Chicago eagle. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1889-19??, 1902-06-07

stress, cobbler and tailOr-all expert.
enced In their art-transfOrm the con-
tents of the bag into their best posi-.
BILE estate. This done. the articles are
sold to the employees of the mills. and
report says that the demand for them
mt reasonable prices far exceeds the
supply. The profit Is shared between
the mission which has procured AMI
collected them and the church which
has repaired and distributed them. In
addition to this very considerable gain
there is the advantage Of giving EN-.
ploymcnt to several kinds of workers.
and of providing the final owner with
garments so skillfully renovated as to
be much better than those to be
bought elsewhere for the same money.
Altogether. the clearing house scheme
II so admirable that one wishes SINH
lar plan might be devised for the
| brains Of some OF us. How delightful
II we could thus pass on our outworn
experiences, our well.thumbed wis.
dom, our threndbnre discretion, SO that
they would lind favor I'm the eyes Of
and the world the richer.
>e>
At n recent annual meeting OF the
Humane Society mt Cleveland, Ohio,
Judge william Babcock devoted an
earnest and Intelligent discussion to
the treatment Of youthful criminals.
The first two sentences OF the paper
were the key notes Ut the discussion.
These two sentences were. Nearly all
criminals are boys" and Every prison
IL u nursery for crime" Among other
forceful facts were the following: "Ali
the year round between seventy-hve
and one hundred young men, most OF
whom have not reached their majOrl-
ties, lie In our county jails awaiting
trial. Many OF them IRE released when
they are finally given chance to
prove their innocence. But they are
not what they were when arrested. for
the three months which they have put
In, and that Ii the average time they
wait, has brought to them very lib.
eral education In crime. The jail Is II
reservoir In which Is poured alike tue
hardened criminal and the youthful
vlolatOr.s Human nature Is the same.
ana the boys. with nothing but time ut
their disposal, listen to the various
methods OF house. breakers, Of the lat.
est innovations In hOld.ups. OF the
most successful means OF performing
every act against which society has
laid Its mandates" This IL not a new
picture, but 1t Ii true delineation
ana may be duplicated In hundreds OF
city prisons throughout this country.
Judge BabcOck says ONO Is not OK.
ceptiOnal In this particular. What a
fearful reckoning. then. for American
society OF the future. But Judge Bah.
cock has remedy. This Is his pro.
pOsal: 1t Is my belief that We have
no moral right to lock up a boy with.
out making him better. Education 10
the remedy. At the bottom of 1t all
lies poverty as cause. and too little
knowledge OF our duty to our brothers.
My plan would be to put Il teacher II,
the county Jail whose business It
would be to teach the young men
something that would direct their
thoughts to better things. l would
purchase Il library of good books and
place upon the authorities the RESPONSE
bility Of seeing that the yellow-backed.
crime-reeklng prints are thrown out.
Good books ana more education will
do much toward making men from
those whose lines Of life have begun
Il divergence from the right course.
rather than making criminals from
those whose only Offense Is that they
have been unfortunate" This plan
was first suggested, according to tho
Kansas City World, by Judge Wof.
ford, Of Kansas City In an address last
winter. 1t is certainly practical and
Is worth consideration. Society owes
1t to itself to carry out in some way
the reformation of the guilty which
Is the avowed purpose of the punish
ment of the criminal, ana which under
the present system Is a failure. But
reforms move slowly and 1t may re-
quire some American Dickens to de-
plct the communicating influences of
Jail life before our society Is moved to
action.
&el~
Mans perpetual fight against nature