The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1902-05-26

| pSen maze upon the constitutions
Il ality of the law establishing 9
separate court for juvenile offend
ers. statement of the laws purpose
scope and effect recently prepared by
Judge Beitler of Philadelphia should
have educational interest.
"The act" he explains, deals only
with children under sixteen years of
age, and of these only with the unfor-
tunate and the erring. BY it's terms it
applies to dependent or neglected chill
| dren and delinquent children. The
first class, the act says, shall include
| any child who is destitute or homeless,
or abandoned, or dependent upon the
| public for support, or who habitually
begs, Or whose home, by reason Of neg
lect or cruelty or depravity of the par
| ents, is an unfit place for Il child, or
any child under eight years Of age
found peddling on the street. A 'deln-
quent' child, the act says, shall mean
a child who violates any law of the
state or any ordinance. The court s
jurisdiction may be invoked by a petit
tion which must allege that the child
therein referred to is either dependent
or neglected or delinquent. Upon the
filing of the petition the judge may
issue either IL summons or a warrant.
The former requires the party having
the custody of the child to produce it
in court; the latter imposes the duty
of bringing the child into court upon
the officer armed with the warrant
AS matter Of fact, the judge con-
tinues, very few cases are brought into
court upon summons or warrant. THE
police are constantly turning over to
the Children's Aid society and similar
organizations children who have no
homes or caretakcrs. These children
find their way into the juvenile court.
into. The judge has the assistance of
the prior examination into the facts
of each case by the society and it's
agents. Sometimes the power of the
court is invoked to compel the atten-
dance of relatives or even of parents
After a careful hearing the case of
each child is decided and a decree
made. The testimony heard is taken
down by Il stenographer, and then type
written, and filed for future reference,
If the judge is satisfied that the parent
or parents of child ought not to have
the custody of the child, but are able
to contribute to its support he may
make an order requiring the payment
of such sum as the circumstances war
rant Children are sometimes turned
over to relatives and sometimes to a
charitable society, regard being had al
ways to the religion of the child in Sc
lecting the society.
"Delinquents generally come into
court from the magistrates Offices, |
directly, sometimes from
prison. 1t is in the handling of these |
cases that the judge has the most deli
cate and difficult tasks imposed on him. |
What to do with bad boy is prob |
lem as old as time. Ii the wisdom of |
the past had given US one formula to |
follow, the task would be simple, but |
the question: every time it arises, is as |
new as when 1t was first presented. |
That some boys would be better off if |
severely punished the first time they J
lie or steal is undoubtedly true.5 The |
fact that the way of the transgressor
moral precept and an actual fact. Still |
the question in every case is, How shall |
this boy be handled? With the best
motives and the most careful and pa
tient inquiry the judge can, at best,
but guess. To send the boy home, and
40 nothing more, as was frequently the
Did way, is perhaps to teach him that
The law is not stern but lenient; 10 give
rise in him to feeling that after all
20 offend, to be caught, to be taken to
court, is not serious matter. To re-
use to send him home is perhaps to
AXE from him just the influence which
will, with some outside supervision,
make him good man.
1T is just here that the juvenile
'ourt act, in my Judgment, offers its
greatest good, and opens up a new
Nance to deal intelligently with the
'oy's case. Instead of making the boy
promise to be good and sending him
lome the court places him in charge
II probation officer, and then lets
him go home. The probation officer is
he child's friend, but the courts ad-
User. Each boy is kept under sur
'eillance. If, after the promise he has
made to the court, he stays away from
chool df parents can send him) or re-
uses to work, or goes with his former
,ssociates, IL they are bad boys, he is
and il he will not mend his
Ways he is brought back to court, and
hen the judge has. more knowledge of
he case to guide him in acting inteSl-
emily in the matter One probation
hicer to whom since last July nearly
ne hundred children have been com
nitted, told me recently that she had
ut one child backslide. The whole
cheme of the act is towards prevent
lg delinquents from becoming crimin- ;
Is. 1t is the ounce of prVention which
far. far better than pounds of cure.
ha