in Massachusetts, and children under 17 are not tried until investigation has been made by the State agent or representatives of the Children's Aid Society and other organizations. In some of the courts the session for adults is formally adjourned and the room is cleared of all except those who have to do with juvenile cases, when such cases are called. In other courts the session for juveniles is held in a separate room or in the judge's private room. Mr. Charles W. Birtwell, secretary of the Massachusetts Children's Aid Society, favors the adoption of a juvenile court, and says:

Unfortunately in all the courts juveniles under arrest are apt to be mixed with adults while waiting during the hour or so preceding the trial. If not under arrest but only summoned, they may wait in the outside lobbies, but get more or less mixed with the throng about and in the court room."

MICHIGAN.

Michigan has no juvenile court. Under a law, however, approved May 19, 1901, provision is made for a separate trial and commitment of children, for separate confinement in jails, and for transportation of children separate from adult criminals. Mr. L. C. Storrs, secretary of the Board of Charities and Correction, after reciting the provisions of this law, says: "The county agency system of Michigan, by which delinquent children are under the special care and supervision of an agent in each county, is such that thus far Michigan has not felt it necessary to follow the provisions which are made in other States for a special juvenile court."

NEW YORK.

[Report of the children's court of the city of New York for the year ending December 31, 1903.] The children's court of the city of New York, first division, embraces Manhattan and the Bronx and is a branch of the court of special sessions. The justices serving in this court during the year ending December 31, 1903, were the following: Julius H. Mayer, William E. Wyatt, William C. Holbrook, Willard H. Olmsted, John B. McKean. During the year 7,646 persons were before the children's court in the city of New York, not including Brooklyn, which has a separate children's court. The disposition of these cases and some interesting classifications concerning them are given in the following tables:

TABLE A.-Whole number of persons arraigned at the court of special sessions of the first division of the city of New York, children's court, during the year ending December 31, 1903.

TABLE B.-Number of persons convicted, the number of persons discharged, and the number of persons whose cases are pending in the court of special sessions of the first division of the city of New York, children's court, during the year ending December 31, 1903.

TABLE C.-Whole number of persons convicted and committed to reformatory and other institutions, the number released (not including pending parole cases), and the number placed on parole at the court of special sessions of the first division of the city of New York, children's court, during the year ending December 31, 1903.

TABLE D.-Whole number of persons committed to reformetory and other institutions from the court of special sessions of the first division of the city of New York, children's court, during the year ending December 31, 1903.

TABLE E.-Nature of all offenses charged, and whether discharged, convicted, or pending, at the court of special sessions of the first division of the city of New York, children's court, during the year ending December 31, 1903.

TABLE F.-Nativity of all persons held for trial and committed to reformatory and other institutions at the court of special sessions of the first division of the city of New York, children's court, during the year ending December 31, 1903.

TABLE G.-Ages of those persons convicted of crime, and those convicted or placed on parole or under suspended sentence for being disorderly or ungovernable children, and of those committed for improper guardianship and because of other violations of section 291 of the Penal Code, at the court of special sessions of the first division of the city of New York, children's court, during the year ending December 31, 1903.

TABLE H.-Color of all persons convicted and committed to reformatory and other institutions at the court of special sessions of the first division of the city of New York, children's court, during the year ending December 31, 1903.