The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1905-04-02

officers work. 1t is because of the
lack of truant laws that the city's cur
few ordinance is practically dead let
ter If the policemen of the city stop
ped to inquire into the conduct of all
children who are on the streets in this
city after o'clock they would have no
time to devote to mature offenders.
st. Paul is interested in the Illinois
juvenile laws at present because the
Chamberlain bill now before the legis-
lature embodies some of the best fea-
lures of those laws. The foundation
thought underlying the Juvenile court
law of that state was born in the of
flee of the Chicago Visitation and Aid
society which had been devoting its
time to child saving work. Previous to
1899, when the Juvenile court bill be-
came an Illinois statute, child OF 10
or over who had committed a depre-
dalton of any sort that could be con-
strued as an overt act against the laws
of the state was arrested and thrown
into prison with the most hardened
criminals.
Problem in Chicago
When the bill was passed that pro-
vided for the establishment OF a juve-
nile court, with Jurisdiction by the
circuit court, Chicago especially
breathed a sigh of relief for youthful
offenders against the majesty of the
lem there. The court was opened July
l, 1899, and has been increasing in its
activity and the volume of work it has
accomplished until, at the time of the
issuance of its report for 1904, twelve
district officers and sixteen police pro-
baton officers were working under the
direction of the chief probation officer.
To utilize the forces of the juvenile
court to the. best advantage, the coun-
ty of Cook has been divided into
twelve districts, and each district has
been assigned to what is known as a
general probation or a district officer.
who devotes his or her time to the
| work. Each child coming before the
court, If paroled, is assigned to the
officer of the district in which he re-
sides. The district officer is RESPONSE
bic for the work of the court in the
district to which he has been assigned
and in general way oversees and
systematiZeS the work of the proba-
ton officers in the district. One of the
assistant state attorneys who has
watched the cases coming before the
grand jury of Cook county for years
recently reported as follows concern
ing the results of the juvenile court
law establishment:
THE effect of the juvenile court
upon the number of cases coming be-
fore the criminal court is very patent.
in the children's court. Of this num-
Der perhaps ten or twelve a year are
sent to the grand jury for indictment
for the purpose of having them sent to
Pontiac, the state training school.
These ten or twelve cases are the only
cases of youthful criminals handled by
the grand jury, and it is safe to say
that of all the criminal cases 200 a
year less are handled by the jury
since the existence of the court"
Children Are Classified
The children in the Cook county
court are classified into truants, de-
| linquents and dependents, the last class
including those dependent on the state
| for their support, and each class has
a separate day In court. Since the
| Juvenile court has been in operation
in Cook county not over twenty boys
under the age of 16 have been sent to
| jail, and they were boys who had, early
,, in life, started on career of crime.
The truancy laws are an important
feature of Illinois efforts to redeem
the children and make good citizens.
All truantS are paroled to truant off,
GERS whose business it is to see that
children of school age attend school
during the sessions and that no chill
dren loiter, about the streets or visit
questionable places.
There is very little that is new in
principle in what is known as the ju-
venile court laws" wrote recently one
who has made a practical study of
their workings. 1T is rather the surer
more constant and intelligent applica-
ton of old principles that deserves to
make noteworthy the present agitation
for so-called juvenile courts. We are
infinitely more in need of men and
women to do the work than to make
the laws
Colorado, one of the first states to
create the juvenile court has developed
1t into an admirable reformatory sys-
tenn, the success Of which, after a four
years trial, has been proved in brief
but eloquent figures. At the end of
the last year brochure was gotten
out by the probation department of the
Juvenile court of the city and county of
Denver which explains the method of
work in detail and which throws many
revealing sidelights on boy nature and
on what public spirited men and wom-
en- of that city believe to be the best
way of converting unpromising raw
material into the sound fabric of good
citizenship.
The brochure gives full credit for the
success of the experiment to Judge
Lindsey, already referred to, who pre-
sides at its sessions, and who, when
! those sessions are over, continues TO
.AS~P IN NiOoC tOuSl Will the D6HNeT
boys by constantly displaying his good
! Fellowship for them and his under
| standing Of the difficulties that lie in
the way of their being good"
| According to the brochure, Denver is
| now in the fifth year Of this juvenile
court work. Up to 1900 there were
! nearly as many children proceeded
| against in the Justices court and in the
| criminal court for crime as there were
| In the county court, which is also the
| juvenile court, although a law approx
ed by the legislature in April 1899
provided that school children under 16
| who are vicious, incorrigible or inn
| moral in conduct, or habitual truants
from school, or who habitually wander
| about the streets and public places
| during school hours or In the night
time, having no employment or lawful
occupation, shall be deemed Juvenile
] disorderly persons, subject to the pro-
visions of the act. The act, known as
the school law" was approved two
| months before the juvenile law of ILL.,
nois went into effect. 1t further pro-
| Vided that any person might file com
! plaint in the county court and that
| the case could be continued for further
hearing upon the conduct of the child
1t provided, too, that the school board
could appoint truant officers to look
| after the children. For several months
after the passage of the act, however.
no systematized effort was made to
bring juvenile offenders into court. The
L - Ill ~