The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1910-03-05
As Judge of the Juvenile Court
He Tells, in an Address Last
Night, of Facts He Has
Learned.
SPARE THE ROD AND
SAVE THE CHILDREN
States, Despite Harpings of
Critics, He Will Never Send
Child to Reformatory Un-
less Required.

Sparing the rod and saving the child
In figurative sense. was the key
note of paper read last night by
Henry C. Fox, judge of the Wayne cir
cult court, on the subject THE Juve-
nile Court" at the meeting of the
Brotherhood of East Main Street
Friends church. The subject is one
I'm which considerable interest is man.
ltfested and the Brotherhood felt very
fortunate in securing Judge Fox, who
as Judge of this court for several
years, Is thoroughly conversant on the
subject.
Judge Fox in return was as much
,pleased with his audience as it was
with his address. He stated this morn
ing that the meeting was one of the
most pleasing which he ever had the
pleasure to attend and address. There
was large representation of men,
bers of the Brotherhood and many in
vited guests.
The discourse is in part as follows:
Method He Employees.
Where q wayward child is brought
Onto the juvenile court and made to
understand that its bad conduct has
brought it to the threshold OF the Re-
form School and that good conduct is
all that will prevent the prison doors
from closing behind it. it is made to
realize what the result will be unless
1t reforms. The object lesson Is be-
fore it. OF course where a child Is
inherently bad and it's disposition is
such that it will make no effort to
change, then there is but one thing to
do But good results will sometimes
come when least expected. Again, we
must not expect too much of a child.
Complete regeneration in the first in
stance is not to be expected. II reas-
enable progress is made, "the law is
fulfilled" In such cases charity must
be exercised and patience must do her
perfect work. If the plane is upward,
the child should be encouraged as it
advances step by step until the sum-
NIT is reached. In administering the
affairs of a Juvenile court, the judge
cannot please everybody. In fact, he
should not try to. He should honestly
do his duty, as he sees it, and admin
lister the law as he understands it..
This is the full measure of his respon-
sibility.
Harshly Dealt With.
TOO often children are harshly
dealt with. Too often they are hastily
condemned by Imprisonment in the
Reform School or otherwise. If a
child is committed to the Reform
School his life is shadowed by a cloud
of suspicion. 1t is not unusual for
a young person to commit acts that
are criminal without realizing what
they are doing. In such a case q child
should not be charged and punished
as criminal. To do so may make
him such. To imprison a child for his
first offense and brand him as 'jail
bird" is to crush him. Often punish
ment in such cases is a greater Of
fense than the crime committed. Kind
ness with a susceptible child will &C.
complish more in the right direction
than the strong arm of the law. 1t is
better to arraign him in a court of
conscience and let sympathy plead his
cause. than to accuse him in a Grim.
inal court in a spirit of vengeance.
A Long Experience.
l have had an experience of more
than forty years in dealing with crime
and criminals. l have been engaged
in many cases where crime was charg
ed ranging all the way from simple
assault to murder. l have taken part
in twenty-five murder cases, some OF
them of an atrocious nature; yet in all
my experience I have never found a
criminal that was wholly bad-that
was totally depraved. A careful search
will discover an oasis-a green spot
somewhere in the desert. The his.
tory of crime and criminals shows
that punishment. unduly severe. will
sooner or later be condemned as
wrong and unjust. The time was
when ordinary larceny was punishable
by death: when superstition charged
unoffending women with witchcraf,
and burned them at the stake. and
this. in our own boasted land Of free
dom as the court records in Salem
Massachusetts,. will show: but modern
methods In the light OF progressive
civilization has condemned and abateG
this savage fury and substituted meth
ods In which justice is tempered with
mercy. There is an instructive lessor
In the words of the generous Portis
(Conttnued on Page Seven)