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Show HOW ONE MAN IS DEFEATING CRIME. ! W. MacLEOD E.AINE, in "Men and Women.'' ji JUDGE LINESEY. JUDGE LUJDSEY'S JUVEOTLE COURT. ;! During tlie busiest liour of a busy day, in the Denver county court, when the climacteric moment of a knotty imd important case had been reached, and a famous lawyer was bombarding the witness with a fire of cross-examination, a small and alien, voice interjected interject-ed itself into the tense silence which preceded one of these telling questions. "Hello, judge." i A hundred pairs of eyes swept round to take in the intruder. A ragged little street urchin (age 11) stood in the doorway, door-way, smiling expectantly at his friend the judge. Embarrassment tok ho!d of him. at being the target of so many eyes, and he piped up an encore: "Hello, "Hel-lo, judge: You busy?" Judge Lindsey answered his smile. "I am just now, Friorty; but if you will step into my rooms I will see yen in a Jew minutes." . "SThorty" serenely disappeared into the adjoining room, unconscious of the fact that he had been guilty of contempt con-tempt 'Jf court, which would have brought a heavy fine on him had he been a mere lawyer, banker or business man instead of the privileged juvenile probationer he was. A few days later I was waiting in the private chambers of Judge Lindsey to talk with him about his juvenile court. A dozen youngsters, also waiting t3 see him, were holding high jinks meanwhile. mean-while. Presently Judge Lindsey entered en-tered with some o'ther gentlemen, and the noise subsided. He continued his talk with the gentlemen, explaining to one of them a Chicago lawyer the necessity of having a certain will probated. pro-bated. A newsboy entered and walked directly to him. "I hear youse been sick, judge." he said, laying his arm across the shoulders shoul-ders of his friend. Judge Lindsey wheeled in his chair, and his eyes lit warmly. An arm slipped aro'ind the boy's wai?t. "How are you. .Too? Dntchy was telling me yi u were sick, too." "Oh. I'm all right, all right. Dere ain't nuttin" de matter wid me now." "That's good. Joe. Well, I'll see you in a minute when I get through talking talk-ing to these gentlemen." These anecdotes illustrate not only Judge Lindsay's personal relation toward to-ward the ragamuffins of the street, but also the reform which is impending in the law's attitude toward juvenile offenders. of-fenders. Time was, and indeed still is in iiiuMi juto tM. wntrii nif rsiHit s 11 fa i- meiu uf erring children was monstrous. Their offense might have been due simply sim-ply to excess of boyishness or willful mischief, ex on the oilier hand it might have been caused by reason of parental neglect, bad associations or inherent criminal tendencies. But whatever the cause, the child w as in no sense a criminal. crim-inal. In many cases he had been sinned against since the moment of his birth. But the law took no cognizance of thH. Instead if standing to the chili in the relation of a wise parent it flng him into prison and herded him with hardened hard-ened men and women criminals. The harm so done to impressionable and wayward youths has been inestimable and incalculable. Instead of gently but lirmly beading them in the right direction, its bungling cruelty has given giv-en them the impulsion toward a life of crime. They come to lo-'k upon the law as their enemy, to be plotted against ar.d outwitted. In our cities there are four times as many children as adults arrested in proportkn to population. The evil influence of the foul jails upon them is shown in the great increase in the number of youthful youth-ful criminals, more than half of the inmrues of reformatories and prisons being under ''3 years of age. Certain it is that the old mfihod of dealing wit'i children through the criminal courts was ineffective". The ma-chinery of the law was not adapted to handle such cases, since a child had cither to be freed entirely or treated as a criminal. In either event the result was usually unfortunate. The juvenile e urt is a development of very recent years, the first or.e having hav-ing been organized in Chicago in the first year of the present century by Judge Richard S. Tuthill. About a'year later Judge Ben K. Lindsey of Denver put in operation his present system of dealing with juvenile offenders, working work-ing practically without law mVi.il March. 1903. Pri.r to this time there had been enacted (in 3S99) a statute, providing1 that the county court could take cognizance of the offense of any child under 16, incorrigible or guilty of immoral conduct. Twa years after the passing of this law a. probation system was established (in January, 1901), though it was not nn'til about a year ago that this system was clothed with authority conferred by statute. Judge Lindsey drew up himself some bills relating re-lating ty juveniles and they passed the Colorado legislature without a dissenting dissent-ing vet. Juvenile laws have now been adopted in six states, and in nine other Mates juvenile courts aie in partial op-r op-r eration. . It may-lie added that in near ly every state a widespread interest on the subject has arisen, Judge Lindsey, its most enthusiastic advocate, being besieged with requests to lecture on the subject. The test as to the success of the juvenile ju-venile court and probation system is one easily applied. No greater demands need be made upon it than that it be an improvement on the old way of dea;-ing dea;-ing with children through the criminal courts. Nobody that has given .the matter mat-ter even slight attention can fail to note the very great Improvement, especially where the law has been backed by any earnest personal work on the part cf those having charge of its enforcement. At its worst its results are much better bet-ter than those formerly achieved, since it protects children from being branded as convicted criminals and encourages them to- attempt a reformation. At it a. best it is out of comparison, with tfos criminal court method, since it implies" tactful, earnest, intelligent work to give the child a new chance in life.. The judge and his probation officers are his ' most potent friends. They stand beside be-side him tj cheer and encourage, to lend him practical aid and help him in every pos&ible way in his fight toward honest manhood. Under the probation system of the juvenile court a wayward youth is required re-quired to present himself at the court every two weeks, bringing a card from his school teacher or from his employer, employ-er, with a report as to his behavior during dur-ing the past fortnight. Out of 200 that . are reo.uired ta appear only about six bring unsatisfactory reports, for it is known by the children that the bad reports re-ports may open the door of the industrial indus-trial home to them. Examinations made by competent doctors have sometimes shown physical physi-cal reasoim for the evil tendencies of the child, and occasionally a change from one teacher to another, by eliminating elim-inating the memory of past friction, has resulted in very appreciable gain to the child. Six cut of eight children so removed to another school have brought good reports afterward. They had come to hate their first teacher, and under her progress was not pop!i'" ble. The juvenile court attempts not si much to punish the child as to study his environment and home .surroundings, .surround-ings, with a view to remove the pressure pres-sure of evil upon him. This may be dune either by removing him from his c,., ,nnn1lr.il 3 o n A nl.i.liw in onVir institution or private home, or he may be left with the parents in a more clarified clar-ified atmosphere. . Not seldom the parents are' responsible responsi-ble for the wrongdoing of the child. They send litem out to steal coal from the railroad yards, or perhaps they have the boy or girl bring them beer from the nearest saloon. Possibly their i csp: nt:ibility is simp.y negative. They may have excited no proper authority and let Ihe child run the streets. In the juvenile court of Denver the parent is held responsible for the child and is ti icd with it in the same court, and is sometimes punished as the party responsible re-sponsible for the child's offense. Parents Par-ents who show themselves indifferent about keeping their children In school have been reached by the court very effectively. Recently a man was sent to jail for ten days because he persisted in letting his boy run the streets. This could have been done under no law under earth except the Colorado one. During the years 1901 and 1902, 111 parents were brought into court for persistent failure to send a truant child to school. Most of them were fined, and the fine suspended while the parent kept the truant boy cr girl at school. Only six of these ultimately 'failed, necessitating enforcement of the sentence against t!:c;n or commitment cf ihe child. It would be. difficult to express sober-3y sober-3y what Judge Lindsey means to the ragamuffins of Denver, as well as to many l::ys from the best families on Capitol hill. Frequently he takes then: .to dine with him or to see a play., An anecdote is current of his declining an . invitation to an important social function func-tion because he had an engagement to spend the evening with a friend, with whom he was going to celebrate their common birthday.- It developed later that his friend was 10 years old. His attitude toward his charges( is simple, direct and manly. He never condescends conde-scends and never talks over their heads. They understand that he is their friend, that in a measure he stands between them and the police, and that, though he never condones a wrong done by them, he is always ready to give them another chance to redeem themselves. The boys have found out that he will be "square" with them. He doesn't shock a boy's conscience by expecting ex-pecting him to violate the laws of honor hon-or which are binding in the court of boyhood. Recently the police were looking for a boy burglar, who was in hiding somewhere ia the city. One of his friends was in the ha.bit of meeting Judffe. Lindsey. da,Uy. He told the judge frankly that he knew where Henry was hiding, but he did not offer to "snitch," nor did the judge expect it of him. Yet the- boys agree, Judge Lindsey having talked it over freey with them, that "snitching" is right if it is done with the purpose of keeping the crowd or even one boy out of trouble, and it is not at all uncommon for a boy brought in for some offense to go out. round up the "gang," and persuade them all to . come in and to "snitch" on themselves. them-selves. So one boy, detected in "swiping" "swip-ing" things from a back porch, came in to "snitch" en himself. He brought in another. Presently forty boys wete involved in the offenses, and not a single sin-gle police officer was concerned in the case. The affair was talked over frankly between ?iie judge and the boys individually and severally. They pledged themselves to give up "swip-a "swip-a and .t se.e.aJ..thejLj.tis, gaxs-lta. up. It was a matter of loyalty to the court that each keep his word and see that the others do the same. In case one should repeatedly violate his pledge the duty of "snitching" on him would be apparent ti the others, and a boy might do so without being considered a "dirty little snitch." The boys feel that the success of the court depends on them, and since the judge stands loyally by tl.em they expect to du the same by him. As one gamin phrased it to his nrrthcr, .who asked Jimmie why he would do, so much more for Jud.ge Lindsey than for her: "De cons t'ink do judge is too easy wid de kids. He told de cops I'd quit swiping. If I go bad, de judge he'll lose his j:b. See?'' The boy's reasoning was logical, even if it went too far. The judge himself had suggested something of the sort, and the way . of it was this. Jimmie was started to be one of the worst desperadoes des-peradoes Colorado has known. He had both pluck and brains, and the police were fast fiupplying him with desperation. despera-tion. At the reques-t of his mother, the principal i f his schorl and the police officials. Judge Lind3ey bad sentenced the boy to the industrial school. Before Be-fore sending any toy to the "reform" school Judge Lindsey aiways takes occasion oc-casion to have a long pi hate talk with the lad, giving him to understand that he does not despair of him. but that he is sending him away because he thinks it best for him to have a change of environment. en-vironment. In this case he visited Jimmie Jim-mie in his cell-at the jail. -He was .o f of,-,. fli l-y-ir minlhoi- i-hjrif "If I let you go and you steal again I will have done wrong. For if you j to the iiidus.rial school, you won t have a chance to steal and so you may be-' be-' tome a good boy But if 1 let you go I am responsible for yen. Now, Jimmie, Jim-mie, if 1 protect ycu, are you going to i rotect me? Don't you knew that I couldn't hold my job very long if I turned loose thieves on tnc community?" communi-ty?" asked Judge Lindt:. Jimmie saw tne point. He gave the judge his word of honor to quit stealing, steal-ing, and he has kept it from that day to this. What Jimmie has done a hun- died ether boys have duplicated. Many others have slipped and fallen, but Judge Lindsey and his probation office! offi-ce! s. w ith many others wnom they have iiiteiesled in the lads, are there to lift them to their feet again, not to condone the new wrong, but to encourage them to fresh endeavor. A boy's seme of loyalty and honor is very strong when once it ia awakened. During tne past month. Judge Lindsey has sent to Goldei (the town where the industrial school' is located) a dozen beys. In each case the boy had gone without guaid, taking his own writ of commitment, commit-ment, and in not one case has the boy I been false to the trutt imposed on him. It, is firmly Impressed on the boys that the succesn of the juvenile court depends on them. They understand that-without their co-operation the judge and his probation officers cari accomplish ac-complish little, and because they feol that the juvenile court is woiking on their behalf to keep them out of the hands of their enemies "the cops" and fiom the luited reform school, their fighting pride as well as their loyalty is enlisted in defending this new cooperative co-operative . club which has skilfully allied al-lied them' with the forces of law and oi'der. The boys make cf Judge Lind-sey's Lind-sey's chambers a kind of clubroom. The lights are usually burning there till-half-past 10 o'clock, for the judge devotes nearly all his spare time to his boys, and any boy feels free to stroll in and while away an hour -or two with the court officers and the other boys who are likely to be gathered there. Under Judge Lindsey's tactful influence, influ-ence, though often at the suggestion of the boys themselves, oca reformatory reforma-tory movements sometimes find their beginning here. During the month after aft-er the judge's Saturday morning talk on "snitching" there were exposed, b? the boys themselves, for unlawfully selling whisky and toha.ee to minors more me than, the police had discovered discov-ered in 'twenty years: It was all done, openly aji 4 'above board without any detective work. The boys recognizec. that these dealers were getting them into tt-iuoie tor their private gain and that to "snitch" was not only legitimate but obligatory in order to protect tneir friends. In one cf the business alleys of the city the boys had fallen into tno custom of crapsnooting accompanied with much protanity and obsence language. lan-guage. Some merchants were complaining com-plaining a g:od deal about it, and this came to the ears of one of the leaders of the boys, who is a friend of Judge Lindsey. He proposed that the judge call the boys together and give them a talk on the subject. "De cops can t stop it, 'cause they sneak up behint us. i'ou talk straight in front, judge. De kid'll quit for you, mebbe." Judge Lindsey talked to them from a dry goods box at one of the news- ajerjfhees, and though the shooting of craps has not entirely discontinued (and never will be unless some substitute substi-tute for it can be devised), yet the amount of it has sensibly lessened and the noxious features that formerly went with it have disappeared. Great stress is laid by Judge Lindsey on personal work. One immense advantage ad-vantage of the juvenile court system, in addition to the elimination of the common jail with its vile associations and the stigma of criminal conviction, is, the chance it gives for study of the individual case. Every erring boy or girl has a peculiar twist that must be . studied. The case must be carefully diagnosed and treated accordingly, for the theory cf the juvenile court, in contradistinction con-tradistinction to the criminal court, is, that the machinery of tho law was made for the boy and not the boy for it. The prime consideration with this comt is not the vindication of the law, bu: the saving of the youth. In short, it as-.sumes tne function of a parent where the patent has failed and attempt.; at-tempt.; to discharge its liabilities with the same tenderness and the same firmness firm-ness which he should have displayed, rh is can be accomplished only by an ettcetive probationary system, carried out with tact and intelligence, and sjinrathetic appreciation of the probationers. pro-bationers. In the Denver court the judge Is now-assisted now-assisted by three probation officers whese dnty it is, under his direction, to look out for the charges of the court in various ways. Two hundred positions were spcured for bovs bv this court in the year 1901', and as many more in the past year. In many instances the boy, inert tj idleness and the running of the streets, did not take kindly to the discipline dis-cipline of steady employment. But'the juvenile court has been ready always to instill backbone, to get him another tiial or to look for a new position if the boy were discharged, and in genet gen-et al. to lend him aid and encouragement encourage-ment in his ambition to do well. It takes a limitless patience to make much out of a lad whose whole life training impelled him to be a breaker' of law, but Judge Lindsey and his juvenile court have in many instances scored notable successes in this. They have of necessity made many failures, too. These have been due to various causes, some cf them to the limitations imposed im-posed on the judge by lack of time to get into close enough touch with the ycung lawbreaker. There has been established in Denver Den-ver a house of detention, the third of its kind in the United States. It is, for children, to take the place of a jail. ' The gentleman and his wife who are in charge of it are able, competent and genial. The rooms are attractively lurnished. the windows curtained, the carpets soft. YVh lesome food is set on neat tablecloths, to the accompaniment accompani-ment of linen napkins and bright sil-verwa.ie. sil-verwa.ie. There is a schoolroom where the boy will find the teaching fitted to him, and a hospital room where he will .be cared for if he is sick. Surely this homelike place of detention will do much to obviate the evils that the jail has always carried with it even at its best. In addition to the other features which recommend the juvenile court system may be mentioned the saving of expense to the state. It is estimated ' conservatively that, during the past two years, the expenses under the old system would have been $100,000. more than under the present one. The decrease de-crease in commitment to the industrial school has been 50 per cent. In one Instance In-stance the state spent $1,035 on one boy between his tenth and fifteenth year. It succeeded only in driving him deeper deep-er into crime. For the past eighteen months he has been a probationer and has not cost the state one cent. But the saving, in actual money is of small Importance compared to the gain in future good citizenship. Jlr. W. Lester Bodine, superintendent ofcom-pulsory ofcom-pulsory education in Chicago, well phrased this wh,en he said: "It is cheaper and better to save a boy today than to prosecute and take care of th$ criminal in the future.? ' '" 1 |