The Washington times., 1913-08-05
LATINER WILL TOUR
IN HUNT OF POINTERS
New Juvenile Court Judge Will
Go to Principal Cities to
Study Methods.

After a few weeks on the Juvenile
last Friday, Judge ]. Wilmer Latimer
will make a tour of the cities of the
East and middle West, studying their
methods of dealing with young offen-
ders, inspecting their institutions and
laws, talking to the judges that pre-
side over the various juvenile courts,
and getting all information possible
tha. will aid him in his work here.
Upon his return to Washington Judge
Latimer viii at once begin work on a
new statute which he hopes to have
Congress adopt looking toward the in
creased efficiency of the Juvenile Court
here, and he hopes also to give a new
impetus 10 the movement to secure e
new building in which to hold the court.
Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Indianapolis,
and Chicago will be visited by the jur-
is;, who will pay particular attention
TO the courts Of Cleveland and Chicago.
which are reputed TO be unusually well
conducted. From Chicago he will go
to New York. Boston, Philadelphia and
other cities on the Atlantic seaboard
He does not expect that the trip viii
be vacation, but on the other hand
10 prepared for much hard work and
study while away.
To Study Every Phase
Il expect to study every phase Of
the juvenile courts" said Judge Lat
inner today, but l want to study their
laws especially. Here in the District
the court is compelled to work under a
severe disadvantage, because the laws
concerning it were passed at various
times and by different Congresses, so
that there is no unity to them.
For example, one statute under which
the court operates has been on the
books since the early eighties, which
was twenty years before the Juvenile
court was thought Of. Obviously such
a law is not best adapted to the court
as II is now operating.
This is only one of many instances
and am sure that single bill cover
ing the entire scope of the Juvenile
court in the District would be of i'm
mense value, and / believe Congress
Will recognize this need when IL is
brought to its attention
Another thing that needs immediate
remedy Is the rooms in which we are
now holding court. The room on the
second floor where the boys are held
pending the calling of their cases is
Is the unpainted wooden benches. the
wall paper is torn and the plaster has
fallen away. exposing the Iathing.
There Is not single attempt made at
cheerfulness. and the effect on the
young offender. of whom we hope to
make a useful. law-respectfng citizen,
is correspondingiy bad.
Aims To Fix Building.
"The toilet facilities of the building
are wretched and a menace to the
court and the community. The base
ment rooms, where adult defendants
are held until their cases are called. is
damp and evil smelling. the moldy
paper hangs in great torn patches from
walls and ceiling. ana the rotten p,anks
of the floor threaten every person who
steps on them
81 expect TO visit a great many ju-
venile court buildings. and it Is ma
tural that visitors from other cities
come here on a similar mission. The
impression they carry away Of this
place cannot but be a discredit to the
city and the nation"
Judge Latimer said he thought the
inspection of other courts would be
of greater value to him after a few
weeks on the bench himself. He has
familiarized himself with conditions
IN thu District and with the proceed
ure followed by former judges here
and he will compare these facts with
conditions as he finds them elsewhere.
Stern In Some Cases.
While the new jurist has dealt
most broadly with juvenile offenders
OF the law during his brief period on
the bench. he has shown that he can
be depended upon to uphold the dig
nifty Of the law in cases where the Of
fender is supposed to know what a
court order means. Particularly has
this been observed in desertion cases,
where a husband or father has not
contributed to the support of his
family, after having been ordered to
do so.
In reply to a question as to whether
he found his work as a judge what
he ha@ anticipated it would be, Judge
Latimer said:
Yes, so far as most Of the cases go.
they are about Of the nature that /
expected. But the surprising thing
with me is the number of men who
are brought before me for not obey
ing the mandate of the court in re-
gard TO supporting their families. 1t
seems to be nothing unusual for a
man, who is ordered to contribute
weekly for this purpose, to let a
month go by without paying his wife
a thing. Such fellows are going to
get little consideration from me, and
they are going to find that unless
they follow out the courts orders the
consequences are going to be very Sc