The Mathews journal. (Mathews C.H. [Court House]) 1903-1937, 1911-06-01
WANT COURTS
FOR JUVENILES
r 7 q II NJ n n

r l c H NJ O D, VA.-Special.-
The report of the committee on
juvenile courts was made TO the Child
Welfare Conference at the High
School last night The report of the
committee, of which Charles Il. Cooke
is chairman, was as follows:
1 note from the program that we
are TO make Il report for the commit
tee on Juvenile courts. Nothing would
please your committee more than to
De able TO report that there was such
thing in Virginia. There being no
Juvenile courts in this State, a large
part of this report will be devoted to
showing the necessity for such an in
stitution.
You will find on exhibition in the
halls of this house statistics showing
what Virginia has done for the care
of her delinquent and dependent chill
dren, and ask your careful eXamina-
ton of these charts. You will find
there that the Laurel Reformatory
for white boys, the oldest, largest and
best of these institutions, has been
maintained at a cost TO the State of
about 100000. 1t has cared for gil
boys and has now 21S inmates in the
school. Many of these boys have
grown 10 Toe good men and useful cit
liens, occupying responsible positions
The negro reformatory at Hanover
has been operated at a cost of $170,-
GOO TO the State and private indiVid-
uals. il has cared for 1.O69 colored
boys. many of whom have become
useful citizens.
The Industrial school for girls re
Gently organized with a home at Boa
Air. has expended about $4,000 and
has twenty-five girls in the home at
the present time. 1t will do great
good and he worth all the mOrCv
spent in keeping il IN operation. THIS
makes total Of nearl-- 100000 spent
by the State of Virginia in the prose
cution of corrective measures. But
what your committee is interested in
and what this conference j. interested
in most. is the preventive measures
necessary TO keep a large portion Of
these boys and ---ls oGt CT the reform
atories and make of them useful cit
liens. We want TO see conditions in
the state OF Virginia such that the
reformatorics Will he occupied only
by bats and owls and be put on the
block and sold TO the highest bidder
because the State has awakened and
is caring for her boys in a better way.
This glorious achievement can he
partly reached 10y the eSta bliShm ent
of "A thorough Juvenile court and pro-
baton law throughout the State of
Virginia The last Leg ~, - ~e en-
acted a probation law, WI Oh helps
some. but il provided no judges and.
far worse, provided no money to carry
the law into operation. The LegiS-
lature also passed an act making IL a
misdemeanOr for parents or guardians
to refuse or neglect to support their
children under fourteen years of age.
or to subject children under seven
teen years Of age to vicious or i'm
moral influence, encourage any child
to commit misdemeanOr, or to send
child under seventeen years of age
to certain places of demoraliZing
nature. But what Virginia needs is
a juvenile court law modelled after
the laws in operation in Colorado and
Illinois. which call for paid judges
and paid probation officers, and the
establishment of homes of detention
| for children awaiting hearing in ju-
! Venle courts. The most vicious part
| of the present system is detainingNir
/ Jail children awaiting trial. where
/ they come in contact-if only for one
night or one day-with hardened
I criminals, burglars, thieves. murder
4 erS. drunken men and women.
! I should like to see in Virginia the
placing out system adopted, where ju-
Venile delinquents are sent to good
! homes in the country, and, if neces-
sary, the State should pay the board
! of each child rather than spend the
same amount of money or perhaps
more to keep them in refOrmatory
There have been 2.70S boys and
girls, white and cOlOred. cared for in
| the refOrmatories of Virginia at a cost
of 100000, or about 1920 apiece. II
VIII DIODdDlN W tOIttut-u lildN llltSt
children could have been placed on
! farms throughout Virginia at a cost
not to exceed 500 each. and saved
the barrassment of carrying
! through life the eVer-present con
scious feeling that they had served g
/ term in a refOrmatOry.
This report is not made in any spirit
Of criticism Of the very excellent man
Iagement of the reformatories of Nir
ginia. but with a hope that improve,
methods may in future be adopted fOl
| the treatment of delinquent children
/ In Richmond there were 1,041 chill
dren arrested last year for all man
ner OF offenses, and probably as many
more that should have been arrested
but were not, owing to the excellen
judSm eut used by the police depart
ment of this city.
IN Norfolk, Danville, Lynchburg
! Charlottesville and Roanoke no re
cord has been kept of the ages OF
parties arrested therefore statistics
are not obtainable from these cities
1t is to be hoped that by another
year this defect will be corrected anC
the records kept of the ages of chill
dren, at least, that corrective meas
ures may be applied.
Respectfully submitted
Charles b. Cooke, George w. McDan.
iel, George E. Haw. Charles
Hutzler; Gordon, Manning and
Thomas. Police Commissioners
b. E. Poitiaux, Louis Werner
James Buchanan, committee.
We Gal In