Grand Forks daily herald., 1915-12-23
(By Justice Morgan NJ. l.. Ryan, New
Vnrk


A thoroughly frightened boy of IL
stands before the desk which takes
the place of the old time bench and
bar in the children's court. He has
just promised tearfully that never
again will he thieve. l ask him:
why will you never steal again,
Jimmy?"
"'Cause" sobbing violently, you'll
put me away il I do"
:. The reply may be varied to
"'cause the cops'll get me" or "I'll
he locked up" But the essential rea-
son for abandoning pilfering, as CIV
en- by three-quarters Of the boys who
come before me, is the fear Of pun-
ishment. These children are more
often immoral than bad; are un-
moral because they have never been
taught the difference between right
and wrong; wrong as defined by
them as that which brings punish
ment.
And how can boys grow INTO ado
lescence in any civilized community
without real knowledge Of elemen-
tary ethics? Because their parents
not only neglect even this primary
teaching. but fail to insist that the
child attend the school. the church
and the Sunday school; they simply
let the child grow amid the weeds of
temptation and be morally choked.
1t is only matter. Of time until
the .youngster SO far invades the
rights Of property that he comes in
contact with the law in the person
Of police officer. and If under the
age of is he is brought before the
children's court as a Juvenile delin-
quent. Time was when this child
would be taken before criminal
court and treated exactly as any
other offender: we have now recog-
nized that the first object of the law
ton .and not punishment and con-
f1rmation in crime; therefore chill
dren are segregated in a separate
court. Certainly 1t is desirable to re-
form the lives Of children to the end
that they may become good citizens:
but the means at hand are pitifully
weak to effect the real purpose.
The glaring deficiency Of criminal
courts is that they are only for the
abnormal condition; 1t is a disease
medical science now tries to get at
the cause of disease, and finding the
cause, prevent future diseases: doc
tors have almost eliminated yellow
fever from the earth because they
know and can reach the genesis. The
law. on the contrary. treats only the
sick man; it has yet no power to
reach beyond into the source. 1t would
q typhoid epidemic only by hauling
the sufferers to the hospital; and YET
that is what the law is doing every
day.
The experience of many Thousand
Juvenile cases teaches that the ju-
venile delinquent is the Offspring of
the delinquent parent. Bad home en-
vironment may be difficult to over
come, but the child's public environ
ment can and should be kept pure
and wholesome.
We speak Of the delinquent child,
but my experience has shown that in
the very great majority Of cases, the
child is not morally delinquent: he
suffers because 1t is his parents who
are delinquent. 8 When child is
brought to me and the officer tells me
his offense, my first question is, what
about his parents and his home 2" n
the officer is not certain. I have our
agents find out about it for me. Pro-
per action cannot be taken without
this knowledge. And as stated, ia
the very great majority Of cases the
actual truth of the matter is that the
unfortunate child's parents are de-
'linduent. y 20 81.
Children are. seldom inherently. bad !:
excluding effectiveness, the child,s
.defaults are commonly due to environ.
nent. place ,sman stock In heredi.
tary wickedness. Home environment
rests with the parents ana when the
state steps In 70 take the child IN
charge Il fs only doing that which the
parent u1houid have DONE. q 4 - 81 5.as
When q Juvenile offender comes u
thA tae o. the court aAn s4nveseies4lol
usually discloses 1acks.of atfenti6n TO