The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1908-05-08

our traditions OF criminal law and not
deal with child as criminal or
charge him with a particular, offense.
ward Of the State, under its broad
chancery power. The State Is the
guardian Of the child. as applied to
his property Why not It's guardian
self? Technical rules of criminal evil
dence are not applied The court as
guardian. is left 10 hccide what is best
for the child. There must be attached
mere voluntary help. who will make the
proper Investigation and lay before the
court the history of the family and the
surroundings of thea child.
There should be physician. a spe-
on every childrens court for the tho
rough M medical examination Of each
child. The court must know its ply
steal and mental defects. that have re-
tarded normal development. a mere
case. Of adenoids has led to the Deni-
Tertiary. a child sent to school In ba d
The teacher has many pupils. and gives
little personal attention. Truancy fol-
lows: then come vagrancy, stealing
something from railway car. the
child is arrested. and unless the juve-
nile court can check the tendency. the
child goes on its way to a criminal
career. Nervous children that should
have manual training rather than
books: eyesfght that impairs the ability
nutrition-these are the demands for
the careful attention Of the physician.
The Right Judge.
There must be the right Judge. In
some places the judges take the chill
dren's court month about. 1 had rather
child life and of the philsnthropic
problems OF the day than a man trained
in the law: The Judge should have,
however thorough knowledge OF con-
stftutional limitations and Of the fun
damental principles Of government. It
isn't the good will OF some accidental
Judge that ought to govern the affairs
OF men. It is fundamental principles.
fairly administered Probation work is
the. children's court. Here we give the
HID the chance to work out his own
salvation in his own home. with the
Officers There We're elements Of good
In the supervision afforded in our for
mer methods. which We must not lose.
Nor must we give the child the idea
that he can violate the law and suffer
no consequences. or allow him to go on
his evil way without warning or knowl-
edge OF the consequences. We must
train up generation of probation Off
GERS. for unless probation is real and
not superficial and official, the VIII ole
system will be discredted.
Others Speak.
Judge De Lacy. of Washington. dis
cussed the character OF the officers of
childrens court. saying even in a
juvenile court the Judge should not
be so good as to be good for nothing"
He suggested that to these courts De
left the enforcement OF laws against
support and abandonment of fam
lilies. Judge Peters, OF the Juvenile
Court of Louisville, Ky. told of the
plan in his city, In which he sits in
the children's court on Fridays. and III
the County Court on other days. re-
serving all children's cases for his
court. Judge Adams. of Cleveland,
talked of the probation officer. For
this work we don't want fine ladies'
with lace and long gloves, he said. That
kind of thing don'tg go with the kids. In
my, town the hremen and policemen
make fine probation officers. The boys
look up to them and respect their
official position and uniforms"
Miss Gregory. probation officer OF
Judge Lindsay's court in Denver. in
vited the conference to meet in Den
yer next year. and the work OF prop
erly training the next generation was
generally discussed by a number. Of
practical workers.