The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1906-02-28
JUDGE HAYDEN's SPEECH.
Explains Workings of Juvenile Court
Before Santa Fe Shopmen.

In speech before the Santa Fe
shopmen at noon today Probate Judge
Hayden said:
one of my opponents has seen fit
to criticise my methods in handling the
juvenile court
In handling the boys I have not re-
ned upon my own Judgment, but have
adopted well known and well establish
ed methods; such men as Ben Lindsey
or Denver and Jacob Riis of New
York are of one opinion as to how to
deal with a boy. If am wrong, then
they are wrong, but the results of the
Juvenile court have proven the method
a success.
"A great majority of men during
their boyhQod days have transgressed
the law. know this, you know it and
every boy knows 1t, and you cannot at
tempt to deceive a boy; he will detect
it more quickly than a man. Be fair
with him, be honest with him. If it
is beneath your dignity to tell boy the
whole truth you had better abandon
boy work.
when a boy is brought into court
charged with an offense I take him
into my private room and have a talk
with him. I go over the situation with
him, giving him to understand that my
object is not to punish him, but to pre-
vent his punishment at this time and in
the future TO help him. I go back with
him into the boy world I talk enough
VI Ivy 5lcttlS 10 lLlelk6 MIN l66l at nome
give him enough of my own experience
to make him know that [ was once a
boy with faults like his and that my
sympathies are with him. I often ad-
nit that have done the same things
that he is charged with; I talk with
him of the pranks of boys and soon
gain his confidence.
You have in the management of
boys, as judge, what would seem to
be an inconsistency; to save his honor
and Splf-TRCnaNf pf him Ixnnuv
that the Offense he has committed is
not looked upon by you as crime
when committed in the spirit of a boy
iSh prank You cannot hope to take
from boy his self-respect and lay the
foundation upon which to build a man,
but you must correct his delinQuencies.
To save his self-respect without up
holding him in his wrong is a most
delicate and difficult task. The one
thing that I attempt to instill in every
boy is to be on the square, I tell a boy
just what I think. That it is my
belief that the great majority of
through thought1essn ess, or of fear of
the other boys calling him, to use a
boy slang words a gutter or a hun
dred other little things that appeal to
boys and to the boy world only. After
showing the boy his true position. then
comes the. building of d man. You
must go into his world and al the same
time hold his respect; you must be
KIM, YET uffll WI1llS IOfBINlilg MN MS
wrong you must at the same time up
hold the dignity of the law. Make the
boy know that his wrong was thought
lessness, but that If he persists in doing
wrong after knowing better, after be-
ing placed on his honor, after being
trusted by the court, when he would
not only be wrOnging himself but the
person that trusted him, that then, if
he persists in doing wrong, his is a real
wrong. or a crime if you please.
eff a how is CHARGED with a lxircr n
orange or an apple. if you were to look
upon him in horror, if you stated to him,
you are a thief or a criminal, my
would not have thought of such a thing
when I was a boy. you would deceive
him; you would take from him his self
respect; you would bring forth every bit
of antagonism that the boy possessed,
or if he believed you, which I doubt
he could not look you in the eye because
you had branded him as thief and
criminal.
AS for my part ] am a great believer
in the juve~ile laws, and the present
system in handling the boys. For exam
pie I had a boy brought into my court
charged with some boyish offense. His
mother was sick and forced to earn her
living by washing. She was dishearten-
ed and said she thought she must send
her boy to the Reform school because
she could not control him. He worked
with the boy for several weeks before ne
would believe that we were his friends
he was STUBBORN. lOOk6Q ulOH US anu
the world as his enemy, but finally he
realized that we were working for his
good. One morning he came into my
office, I took him into my private room
to hear his story. He stated that ms
mother was much worse; that she could
no longer work; that he had secured a
position with the hasty messenger ser
vice but that he must have wheel be
fore he could go to work and asked me
to lend him enough money to pay for
one-half Of it. I lent him the money,
he bought the wheel and went to work
He paid me every. cent I lent him eX-
cept what I RENTED and that boy has
supported his mother ever since, which
is more than five months ago Every
juvenile court day he telephones to the
ONCE and asks to be excused for the
reason that he is working. What would
have been the result had ] branded that
l,ov in his own estimation as crimi-
ne.
zone of my opponents also stated that
I claimed to have 300 boys in my court,
where as a matter of fact my RECORDS
only show 147. Ny records do not snow
147: they show but little more than 100,
the balance being dependent ana neg
lected children.
THE we'll known object of the juven-
lie laws is to handle just as many cases
a s possible without placing any record
against a boy that might tarnish his
name The success of a juvenile judge
depends largely in being able 10 handle
the greatest number Of cases, making as
few. records as possible 1 DESTROYED 10
complaints in the presence OF the DoyS
charged in one week because / thought
I could successfully handle the boys
without placing a record against them
that might do them injury IN the fu-
ture. I have handled nearer 800 cases
than 500 There are about 300 cases that
are at the present time reporting to this
court"