Denver labor bulletin., 1916-10-14
By ]. c. DAY.


the whole story. However, we take this
opportunity of reminding our readers Of
the wonderful record of service which
Judge Lindsey has made.
This is the sixteenth year of the
work of the juvenile court of Denver,
and the service OF its present judge in
that court, which is the longest continu-
Gus service of any juvenile court Tn
America.
The Denver Juvenile Court is admit
ted to have done perhaps more than any
one Juvenile court to advance and popu-
larize the spread of this work thruout
the world, and this is due to the splen-
did work of Judge Lindsey and to his
intense interest in the cause of social
uplift.
1t is NOT generally known that Den
ver's juvenile court is not alone to help
children, but up to a year ago when the
supreme court ruled that Judge Lindsey
did not have jurisdiction in criminal
cases, perhaps tried more cases of adult
crime than any other criminal court in
the state except the district court of
Denver, and had from one-fourth to one
third as many criminal cases as the en-
tire Denver district court with its five
judges.
In this connection We wish to state
drens part, criminal and civil courts,
cost less than one-half as much as the
county court, and only n little more
than one tenth as much as the district
court. and vet that it performed, from
the standpoint OF actual number OF
cases, and the actual work done, more
than three times as much work as any
single Judge in the district court.
The Juvenile court OF Denver was, as
matter of fact. three distinct courts:
first, a children's court, trying all cases
that pertain to the correction of CHI
dren; second, civil court for the trial
of a very important class Of cases In.
volving disputes between parents and
others over the custody of children or
in which their rights may be involved;
third. a criminal court, trying most OF
the criminal cases where children were
involved.
These criminal cases were treated with
great privacy in the children's court,
and without that fright and embarrass-
ment that comes to the children wit
nesses in the more formal courts, and
they were much more expeditiously and
promptly disposed of. 1t is very sell
dom that over sixty days elapsed before
such case was completely disposed of.
In other words, it is court that
deals with human beings, human souls,
and the very future of the state itself
by helping her Young citizens to lead a
straight and upright life.
1t has been proven by statistics that
there was a 200 per cent decrease in
delinquency in Denver in the first twelve
years of the juvenile courts existence,
and this in the face of the fact that
the school population had increased dur
ing that time from $4,000 to $4,000. This
was largely due to the cooperation be-
tween the juvenile court, the police de-
partment. and the schools, but the most
important factor was the work of the
Judge who started the court-Ben p.
Lindsey. This decrease in delinquency
and gratifying condition in Denver is
far beyond the courts expectations and
Judge Lindsey has often said that iu-
venile courts could not, nor should they
be expected to necessarily promise a de-
crease in delinquency.
Thus statistics prove that Judge Lind
sey. in his accomplishments in the ju-
venile court, has gone far beyond
expectations and the expectations Of th'
courts most enthusiastic friends.
The community value of n children's
court can never be too fully or too ex-
| travagantly estimated, nor can we exer-
else too much care in selecting the man
| is no place for political experiments,
but is one office that should invariably
be filled by man who has proven by
his work that he is capable of handling
the delicate situations that arise in such
n court.
Denver was the first, or one of the
| first, cities to provide strong co-opera-
tive work with the police department.
This was brought about by Mayor Specr
and Judge Lindsey about thirteen years
ago. This proved one Of the greatest
aids ever given n Juvenile court, and
effected the wiping out of all the old
wine rooms and dives in Denver that
were such a menace to young boys and
! girls. In two years alone more men
were heavily fined or sent to Jail by
this court for violating laws for the pro-
lection of youth-largely thru this co.
operation with the police department.
than were sent by all our other courts in
thirty years.
Judge Lindsey has repeatedly declared
himself a friend and champion of the
lahoring classes and their rights by his
| fights against the conditions that make
for poverty and crime. The existence
OF these conditions in Denver had en-
riched certain big business men who were
supposed to help children, but by the
maintenance of these conditions, these
very children and their parents were
being robbed of millions of dollars. He
has persistently fought the violation of
the state constitution by private cor
porations, who were using the name Of
state bureau as cloak under which
to wage warfare against the laboring
men of the state.
They tried to curry favor with the
public by falsely putting him in the at