Los Angeles herald., 1907-05-12
TELLS WOMEN
HOW TO MAKE
BOYS BEHAVE
Judge Wilbur Talks
to Mothers
National Congress Opens at the EbcII
CIub--Judee Lindsay Regret
fully TeIegraphs He
Cannot Come

Bad boys and how to make good boys
was the keynote of the speech by Judge
Curtis d. Wilb r last night before the
Congress of Mothers in the Ebell club
house, Eighteenth and F'igueroa streets.
His speech was made up largely OF
number of interesting anecdotes telling
of the boys brought into his court, what
they had done and what they did after
being taken to court. He endeavored
to explain that putting the boy indis-
criminately with a number OF otner
boys who We're perhaps worse than ne
did not do any { ood, but probably maze
criminals out of all of them. He SAID
mothers were always complaining that
their sons were bad because they did
not go in good company. He illustrated
his case by telling a story of where he
had had five boys IN court before him
that morning. and the mother of each
hoy had declared that her boy had been
led astray by the other four. Judge Will
bur admitted that each mother was
right and that each boy had led on the
others.
Why Boys Are Bad
He also had chart, the same that is
used in the detention home, showing a
bov's record, and explained the differ
ent characters and what influence the
monthly report had on the boy himself,
and how easy it ',-as once the boy had
started to keep on going right. he
said:
"T asked a number Of my boys the
other day to write me out why tney
thought a boy uid wrong, and the 1ol-
lowing statements made by one OF tnenl
7 agree with entirely: A boy does
wrong because &c does not think or re-
alize when some one leads him, when
he does not mean to. because he thinks
II is fin because he won't get caught,
inst to be smart, to get out or anotner
WRONG done. and to get what he wants.
Those are the main reasons as lar as
can make out, and they do not seem SO
very criminal when you examine theHl
carefully.
sartenred by the same standard as an
ad,,lt IL he had committed some crime
and even now a child who mas COM
T,itted a murder will be convicted by
The same procedure as in the trial OF
an adult and will receive the same
punishment.
Throat Trouble to Blame
.These bad boys of ours are blamed
severely but in most cases there is
some physical defect, largely IN the
throat, which causes truancy, delln-
cuency and so forth. 1t seems odd,
the defect is relieved the child soon
returns into bright normal boyhood
again. .,,o a.oo,s =, los
Angeles for these small Offenders, ana
oftentimes the boy never reaches the
court when he has committed an ov-
fense. but is put into one of these
schools instead and becomes law
abiding citizen in time, Some people
saw that is putting great respon-
sibilitv upon the teachers, but after
all it is the school teacher that must
reform the boy. l think that the ]uve-
nile court work is one of the pest saIe-
guards to public property because tne
laW-fearing boy becomes model citl-
zen and treasure in his country and
city"
Hon. Ben. B. Lindsay of Denver,
Colo, man famous in juvenile court
work, was to have spoken on DEN
ciences in Care of Children Revealed
hy the Juvenile Court but tele-
gram was received by the congress
that he would be unable to attend.
Informal talks We're given by Mrs
Frederick Shoff, president of the Ma
tional Congress OF Mothers, and Mrs
Theodore Birney of Chevy Chase, Mo-
founder of the congress. DR.. #. De-
Witt Talmage gave the invocation.
At the afternoon session the con-
gress was formally opened by Rev. Dr.
Robert Mcintyre.
Joseph Scott, president of the boart
of education gave an interesting ad
dress, thanking the mothers for the
work they had done in aiding the edu
cational department He said;
mot merely the educational depart
ment of this city but the entire com
munity is intensely interested In tho
deliberations which you are about u
undertake upon the momentous ques
tions to which your organization has