New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1914-04-26
continued POM P1ge o

lW'NNNf' /'f'' 70
loo, D ,o,vsbov Leaving school at four
teen. ne had worked for cght moh,H' ;"
factory. had been idle for tWQ weeks M
then secured place as GRAND BOY "Il'on ~
held for two months, had lcit MS - 'iho
, nloco I'm a machine shop, which ne lp5J
oftcr three months. and on the second day
If idlcncss broke into ncighbors house
y,as brought into court, and sent to the
rcformatorv. where the investigator iolhu
him. it,
Or take the lad whose employer, a tailor'
d,.cbargcd him but who for some days
went about among the employers custom,
orr collecting clothing 10 be cleaned ana
prcsscd sold the garments, and pCckcted
thc procccds: or the other youthful dclin-
oucnt who worked in laundry until an
older bow taught him how to make easy
money" by stealing and selling lead pipe;
Thcrcupon hc gave up his work, and devoted
himgclf TO cutting lead pipe out oil empty
buildingg. AT which pursuit he had been
prospcrlnp for several weeks when detected.
These. and many others, were not working
when they committed the OficnSe that
brought them 10 grief; but clearly they
were working boys in the ordinary use Of
the term.
THE total number Of dclinqucnts included
j in this study is 1889, Of whom 2,l6l
had at come time been employed and 2,O|Z
had never been employed The entire num-
hcr Of oGcnscs recorded for all dclinqucntS
vas & 7o7. Of which the working children
were responsible for j,17l ofcn5es, while me
nonworl,ing were responsible for 1870,
Whose character included arson, assault ana
battery. begging, gambling, drunkcnnc5,
forgcrv. immoral conduct, incorrgblhty
larceny. out nights, receiving stolen gppd5,
truancv. vagrancy runaway, dlsordcrly, or
several intcrrclatcd oifcnscs. Assault ana
battery when applied 90 girls means SIMPLY
a fight; but when applied % q boy II IS likely
20 mean an unproyokcd attack on an inno-
cent party. He has stoned u Chinaman, or
assailcd Il pcddlcr Immoral conduct with
bows means a definite act, with girls a con-
dition. The judicial attitude iavor5 the
girl. but il renders impossible any COM
pari5on between the morality OF the sexes
Larceny is a leading ofcn5e for boys, and
comes second IN the list for girls. Il includes
ofcn5c5 ranging all the way from petty Pill
fcring 90 organized theft. There are oiilcc
BOYS who steal from the cash drawer, ana
domestic servants who purloln their mis-
trcsscs clothes or trin<ets One boy 81" a
piece Of canvas fall from a loaded wagon.
Il was spring'ime, and in his inner eye a tent
was the utterly desirable good; so the boy,
instead Of notifying the driver, who was I'M
aware Of his loss. seized his treasure trove
and fled. A girl Of seven, Of native-born
white parcntagc, was found 70 have been
trained into a very slful shopliftcr by her
mother
The most Immediately striking feature IS
the large proportion Of oftcnses committed
by children. The proportion varies some
what between the sex groups; but roughly
speaking the nonworkers are responsible Tor
q little over onc-third, the workers for some
thing under two-thiris, Of the oftenses.
The ages at which these were committed
ranged from six 20 sixteen years. When It
is remembered that maJority-and pre-
sumably a large maJority-Ot the children
between these ages are not working, this
prcponderance Of ofenses among the work
ers assumes impressive proportions.