The Paducah evening sun. [volume] (Paducah, Ky.) 1906-1929, 1907-09-18
For COuntry's Youth Heard by
Large Audience.
Crime Among Children Disease
Needing Treatment Rather Than
Punishment.
STRIKING ILLUSTRATIONS USED.


evident in the lecture last night by
Judge Willis Brown. Of salt LAX,
City. under the auspices OF the Won
ans club at the Kentucky theater
before thoroughly representative
auEnce, on the subject OF juvenile
reform. Enthusiasm first, for boys
In general, and enthusiasm in his own
personality OF an interesting and
highly boylsh kind Like the rush
OF a football player. Judge Brown
jumped into the middle of things. and
the audience, which had anticipated
the usual Introductory remarks, were
gripped from the start with an inter
est that his enthusiasm never let
wane until his intensely dramatic APP
peal at the close. for parents TO awake
TO their responsibility toward the
the cOuntrys youth Judge X. 7.
Lightfoot introduced Judge Brown
There IS that in Judge Brown r
manner of speaking so informal YET
30 forceful, that reminded the ad-
dience of a thoroughly aroused boy
defending his honor. II was felt that
II such enthusiasm resided In every
court, Juvenile criminals snd degen-
crates would become as scarce as
Judge Brown said they had become
In Salt Lake CITY The reformer fair
~ bristles from Judge Browns per
sOnality and II this lecture Is gener-
ally given over the country, Il was
felt that a wonderful reform in the
handling of boys would result He
touched on some high points in moral
conceptions OF our duties to our fell
lowmen and especially TO our chill
dren, but the Paducah audience back
ed up his stands with genuine APP
plause. In person. Judge Brown was
surprisingly young.
boy Not Responsible.
After giving instances from person
nj experience with criminal boys.
Judge Brown laid down the general
principle thai juveiile reform was
due TO the public becoming convinced
that the souls Of boys are more inn
portant than property. We must not
imprison the boys to get them out of
our way. bu 20 iuculcate IN them the
moral principles their parents neg
locted "a instil Children are not
born bad and will be az good as the
adult examples before them. The in
consistency OF civil law In treating
the boy as minor In all things. ex-
cept when he broke the criminal laws
was bitterly denounced by Judge
Brown. who said that the minor
could not sell property legally. but
II he stole a bicycle. a mans punish
ment was melted out. lie did not be-
lieye that boys under eighteen years
old were responsible for their acts.
Juvenile courts recognizing this
fact. treat the boys as boys. Then
Judge Brown went into details with
the methods OF reforming habltual
hoy offenders and I'm this connection
used chairs in most effective illustra-
tions. Representing the home. the
juvenile court, the detention school.
the ranch homo .and tho reform
school. with chairs. he showed tho
different stages of reform. Tie de-
tcutiOn school was managed more like
a boys school where the boys are
placed on their honor and the idea
of crinnnality, suggested by the iron
barred roform school. is lacking. He
gave interesting instances of the lat
ent honor I'm the most neglected BOYS
and made the assertion, that boy for
boy. he would trust them sooner
than he would man for man.
The Ranch.
The ranch was a second stage in
the reform where boys more harden
ed we're placed and allowed to feel
their importance by managing the in.
siitution Here. too. surprising de-
ve!opments In morals were evident
with these preliminary Institutions
Judge Brown found that the reform |
school rarely was needed. In his ex- |
perience with boys he has found that
many need doctors rather than
courts. as their heredity ana en-
made them criminals |
Many simply have animal spirits that |
want expression, and they are Grim |
inals simply because these sp.rits |
never have been given proper direc-
ton. with boy bands, betterment |
clubs and other organizations. Judge |
Brown found the means TO give the
right expression to the boys spirias |
and I'm Salt Lake City, under these
treatments, no boy has been arrested |
in five months, in a city of. 100 900 |
I'm his final remarks Judge Brown |
up the lecture by declaring
that after all, the juvenile court was
a necessary evil, and that It was only |
in the home that boys can get the
principles needed TO right citizenship !