The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1905-12-10
CHILDREN IN COURT.


sst,,-5sv was juvenile court day at the
-,-5bsfs ind0s's Office and 60 urchins' var
80 IN are from 6 to 16 made tneH
,es,.Iar renort ana received ieqstts
f-Sr5 TudRe Hayden on the error OIL -
vravs. This class IS but one-thlIo ol -
number who are under the super -
of .T,ldre HAYDEN and r. w Eaton pro
baton officer, but they report 0 tbs
such times as they are notineo Dy -
CONT. This class Is composed or a s.-,,,S
al uatiOnalities and Colors. ransliis II ~ ~
~,7ra white through all the shaues
brown to jet black. one SUI ifs,ftie, ioo5,s
r1re about this class of naughty httLe - 2
is the fact that very sillad PSI 49, ~ :
them are from the colored race, iS ~
fie black fellows are either not - 20 ~ -
r., r4fsrnief or else are more sly aoQ4A ~
end ave not detected, for there are less
than a dozen OF them in this class. Slls
class of so boys has but two coioreu Dos =
In IT, The cOiored- boys are tAe -
managed Of al of the boys Wh9 49,
brought in for misdemeanorss W4ll-H 80 -
the entire gamut of mlschlel anu pSees
When a boy is charged with an Oh
tense he is brought into the propate coul
bv an officer and if the evidence is sur
hcient he is booked and compeieu 10 "a
mort to the probate court regularly anu
al such times as the court may deslen stle.
Truancy Officer Eaton visits MN al ms
home at least once in two weeks ana
sometimes Oftener and ATTENDS 10 ~
complaint which come in with references
the boys all with whom the pfopals 49, 49, :
has to deal. for there is class OF little
girls who are under the dlTectl0n OF me
probate officers. Beng under lLe super
vision of the court seems to have d nene-
fetal effect on the boys ana girls VINO are
unfortunate enough to be looked upon az
naughty Out of a class of one hundred
and fifty boys and girls who have been
brought before the court charged with
infractiOus of the rules of society, not
one Of them has ever been BACK the sec
ond time The cause which gets most OF
them into the clutches of the law is the
fact that their parents permit them TO De
out late of nights. and il is but a snort
time until they form into cliques and
gangs. and when one of the more ven-
turesome proposes. some act, it gets the
children into trouble
In speaking of his mode of handling
this class of society Judge Hayden said:
II 90 not try to make sunday school pu-
pills out of the boys and girls who are
brought before me- as that would be more
than useless. Most of them are children
OF poor parents or children OF the slreeJs
who really know no home nor the mean
ing Of the word parents They are
brought into court charged with about
everything in the category of crime, but
there are but few Of them who are vic
ious and mean. Most of them are brought
into court for committing some little of
Tense, such as probably every boy In the
country has been guilty OF. ! nave come
to the conclusion that there is but one
way TO handle the little fellows, and that
fs to appeal to their honor as men, and
responsible for their actions by the peO-
PIE who have elected me. So far they
have never viOlOted my confidence and
when one of them tells me that he viii
do certain thing I feel quite certain
that he will do as he SAYS.
There is a code Of honor among the
street urchins which seems to mean
more to them than the laws which are
placed on the statute books. Their high
est ambition seems TO be to be known
among the members Of their set as a
square guy, as they express it. try
to impress upon them the fact that If
that motto is followed out through life
that they viii become honorable and val
liable citizens. I try to impress upon
them the fact that they are not criminals
because they are in the custody of the
court, and call their attention to the fact
that If they We're so regarded they would
be locked UP and deprived of their Iiber-
ty I think that if the Juvenile law
works as well other places as it does
here that the act which created 1t viii
be the means Of making useful and vaE
liable citizens out Of many boys and girls
If these same boys were thrown into iails
and forced to associate with criminals
and depraved characters, the result would
be bound to be different