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


It'll officer Graves, in the city hall,
U is very long and very
wide and very thick book
most unattractively bound 1t does
not look particularly interesting, put
II is decidedly so, for 1T contains
mute but eloquent testimony Vi
the strongest effort Minnesota mas
made so far to save the deilnqueh'
children of the state from becoming
criminals. In it is the record OF every
CT Paul boy and girl who has oeen
arrested charged with misdemeahor
or crime Also it is a brief summary
of what takes place during the SEES
eions of the city's juvenile court. 1t
tolls of the success and failures or the
nrohation system, admittedly one or the
hest systems of it's kind in this coun-
try and the foundation of child ana
youth saving work in the state. MIN
nesota has her eyes fixed thougntIuliy
and consideringly just now on the mis-
chievous small boy and the bad small
bow and their equally willful sisters.
Philanthropic societies are invesugat-
ing them and the legislators are study
ing them, for it is thought that the state
can throw stronger safeguards ABOUT
them than it has yet thrown.
Already, however, it has accomplish
ed much and because Minnesota uses
the term Juvenile in a more elastic
sense than other states that have made
even more careful provision for the
protection and aid of its children, its
effort goes further. Colorado and Illi-
nois, the two states whose juvenile
,1ff 1anir. o11f o.
ment are admittedly superior, regard
a child as a juvenile until he is 16, but
Minnesota chooses to consider him one
until he is 49,.
When a lad is arrested for petit lar
ceny in this city he must go to the
police station because there is no de-
tention house where he can be kept
until brought before the judge. This
is one of the serious defects of the
present system of dealing with jul
Venile offenders. He must be brought
into the courtroom by a police Off
GER another defect, since it unneces-
sarily humiliates one who may be and
probably is the victim of his sur
roundings, and makes him defiant.
Kept Apart From Criminals
But once in the court house, the law
differentiates him from the criminal of
mature years, for he is not brought
into the courtroom, where are the
other criminals, but is kept in sep
arate room until the older offenders are
tried. The courtroom is then cleared
of all except those who are concerned
in the trying of the cases. Probation
Officer Graves or his deputy, Miss Bal
four of the Salvation Army, are present
at each session of the court, and if it
is the young prisoners first offense,
or if there are extenuating circum-
stances, even though his name is down
on the record book kept by the proba-
ton officer, he is given a chance
that is, he is placed on probation.
When the case has been proved
against any offender his name is en-
tered in the book and the history of it
is briefly cited. There are many quiet
sessions in the chambers of Judge
Finehout which are not reported even
in the record book and which bear no
Judicial aspect at ALL but the good eff
feet of which is testified to by Mr..
Graves and Miss Balfour, one or the
other Of whom is always present at
one of those informal conferences
where sound advice is given to young
offenders.
In the juvenile courtroom the train
ing schools are regarded as the very
last resort in dealing with an offender.
He is sent there when probation meth
DDS have repeatedly failed and when
the offenders incorrigibility has been
fully demonstrated. The probation law
permits the judge wide latitude. One
section of it specifically states: when
any child under the age Of IS years
shall be found guilty of the violation
OF any law, ordinance or regulation, or
of incorrigibility or vagrancy the Judge
may stay the execution of the sentence
for such period as he may deem prop
er, not exceeding one year, conditioned
on the good behavior of the child, COM
uniting the child on probation during
such stay to the care of the probation
officer, or he may return the child to
the custody of his natural guardian.
SUBJECT to the supervision Of the pro-
baton officer, under such conditions
as the court may prescribe. If at any
Time during the stay Of execution of
the sentence it shall be made to an
~ NAAO SceNASlclSIlOu VI the court
that the sentence should be enforced
the court shall have the power to re-
woke the stay of execution and enforce
the sentence Immediately If at the
expiration of the stay it shall appear
to the satisfaction of the court that the
said child has complied faithfully with
the conditions of his probation the
court may suspend sentence abso-
lutely."
10. Few Go to Training School
The most conclusive proof of the
practlcal success of the probation law
and its judicious exercise is that ont
OF the zoo juveniles who have been nut
on probation, only 125 have been sent
TO the state training school.
As0defect of the Minnesota Juvenile
laws as they exist at present is that
chi!ofen cannot be corrected without
thelr being charged and convicted Of
what is technically a crime. The Colo
fado laws and the Illinois laws. desie-
nate all offenders under the age of siY
teen as delinquents and thew are
charged as such in the complaints ar
the petitions that are filed. Judge r p
Lindsey, the father of the Juvenile
court in Colorado In an article on
Child reformation, has stated.
THE court does not tolerate the ,dao
OF a enid being a criminal. 1t does NOT
consider the question of punishment
the important thing. If the child can
not sbe corrected at home for its own
Sood and for the good of society at