Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-09-06
The Child Is the State
Continued from page s

lands of Illinois, Judge Lindsey expressed
that day many telling facts about the child
problem. He impressed himself on my mind
as the father of the fatherless; standing be-
tween the ignorant vicious, or unfortunate
parents on the one side and the cruelty of the
State on the other,-a rebuke to cold hearted.
absurd magistrates who following the severe
letter of the law call out, The child stole the
shoes? -" Yes. -" Bring in your witnesses.
=" Yes. 1t is, then, petty larceny :
Yes. -" The statute calls for sixty days in
the workhouse. =" es. - 1t IS so ordered.
Take him away.
Don't you see, then, that Lindsey must be
wise and kind; that it is not the machinery of
his court, but the man. that makes the results
Clearly, there is much to him that is out OF the
ordinary. And it comes back to that PERSONAL
ity with its gentleness, its sincerity, its shrewd
side, which can pet boy without letting the,
young rascal take advantage of well meaning
kindness Oh the Judges problem is difficult!
Some of the rat eyed, crop haired slum children
drop to him like shot, try to work HIM.
but quick as scat off they go to Golden for their
lesson 1t takes insight to make these swift
determinations between children: Ben has no
book to tell him what to do. Nature made
Lindsey; opportunity brought out his gilt OF
child love. What beautiful gift it IS, to be
loved bv little children recalled that after
noon, picture l had seen when l was a
boy, years ago, of Hans Christian Andersen
telling wonderful fairy tales to the boys and
girls
As Lindsey told story after story of his ex-
periences with bad boys. | could that he
was one of the most fatherly Judges in America
His ways no doubt shock oldtime dyed-ln-the-
wool sticklers for legal procedure. In some
quarters he is regarded as dangerous IN
novator" What! try case not by the evil
dence but by the boys personal history! Put
the father on probation rather than send the
boy to jail? How absurd!
Ben Lindsey is filled with odd quips. He
talks boy slang. like street gamin. He told
of "de gang" and ode kids and how wrong it
was to snitch on de fellers," and how to
" iigger de cop So, he is boy among boys,
Just as he is man among men.
The Famous Chicago Case
THE way he handled that Chicago case
showed his grasp of the boy problem. 1t was
a busy day in the juvenile court and Judge
case He took the boy to the Judges
private room and began the trial.
The complainant kept saying, Cant you
hurry up Judge I'm in hurry to get back
to my business.
"Oh, don't be in hurry Stay and see it
out You say the boy stole the watches?'
YES"
"What was the value?'
twenty-five dollars, your Honor. >,
THAT certainly looks like grand larceny.
1.-TWO of the other boys, your Honor,
who stole watches the last time hustled
around, raised the dough, and settled it out
of court"
"Oh, no! So they did, eh9" Then the
Judge took the boy prisoner aside and, placing
his hand on the lads head gently, in tatherly
way, said:
'Dick tell me all about it. Don't keep back
a thing, ! am your friend
Dick, rat eyed gamin, began whimpering,
and finally his courage came back and his eyes
glowed with indignation. He blurted out,
" ledge de ting to do would be to run dat guy
down, an not me. Yes, pinched de watch;
but say, it's marked ~ ]. NJ, an IS n, which
means 22 jeweled movement, Is karat gold;
but de pawnshop man tested it an found it
brass; an so dat man is sellin' brass watches
fer gold. An no wonder he was only too willin
fer de odder folks ter come up an settle. ter
gold what he knows is only brass An besides,
ledge, he collects fer gold watches in de bur
glary insurance he carries an de whole game
is a fraud!"
"Who was the real criminal?" asked the
Judge, his eyes lighting with Indignation.
Twas it the traducer of child life, or the poor
fatherless boy brought up in the sums, who
stole because of bad example of his gang?
The Basic Lindsey Idea
IN, on, ran the train, and the light of Gods
~ great skies lay broad and smiling
the wide prairies, with their rich harvest of
corn in the shock; and children helped in the
fields here and there, away from the harm of
great cities, growing up strong and clean