Sacramento daily record-union., 1889-06-08
THE PLEA OF YOUTH.
S0CIETY'S ATTITUDE TOWARDS
OFFENDERS.
Where Youth May Plead CIenenCy
and W here Not - ExSmpies
From OJher Countries.
IWrtEsn 10. the REooEn.rNIoE-I

| Written for the BEcoRD,UNIoy.
/ The question Of how lar the p,ea of
youth may be urged in extenuaiion o.
Juvenile crime is one that admits oi no
definite answer The sentiment tEa; re-
coils from infieting harsh treatmen, On
| juvenile offenders Is unhappIly found to be
inapplicable to a large proportion Of cases
where the youth of the defendant ex-
clUdes him from participating in that
measure Of lenity which his experience
and years may al first blush entitle him
to. The distinction here maintained in
! theory that ali juvenile offenders canao,
righttully plead their infancy in ruiti.a-
tion of punishment, is attested in practice
by the fact that there are many Young
men in both our peniteatiar;es with whom
the plea of youth has evidently proved
futile to shield them from severe sentsnce. /
4 That these latter have oni, jeen iuag.sG
IN eNcepuona! Instances. only maz,, one
tAc more eager IL know what these eN-
/ cepuunai instances are, and indirectly sug-
gests an inquiry iu,o the whole realm of
/ gureuile responsibility. There can he no
dou0. that with the Development Of the /
race tie responsibility Of youth mas largely /
/ Increased. Lads BOW are supposed to
/ know more of their obligations 20 society.
and As = fact do know more. th@a ,heIv
coeyal predecessors OF avgmg .ime.
/ Along with gettiug the credit of possess
/ ing much Of the wisdom Of their elders.
| the " age Of discretion ~ commences earlier
! with every succeeding generation. !, /,
moi too much to say thar boys now are re-
/ ported 10 be wiser in tAeir teen, than the
! contemporaries Of Franklin were in their
/ twcu,ies.
I This early acquaintance with the knawi- :
( edge Of good and evil Is expected 10 f.r.a-
( lily in conduct, and while there is ,t,N
much allowance made for 81 the no, bload
/ Of youth, tue length 10 which this plea
! may be stretched Is now very muca cur
/ tailed. The once !ayorite expression "suu
I Ing Wild oats is seldom heard in these
/ days, proof! I ,hinE. OF the serious light
/ IN which puerl.c intisCrejiuu, are viewed.
/ drunkenness, gaming and intrigue sias
| that formerly we're deemed veuiaI in the
case Of youth. are in this age lrowned
/ down, and youthful dissipation, so far from
I
subjects him to scowlS
/ Besides the phrase | have named, the
words rake and roys.crer have sunk into
/ desaetude,' eupheml,ns being substituted
/ for these and a score more similar word,
and phrases, that in a ruder ape i. was
absolutely compulsory 60 use The diHl-
sluu Of science, the ease with which bnow.-
/ edge may be mastered, aud above all. an
b T,tl. tod IL . ..
! the accommodations OF experience bv which
/ every succeeding generation enyiches the
/ original bequest ever tends 10 render the
| plea Of youth less acceptable when urged
in connection with crime
Having established then the Obligation
OF youth to conduct itself towards society
| IN proportion as heredity and habit have
iuwoye the law Of right into its mind. |
under what circumstances may adolescence |
be urged III paiIiation Of guilt, and under
I what circumstances may it not
Speaking in a broad sense, the plea of
youth may be advanced in those cases
which involve neither dishonesty nor in !
gratitude. Acts committed in passion, |
where they would entail grieyous punish !
ment on the head of an adult, need not
necessarily be considered Il heinous crime
IN the case Of a youth. At the same time !
this reservation only applies TO a certain
class of ottenses, and positively excludes |
all these which hinge on the qualification |
OF the sexual instinct The hanging of !
sixyoung men at Sidney their united years !
fell short Of one hundred) for rape, ex- |
cited no horror in the minds of highly |
civilized community, who, had the crime !
been one of murder per st, would have been
loud III their denunciatioa Of this terrible
sentence. In England crimes OF violence
perpetrated by young men, the former
having no connection with robbery or lust, |
| are usually dealt with in lenient spirit, |
the youth in these cases getting the full |
advantage which accrues through the ten |
derness of years. On the other hand. |
forgeries, thefts and violence committed for |
objects of gain are visited on Young |
men with a severity which takes no cog
nizance whatever of the youth of the T!
culprit.
An illustration Will be sufficient to
bring out my meaning: At . recent session |
of the Central Criminal Court of London |
the same Judge had to adiudicate on two
| cases Of youthful crime, the first involving
the sacrifice of human life, and the second, |
an attempted eXtortion Of money. Hing
ing, the one case on property, and the other
on life, at first sight the latter would |
seem the more serious of the two. |
The Judge, however, thought different |
for on the lad who in a fit of passion had
| Drained his fellow-workman with a chisel, |
his Honor passed sentence of three months
imprisonment; but for the boy who had
abused the hospitality OF stranger, by
threatening TO bring revolving charge
against him unless 4 sum of money was
Immediately forthcoming, for such incre-
dible ingratitUde and baseness, the Judge |
did not think life sentence any too severe
to impose. Illustrations like these speak |
volumes, and the more they are multiplied
the more they point out the "mean of
Juvenile responsibility.
In cases where cunning and avarice have |
| been exhibited, the spectacle is far sadder |
IN the instances of youth that in those /
furnished by mature manhood. In BOYS !
almost every sin may be condoned except |
fraud and ingratitude, which are more !
minatory to society the earlier they are
| expressed in the individual. The crime of |
the lad, who, at Is, forges his employers |
name to a check, is in the opinion of the |
writer Of greater turpitude than the falsi-
tication of white haired clerk With the !
latter the temptation to sin has very often
| the excuse of unfortunate speculation to
plead for it, and very possibly lifetime
of usefulness to offset its infamy. In the
| boys case, however, cold-blooded iniquity
is positively without paIliation; it is |
slur on that portion Of humanity in which |
the hopes Of its elders are centered, and in
Tobbing youth of It's innocence it robs it of !
prerogative.
Far from being tempted 10 excuse fraud
on account Of the youth Of the culprit
community's self-interest compels it to ex-
CLAIM, If such things are done in the
green, what viii be done in the dry? The