Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1913-03-12
WHAT'S THE MATTER WITH THE
LAW!

"A
portance may be done for the people
of the state by the Atlanta papers il |
thew will throw more light ON the
pathetic case of little Ollie Taylor, the
ten-year-old boy who was sentenced
to serve eleven years for the theft of
a five-cent bottle of soda water.
Upon the face of it there appears
something vitality wrong with ju>
dicial system which will permit suc1
an injustice as this. What are the
real facts in the matter? Have they
ever been brought to light? The peo-
pie of Georgia should know more
about this matter and why it is that
such travesty on justice exists.
A child of ten years can hardly be
a hardened criminal, even under the
most vicious conditions. Then why
should the state make him a criminal
by sending him to reformatory
where vicious companions and habits
will serve to snuff out what little
flame of conscience may still remain
The severest penalty inflicted for Il
minor crime of this kind under ordin-
airy circumstances should have been
a rebuke, given without the paralyz-
ing aid of the law. The case of Ollie
Taylor should be made clearer to the
people of Georgia. 1t sounds mons
trous and reprehensible as it now
stands.
In speaking of the affair the writer
of a card in the Atlanta Constitution
states the conditions we'll when he
says:
If Ollie Taylor had been requir-
ed to take the bottle, acknowledge
ed his wrong and beg forgiveness,
it would have done him more good
than all these years of separation
from home. The punishment is
simply shocking. Had it occurred
in Korea, Japan or Madagascar
no doubt it would have caused a
sensation.
In an editorial the Constitution it.
self has the following comment:
&c orgia's supreme court last week
handed down a decision which demon
strates the cruel and laundering in
efficiency of state statues. Three years
ago a ten-year-old boy pleaded guilty
to stealing a bottle of soda water He
was forwith sentenced to the reforma-
tory until he should have attained thu
age of twenty-one years His father
carried the case through all the courts
to no avail. The supreme court has
just decided that under the reforma-
tory laws there is no relief for this
youngster until he has served out his
sentence or been released on parole
In other words, for the theft of g
fiye-cent bottle of soda, committed uu-
doubtedly in a moment of impulse that
may never recur, some of the bright
est and best years of this lads life are
to be sacrificed to the law. He is t.
be treated, in reality, as a common
felon who may have set fire to 2
house or burglarized a bank. Young
and impressionable, he is to be con-
fined to an industrial farm and there
spend all his youth and young man
hood in penance for passing mood
of a moment Reformatories for juv-
eniles are, of course, excellent insti-
buttons. 1t is infinitely better to send
the boy there than to throw him int,
contact with hardened and profes.
sional law-breakers.
But where is the reason and profit
in putting him theEe at all? Why
should not probation begin immed.
irtely with his admission of guilt? Il
is not in evidence that he has givcr
signs of incorrigibility. Every law Of
probability is that under the watchfu
care of father and in association
with honest boys of his age, the
thoughtless prank of a moment would