Los Angeles herald., 1909-12-19

Copyright 1900 by An Rights Reserved
RN Colorado judge has won a and reputa
{ ton for his work In the Children's Court In Phil
Z adelphia lives a charming woman whose work In be-
half of unfortunate children in that city and State
carried on for ten years against the greatest diff
fculties is second to none, not even that of the
Colorado Judge.
Judge Benjamin r. Lindsey is official Judge of
the Chlldren's Court of Denver. Mrs. Frederic
c. schofr is lust Mrs Schon, without official title
and yet none the less she is the actual judge of
the Chldrens Court in Philadelphia, and the magis'
trates and judges of that city with one voice ac-
cord to her that title.
Nor is the title merely honorary. Philadelphia
has rather peculiar judicial system Its judges
rotate. They sit a while in one court, then move
to another then to another, Until they have made
the rounds Consequently the Chldrens Court is
presided over by fifteen judges, coming one
after another each quite unacquainted with
the records of the little chaps lined up before him.
One might have appeared before this same Judge
a twevemonth ago and have been a prodigy of
virtue since, get the Judge, fixing him with eagle
eve remembers only that first appearance, while
another who has appeared quite frequently within
the last ten months is, to the Judge, new offender.
Consequently Philadelphia judges are dependent
mainly for their decisions upon the information given
bv the probation officer And the probation officer
every week goes her cases in every detail at
Joint meeting of probation officers at whose head Is
Mrs Schof The probation officer may be and the
records Of the boys may be only matters Of scheduled
reports to her but Mrs. Schof knows For ten years
she nas heard cases. gone detail after detail and
she remembers this boy and that and his home
roundngs. She it is who decides that boy is to be
found work and kept at 1t, and that employed he
stands chance Of graduating from court altogether.
She It is who demands that father be called before
the court and made responsible for his and her de-
clsions are handed down via the probation officer
the presiding Judge, who accepts them with sigh of
relief as he hears
"AIrs. Schoff recommends that"--and why? Why
should the word of carry such weight?
one must go back ten years to answer.
One day in May, 1899, Philadelphia newspaper
printed as one Of It's first page stories of the
arrest and Imprisonment of little girl Of eight years
She had set fire to the house which she lived When
Asked why she had started the fire she said frankly
ITO the fire burn and the engine rum"
The account was accompanied by picture of the
child aud stated that the presiding Judge had sent her
to a reformatory. The childs history revealed the
fact that she had been left motherless at two placed
In an orphanage and recently been made household
drudge in a city boarding house. with associates
save ignorant servants The whole account was sur
mounted by the startling headline:-"A Prodigy of
Crime"
The city read and was properly shocked by such de-
pravity IN young. Doubtless several mothers
remembered the day their Marys set fire to the lace
curtains just for fun" and set the paper aside with
sigh of sympathy for the unfortunate little waif.
One Mother Reused.
One mother alone seemed to feel need for action.
Sitting in the comfortable library of her hOme at No.
341S Barring street, Mrs. Schon read the story
prodigy of crime!" she said Indignantly. Then she
looked at her daughters at play Suppose one of
then1 had Spth ire 70 a
she have been sent to reformatory? What was to
become of this innocent girl. to be associated with
companions whose ways had been proved evil? Mrs.
Schoff put on her bonnet She kissed her own daugh-
ters and hurried from the house An hour later found
her in the Office of the Judge who sent the child to the
reformatory.
''But, Mrs scaof," pleaded the Judge "what am to
do with her? have other place to send her, and,
truth tell they do not want her there because of the
character of her offence"
Mrs Schoff was bewildered She returned home de-
Ntermned to know of the law that branded eight
iyear-od children criminals and sent them to re-
tormatories. With, she says, ian inward to
Work increasingly until something better could be done
for unfortunate children she set TO work to nVeSti-
gate local conditions.
n found" she says, "that there were five hundred
children ranging from six to sixteen in Philadelphia
county prisons There were from two hundred to
three hundred children every month passing through
the station houses Of the city standing in critical need
Of Intelligent direction and guidance yet receiving
nothing There were children in every county prison
in PENNSYLVANIA, committed for trihing offences and
submitted influences that could not fail to confirm
evil habits There were eight hundred children in
each Of the two reformatories and no distinction
made as to the children committed there Wallis,
homeless little ones, children STEPPED In cr1me were all
sent to the same institution. Any magistrate could
commit child to a reformatory the parents state
ment of ncOrrigibility and no effort was made to
prove the parents statement The result was that
stepfathers nd sepmothers desiring to be freed from
the of children took this method of throwing
them upon the State and more than half the children
IN the House of Refuge were there because OF COM