The Indianapolis sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1880-1904, 1885-02-01
Philadelphia Press.

Philadelphia Press
NEW YORK, Jan. 81 have always had
an idea that msn must have boys tastes
aud inclinations il he expects to be of any |
use TO them or have an influence over them.
You can not drive, you can not coax, but
you can, by being one of the crowd, in SYM
psny with a clean cut apprehension of the
desires, whims, inclinstions and tastes that
move. sctuate and slim ulate boys of the
present day, win their confidence, and, after
. little, secure their following. New York
is packed with Oh ildren. The old story OF
little girls selling papers at ii o'clock al
night is just as true to day as it was ears
ago when the subject first attracted publi
notice, and the grinding outrages perpe
trated by the district messenger companies
upon the little fellows of New York and
Brooklyn, and, dare say, Philadelphia as
well, touch me very nearly, / often think,
as l see these little fellows shiveripg with
cold or drenched with the rain, what futur.
there 10 for them.
They have no trade, nor calling. They
are in business where their employers are
rude, harsh and exciting, where the patrons
OF their employers are very apt to Dc seduc
iive where all manner Of petty deceit and
treaohery and pecuniary dishonesty is part
Tombs we have boys prison, and there
can always be found there quite q company
of poor little devils, sad ana weary, but no
poor little devils, sad and weary, as the hon
| yeoman or the tender mother interprets that
expression. They are cheeky, hard featured,
callous hearted. Now 1t is q big problem,
for men are only grown up boys. and when
these boys grow up they will stand upon the
plane OF activity. Of earnestness and indus
try. in some way or other, precisely as you
and l and other men stand to-day.
i SELF EDUCATED CRIMINALS
Ii is remarkable how often, in question
/ ing the youthful con sicts in our prisons as
to the causes Of their downfall, they will re.
ply that. If they had had q trade. they
would not have been there" They dislike
drudgery they found places in offices ard
shops crowde d; tbep would have enjoyed the
com partnership of the inventiyeness of q
trade, but they could not obtain one, and,
therefore, they we're led into stealing or
| gam bling as q quick mode of earning q liv-
ing.
OF course, II such lad would walk forth
to the nearest country village, he would find
pleanty of healthy and remuneratiye en-
ploy ment on the ground as gardner or farm.
er. And to the country lad the far On offers q
better chance than trade. But many city
boys and young men will not consent to
leave the exoitements OF the city. 30 that the
|
them to many temptations.
The persons most responsible for this state
OF things are the members of such unions
as refuse to employ boys or to encourage
the training of apprentices. 1t is we'll known
that in many trades of New York, hardly
Iany young laborers or apprentices are being
trained. The result of this selfish policy will
be to reduce the amount OF skilled labor 10
this city, and thus compel the importation
OF foreign labor, and to increase juvenile
lcrime AID the burdens on the poor.
Another cause of this increasing separa-
ton from trades among the young is no
doubt the increasing aversion of American
lchildren, whether poor or rich, to learn any
thing thoroughly; the boys of the street. like
those OF our mercnants preferring to make
fortunes by lucky and sudden turns" rath-
er than by patient and steady industry.
Our hope in this matter is In the steady
demand for juvenile labor in the country
districts and the substantial rewards which
await industry there.
BROKEN MARRIAGES.
1t is extraordinary. among the lowest
classes. in how large number of cases sec
ond marriage, or The breaking of marriage,
is the Immediate cause OF crime or vagrancy
among the children. When questioning q
homeless boy or q street. wandering girl as to
the former home, it is extremely common to
hear, Il couldn't get on with nv step.
mOtQeI, Or MY step I6tQef treated me
badly" or my father left, and we Just took
care of ourselves" These apparent excep-
tional events are so common In these class es
as to constitute an important cause of javen.
lie crime. When one reflects on tue great
number OF happy second marriages and how
many children have never felt the j ference
between their step mother and their own
mother, and what love aud patience and self
sacrifice are shown by parents to their step
children, we may be surprised at the contrast
IN another class OF the community. But the
/ virtues OF the poor spring very much from
their affections and instincts; they have com
paratively little self control; the high lessons
of duty aud consideration for others are sell
dom stamped on them, and religion does not
much influence their more delicate relations
with those associated with them They
might shelter q strange orphan for years with
the greatest kindness; but the bearing and
fOrbearing with the faults of another person q
child year after year, merely from motives
OF duty or affection to Its parent, belong to q
higher range Of Christian virtues. to which
they seldom attain. Their own want of self
control and their tendency to jealousy and
little understanding of true self-sacrifice,
combine to weaken and embitter these Iela-
tiOns with step.children. The children
themselves have plenty of faults, and have
doubtless been little governed. so that soon
both parties jar aud rub ageinst one another,
buu, rs ueltneI nave lUstlDCtS or a0ectl0De
to fall back upon, mere principle or sense
of duty Is not enough to restrain them.
What would be simply sights or Jars In
more controlled persons become collisions in
this class.
| STRAINED gAMILY RELATIONS.
Bitter quarrels spring up between step
son and mother, or step daughter and father
! the other parent sometimes sides with the
child, sometimes with the father; but the re-
sui Is similar. The house becomes q kind
of pandemonium, and the girls rush desper-
ately forth to the wild life of the streets, or
the boys gradually prefer the roaming exist
ence of the little city Arab to such q quar-
relsome home. Thus Ii happens that STEP
children among the poor are so often crimi.
nails or outcssts.
1t needs q number of years among the
lower working classes to understand what q
force public opinion is in all classes in keep
ing the marriage bond sacred, and what
swt epiDg mlsfortunes follow its violation
Many of the Irish peasants who have landed
here have married from pure affection
Their marriage mas been consecrated by the
most solemn ceremonies of their Church
They come Of q people peculiarly faithful to
the marriage tie, and whose religion has es-
pecially guarded female purity and the 6del
ity of husband and wife. At home, in their
native villages, they would have died sooner
than break the bond or leave their wives.
The social atmosphere about them and the
influence of the priests make such an act al
most impossible. And yet In this distant
country, away from their neighbore and