The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1907-06-22
GAVE THE BOYS.

GAVE THE BOYS.
In the juvenile court the other day
a yOungster was brought before the
Judge on a charge of stealing a bicycle.
The examination developed the fact
that this waif of u had taken the
wheel for a ride, intending, so he said,
to return IL before its absence was dis
covered Unfortunately fo- his pleas
ure. the owner of the wheel Tnissed it
and reported it to the police. and The
boy was apprehended by a policeman
in the midst of his stolen enjoyment.
Then what happened?
Well the boy was thrown into Jail
and spent the night there under condi-
tions that would appal the ordinary
man unused to the prison smells, the
tough prisoners and the discOmfOrts of
a city prison.
II appeared from further examination
that this child's mother was a hard
character. homeless. sodden. hopeless.
The tender graces of motherhood had
been forgotten. the woman lost in the
beast. This little boy had been sleep
ing in Easements. in dry goods boxes
left in alleys, in any place where the
Outcast Of tender years may find shell
ter from the rain and the wind. Left
to himself under such conditions, the
boy must inevitably become a Grim
inal. a charge upon the state, a menace
TO society.
Yet. when the case was summed up,
there was no place in this broad, beau
tiful world where the boy could find
a home and friends and guidance,
sheltered and educated in right living.
The Judge had no option but TO send
him to the reform school at ogden TO
associate with older and incorrigible
boys.
Why?
Well, because the legislature of the
state of Utah in its wisdom made no
provision for a detention home where
just such children could be cared for;
because the city of Salt Lake and the
county of Salt Lake. commanding hun
dreds of thousands of dollars in taxes
will spend no money for the salvation
of children, though they spend thou
sands for the Imprisonment of incor-
rigibles and criminals; because the
public, which spends enormous sums
for amusement and pleasure, hasn't
time to think of the homeless ones or
money to spend on restitution and
misery
In less than two years the city OF
Salt Lake invested about $4,000 on the
juvenile court the Morris detention
home and the employment of agencies
for the prevention of juvenile Delinquent
cy. No public expenditure ever brought
such rich returns. Dozens of boys who
were delinquent are leading useful
lives now and enjoying the sensation
of right living because of that ex-
penditure. Some of them are earning
good wages in mechanical occupations
who used 10 be an expense TO the COM
munity. Other dozens are being edu-
Gated and hundreds have been divert
ed from wrong doing. Measured sim
ply in dollars and cents, the returns
have been splendid.
Yet with this example before them
the public officials of the city, state
and county have refused to make any
thing like adequate provision for the
continuance of this great work The
state has given the court one truant
officer for this city and county. and one
for Tooele and Summit counties. The
salary is SIS a month. almost as much
as a competent ditch-digger could
earn. The city has refused absolutely
TO pay for officers, and the county Is
unwilling to pay for a detention home
1t is about time for the good men
and women of the city to talk TO their
councilmen and county commissioners
about this state of affairs. 1t is more
than time for those officials supposed
ly the custodians of the public welfare
to consider the situation and face their
responsibility. They should provide
more officers of the right sort. they
should establish and maintain a deten-
tion home for boys and girls who need
sare, they should do everything in their
power TO assist the work of the court;