The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1910-06-09
CREDITS POLICE
WITH OVERHEAD
continued from Page One.

of me and my uniform want the chill
dren on this beat to like me-
after ali, the best and only course is
safe and sane common sense. Why should
we not permit our policemen to con-
stantly exercise It? The letter arresteth
and kilIeth.y
Rev. DIR. Smiths Opinion.
Rev. DR.. C. Ernest Smith, pastor of
st. Thomas Church. voicing the opinions
of hundreds of other prominent Wash
ingtonlans, has written his views He
says:
1.-THE arrest Of children for whatever
cause is something from which the mind
| naturally recoils. One feels instinctively
that It is not the right method of dealing
with young offenders II Is like using a
biacksmiths hammer to crack peanuts.
Law is the embodiment of physical force,
and a ehild's nature does not need physical
force II is more amenable to other fnfiu-
ences. We have abolished corporal pun
| ishment IN our schools, and for the same
reason. The advancing conscience Of men
/ has found the wisdom of this. One does
not train a horse with whip, much less
a child.
should Appreciate Forces.
ITO a chiid's mind the policeman is
physical force in its extreme form. Back
| OF the policeman stand forces OF un-
known magnitude.
THE child ought TO grow up appreciat-
! ing these forces as making for righteous
ness among men, And he win do 50 II
iudicIously treated, for the law is not a
terror 10 the good. but to the evil.
'TThe idea OF aFresting a child for play
| ing in front OF It's own home for any
cause whatever is repulslve. Moreover.
1t is the first step in the making, IL not
of law breaker, at least OF man or
woman who some day VIII have an IN
mitlgated contempt for law.
Far otherwise should our treatment
be. The natural trainers and teachers of
children are their parents. God made
them that They stand between the
child and every force whatever in the
world.
| Breaking Natural Order.
Thus far the law to step in between
the child and the parent is a breaking
| In upon natural order, and is in itself
utterly wrong, unless in rare cases OF
| absolute necessity. If the child had
| broken the law, seek the parents infiu-
ence to right the wrong done Let the
parent as such be honored by the state
The parent Is the authority next above
the child Teach a child obedience 10
that authority
Don't at any rate destroy the child's
respect for the parent by ignoring the
parental Office and responsibility Other
wise, the last state OF that child will be
worse than the first If 1t be true that
$500 children were arrested for trivial
offens4 last year. then 2.500 children
think Infinitely less Of the law to-day
than they did a year ago, and they viii
think less tomorrow than they do to-
day, and 2.50o ehildren's parents have had
their rightfuI authority unnecessarily
weakened
"All the state sought to do could have
been done far better through the par
ents Better. therefore. under such cir
cumstances, than wholesale arrests, will
be no arrests at all"
Rev. +. T. Mowbray. pastor OF McKen-
dree Methodist Episcopal Church. says:
ANY effort on the part OF society TO
keep order that does not have for its
chief aim the welfare OF all who com
pose society is fundamentally wrong
and misdirected. To arrest. with harsh
hand children who have thoughtlessly or
even willfully offended against the minor
regulations needful for a citys good.
may be 10 array the mind OF the child
against the society that enacted and the
officer who enforced them. and do lasting
harm not only 10 the child but to the
community in which the child grows TO
manhood.
should he Last Resort,
Arrest in the hands of an officer. like
the rod in the hands of a parent. should
be the last resort in the effort TO control
And when the officer or parent makes 1t
the first means Of control. its harshness
hardens and makes impossible the use
Of those gentler and more refining infiu-
ences which are patent in all lives, but
especially in the life of a child"
Rev Arthur IT. Thompson. pastor OF
Waugh Methodist Episcopal Church,
who has devoted considerable time to
sociological problems, says,
i can imagine nothing quite so de-
moralizing as the unnecessary arrest
of children. Unless there is some Sc
rious reason l believe that children
should never be brought into contact
with the police.
was held by the police as a witness
IN case and / still retain a lively
recollection of my terror and shame.
The arrest of a child ror a trivial Of
Tense is likely TO color his whole life.
There should be the greatest care ex-
ercised. Even for such offenses as
throwing stones in the street, do
not think arrests are necessary. It
would be much better. If a policeman
has to interfere. If the official would
take the offender to his parents for
punishment. 1t would probably do
both the parents and the boy himself
much good,
Amazed at Number.
Rev. John Reid shannon, of the Met
ropolitan Memorial Methodist Episcopal
Church, said:
II was amazed when I read the arti-
cles in The Washington Herald to find
what a large proportion OF arrests there
were 10 the population. The trouble is
probably that the police are not as dis
Greet as they might be, and do not use
their own Judgment. At the same time
! am sure the number Of arrests Of chill
dren would be lessened IL parents would
only see to it that they kept their young
sters in. especially after the shadows of
the night fall"
Miss Estelle Foster, agent Of the Board
Of Children's Guardians, says that the
large number OF arrests Of children in
the District is an absurdity.
but it is also something worse" she
adds. THE offenses committed by chill
dren arc in most cases very minor ones,
such as playing marbles. or bali. or fly
ing kites In prohibited places and there
is scarcely q wrong that could not be
righted II the parents of the offending
children were notified. 1 am afraid that
many police officers confound efficiency
with officfouness."
Pastor COmmends Herald.
From the strangers Home" Shiloh