Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1913-06-26
THE BURDEN ON THRIFTY
County Juvenile Officer Says Older
People Are Responsible for I'm
morality of Girls.

a comparatively short time toward
overcoming the problem of preventing
girls and boys from going in the wrong
direction, says the judge, but whether
a parental court or a moral school
will serve the purpose, he is not pre-.
pared to say.
1--WE have to acquire something of
a moral construction that the parents
of these delinquent children fail to pro.
vide," declares Judge Bushey. "When
we raise horses we Gull out the best
for certain purposes and the remain
der we put in the harness. You can U
draw any distinction of this character
in dealing with human beings. You
have got to give every single one a
same opportunity"
Hundreds of Gases.
"There are hundreds of children in
this county who were born by parents
who are not worthy of being the faith.
ers and mothers of a litter of cats, I"
conVinued .ne judge. "They either
don't know how or absolutely refuse
to care for their offspring, and cOnse.
quently it devolves upon the community
at large to lend helping hand to keep
the growing boys and girls out of
some penal institution. Now, who is
going to lend this hand7 If we didn It
have a juvenile court or parental
school of some description, do you sup
pose the next door neighbor would be
willing to take it upon himself to de-
mand that the children of heartless
parents be turned over to them7 Hard
1y.
There are girls going to the devil
by the scores and almost every female
making a wrong step is sure to be com
planned against. But at the same time
there are just as many, if not more
young men going in the same direction,
and not three out of ten undergo repri-
manding by the courts. People are
going to overlook the defects in girls
to certain extent in the future, and
the young men will experience a closer
investigation of their actions.
Burden Falls on Thrifty.
"Some families believe that all that
is necessary in this life is to own
dozen children and an equal number of
dogs or cats and let the other fellow
do the rest.
Just survey theenormous percentage
Of the thrifty Families in this county.
You vii, find that they had few chill,
dren in the earlier part Of their mar.
ried lives. They didn't load themselves
with responsibility until they could af.
ford 10, but at the same time these
very same people are compelled to bear
the bmden Of caring, to an extent, of
course for the little girls and boys
whose parents neglected to use the
proper amount Of common sense or
judgment. The thrifty man and wife
are burdened with the responsibility Of
another couple who insist upon bring.
ing into the world more children than
they can feed and clothe. The latter
can't take care Of their children, edu-
cate them or even teach them the moral
side Of life, let alone provide proper
food and clothing for them. So, you
see, what must be done. The hard
working man, who already supports
family and is getting along nicely,
rust put his shoulder to the wheel and
lend his financial aid to the entirely
unworthy man and woman who are
either too shiftless or too ignorant to
keep within their bounds.
Juvenile delinquents, you might,
say, compose young girls and boys
whose parents are unfit to properly
. care for and instruct them. They come
into the world possibly in surroundings
which are inferior to those which are
even necessary for them to be kept
alive. They grow up to a certain age
IN these same surroundings, which Of.
tentimes grow worse, and finally the
parents have lost all trace of them.