The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1910-04-23
WHITTIER THE DRIFT?

When the members of the juvenile court voted,
at its annual session, to appeal to legislature
for "more stringent delinquency laws, better juve
nile court laws, money with which to enforce
the laws" they assumed that laws, the enforce
ment of laws, and the legislature itself, lead
ing influences in forming the character of chill
dren and reforming those of them who are al
ready perverts
In our city jail there are this morning four
boys, under twenty years of age, detained for muir
der or burglary. These youths, with three other
boys, now in the state industrial school for bur-
glary were arrested last month. But our citizens
do not know the full story of the depravity of our
young boys and girls. The of at least thirty
hayward and vicious youths have been withheld,
because they the sons and daughters of parents
moving in good society These boys and girls were re-
buked by the magistrate and are now out on sus-
pended sentences. In dive which was raided by the
police not long ago, five girls, all under sixteen,
were arrested.
1t is notorious fact that, among very large
proportion of the children of this city immortality
of vicious kind profanity shocking in its excess
and corruption of a pitiable depth are prevalent.
In Provo last week two youths were arrested for
criminally assaulting young girl, and in Ogden
last Sunday four boys were arrested for drunken
ness. Add to all this the hidden crimes of the
young, the shocking irreverence of boys and girls
towards the aged the contempt for parental author
ity, the disrespect for clergymen, for judges and
for officers of the law, and you have a state of
affairs which is prophetic of ruin and misery Bad
the boys, the girls are worse, if those in
position to know to be trusted. We have
heard of one rooming house for men. in this city.
where a mother and her two daughters-16 and 18
years old-are nightly visitors. So awful is the
corruption of young girls that the county commits
sioners have been compelled to open Detention
Home for corrupt girls, like the Uintah Home for
erring boys, to house and detain these DELINQUENT
children A few days ago officer of the juvenile
court frankly admitted that the number of Grim
inals among the boys and girls in our city |s in
creasing at an alarming rate" When asked who
is to blame for this deplorable corruption of orr
youth his answer was: "The fathers and mothers
The press, the pulpit and the public all saw "the
parents ought to instruct their children in morals
and teach them how to behave themselves" In
theory this is all very fine, but in practice it is
dismal failure. Experience proves that parents
do not, and will not teach their children piety re-
igion or morals. They will not instruct their off,
spring. Many of them cannot, for they are them
selves spiritually and morally dead. If they are not
themselves corrupt, they are ignorant of the moral
law, and, moreover, they do not care. very large
percentage of the fathers are Indifferent they do
not believe in religion morality or clean living.
Now what are you going to do about ita You may
solve many social problems by legislation, but the
heart of the boy and the heart of the girl can
never be reached by legislation. Legislation cannot
deal with thoughts, and all moral iniquity begins
with thoughts. We have it on the authority of,