The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1916-10-05

into the Domestic Relations court
room and ask for directions. 1t has
proved necessary to take one of the
big court rooms of the building and
use it for waiting room for the fam
lies concerned in the Domestic Rela-
tons cases. The families come in force
and bring the children. There is a
special room provided where babies NAV
be slowed for safe-keeping, in charge
of very competent nurse who is
generally able to give the mother
valuable medical advice incidentally.
They have had as many as thirty two
babies in that room at once.
The cases take the usual run of such
cases in big city-desertiol, cruelty,
non-support. Before they actually 90
to the judge the workers attached to
the court try to straighten matters out
without actual trial and sentence. Thew
have before them lists of all the social
welfare associations in Chicago; they
can lay their fingers on the right one at
a moments notice. * If it is Polish or
a Bohemian or Jewish family chat is
having difficulties they can call in the
proper society and the society will come
and add its influence in the matter.
pointing out what disgrace it will be
to the race involved if the matter goes
up to court. If the principals are
Catholics the priest may be asked to
help. No court in the world has such
an immense machinery of social welfare
at its back as the Domestic Relations
Court.
The Boys Court established by Chief
Justic Oslen in 1914, is a similarly
specialized branch, where all boys be-
tween the age of II and p come I'D for
trial. The tremendous significance of
this court lies in the fact that this is
the critical age in the boys life, when
he has got to be handled right if there
is to be hope for his future. The great
majority of crimes are committed be-
tween the ages of eighteen and twenty
four. The criminal age" all over the
world ranges from l6 to 24-here in the
United States from 10 to "a.
The third special branch court, the
Morals Court, bears about the same re-
lation to young girls that the Boy ;
Court does to boys, and is similarly i'm
portant. Younger children of both
sexes who are arrested go to the Chi
cagO Juvenile Court, which is not a part
of the Municipal Court, but Is famous
in its own account. 1t was the first
Juvenile Court in America. and has its
own psychopathic laboratory, also a
pioneer IN the field
The specialization of the Municipal
Court branches has made the operation
of the psychopathic laboratory establish
ell in connection much easier. Most If
the subjects taken to the laboratory for
testing Of their minds and examination
for mental defects come from these
three courts the Domestic relations.
the Boys, and the Morals. Here are
gathered the criminals who are most
significant psychologicalIy young peo-
pie starting C1t Of their somewhat IN
promising careers, and husbands End
wives who suffer from exsggerated
Jealousy or seclusions as to the faith
fuluess of their helpmates both com
mon enough affections in court cases.
The laboratory is finding a high per
centage Ct feeble mindedness and
mental arrangement among those that
it examines. Since they are largely
selected cases. the laboratory does not
60 in for general conclusions as to per-
centages as yet, but any one can look
at the results and see that the percent
ages IN high. 1t is a new conception
in some ways for society to adjust its
viewpoint to, but many of these
crimlnsls and most of the more serious
ones, have something the matter with
tAANAA A'AiANS" A9NCI bNlIS lIt case, IL Is
hard to see where punishment helps.
In some ways the outlook is more
discouraging than the older one. which
saw the criminal knowing good and
evil and choosing evil But a certain
minister after studying the work of the
experts said to judge, Il feel that I
am going to sleep at nights again. |
have been working with these people.
and the thought that was making no
progress has kept me awake. If it is
true that their minds are wrong-and |
feel that it is, in the light Of what |
have seen-then my failure is no fault
of mine And a woman said to the
same judge, Il have more faith in God
and humanity since | know that it's not
their fault that they do what they do. 3"
So apparently some consolation can be
extracted from the new viewpoint; and
perhaps plan for bringing about better
things, not in this generation but in die
next