The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1907-01-04
Selfrt Misrellany.
Harry Kept Faith and the
Judge Held His Job,

Judge Held his job.
BY THE HON. BEN LINDSEY, JUDGE OF
THE JUVENILE COURT OF DENVER
| love to tell the story OF certain
little Harry. 1t is like some others
where we have gone down into the un.
explored regions of little human
heart to find the good respond, and
they say the child is bad. There is no
such Ching. 1t is not the child that
fails. We fail-that is, those respon-
sible for the child. We did not un-
derstand But with little Harry the
response came like the sweet sound of
bell and tune-cear and beauti-
full.
He was in Jail. A strange place
for twelve year-old boy with a soul
and heart--an instr ument so wonder
ful, that attuned to perfect harmony,
is the very image of God. He that
shapes and moulds clay and marble is
as nothing to Him who can subdue
the discords of soul and bring out
its noblest impulse, its most energetic
faculties, and so parents should study
and know and love their children more
than even the skilled artist pours out
his devotion to canvas or marble. 1t
is this we should cultivate rather than
laws for punishment and prisons for
degradation.
The jailer had telephoned me one
cold wintry night that the boy was in
a spasm of crying and had so alarmed
him that he urged me to come at once
grabbed my coat and hat and went
out into the night, feeling that the
pitiless beat of the sleety rain was
ever kinder than a criminal law that
condemns little children to crime and
iron cells But this was before the
fight against the Jail was fought and
won. This was before love and firm
ness had supplanted hatred and deg
radiation.
Behind iron bars that would shame
the king tiger of the jungle found
the boy. He was sleeping, and you
would have thought not care had
ever visited that little tousled head
with its worn and tear-stained face.
But he wakened, startled by the graf
ing Of iron bolts and bars, and click.
ing Of great keys turning in their SOL
emn, monotonous locks, as the jailer,
leaving me alone with the boy, return
ed from the cell back into the dimly
lighted corridor.
The boy, frightened at these strange
surroundings, looked at his new cell
mate at first cautiously-almost fear
fully. Then look of joy and glad
ness came to his Eyes, as might come
from the captive at the approach of
deliverance. The boy knew me, for
| be had been chronic little truant,
and there may have been worse things.
but they may be left unsald, for it was
the boy, and not the things" we were
trying to redeem. A boy is worth
ten thousand times more than any
thing he steals, yet knew ten year
old boy who stole bicycle in the old
days and ten times more labor and
money were expended to recover the
wheel than tie boy.
l sat down in the cell on the iron
floor and put my arms around the boy.
| told him how much | thought of
him, and how | despised the bad
things he did. Yet what could l do
if he did not help me? | might help
him, but | could not carry him; I
would always be his friend, but he was
getting both himself and me in trou-
BILE if he 'swiped things" for if should
let him out and he "swiped things"
again, would not the officer say that
the Judge made a mistake in not send.
ing "the kid to The S ate Industrial
School, where he would not have a
chance to swipe things?' Then they
would say beth the judge and the boy
should be in Jail. How could he ex-
rec1 q inlUe to kaan his inh if his hoy