The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1917-04-05
JUVENILE CRIME WAVE SWEEPING
 GERMAN NATION
Girls and Boys Commit Brutal Murders Due to
 'Strafe" Teachings.

increase in crime among the youths and children of the empire. In con- nection with these reports, which were reprinted in newspapers of the allied and neutral countries, accounts were given of the stern measures oe- ing taken by the various district com manders to repress the criminal ac- tivities, and it was openly stated Dy some German writers that, while the main causes of this condition were to be found in the absence of parental restraint and the reduction in the po- lice force, the preaching of hate to- ward the enemy nations was in no small degree responsible.
 In February two things occurred which indicated how far the lawfess- ness of the German youth had devel- oped during the war. The school au- thoritiess of Berlin held special meet ing to consider the situation and adop- ted resolution which The London Times translates as follows:
 Tn view of the fact that numerous cases, mentioned at this meeting, have proved that the behavior of school children is becoming increasingly bad, we request that orders shall be given CD for the police and the guardians / of order and the law to take energetic measures son their own initiative against all shamelessness, misch1ef, and roughness on the part of chll- dren in the streets: CD to prevent any restriction of the lawful right of punishment which belongs to the teacher; (3) that the educative 1n- fluence of the school may make 1tself evident in their behavior to older per son who have the courage to take ac- ton against the nsubordination which is exhibited by the young every day in the houses, courtyards, and streets Of our city; and (4) to see that the school police intervene much more speedily and energetically."
 Almost coincidenta1ly with the news of this meeting there arrived in Lon don copies of a book by Dr. Albert Hellwig, a.5well-known Berlin jur1st and author of many legal works, call- ed .eThe War and Crime Among the Young" Dr.. Hellwig sent the last sheets of his work to press on. June 27. 1916, so that his disclosures of the heavy increase of crime among German children between the ages of 12 and IS cover nearly two years of war.
 ITO get his materials the author secured German newspapers, obtained numerous reports from institutions and societies which care for the young, and wrote direct to the police Authorities in several hundred Ger man towns. The material thus ob- . tained together with his own comment and conclusions, goes to fill the 2S2 pages of his book.
 In Berlin. in 1915, there were twice as many crimes among the young as in 19l4.3 Munich reported that in the first three months of 1915 the num- Der of young criminals equaled the to- tai for 1914. AFrom Stuttafrt came the news that crime had very consid- ,erably increased, especially. among those of school age. Frankfort re- joiced in a decrease of 55 per cent. of minor offenses, but an increase of 40 per cent. in serious crimes The author is amazed at long list of of thousands of youths from 16 to IS years old were not at home, but in the German Army as volunteers.
 His conclusion is:
 From all these figures it is evil
  unfinished in some places during the first months of the war. But after ward the increase was all the greater at least in the larger towns and as regards crimes tried before a judge and jury.'
 In order to strengthen his own ver- dict, Dr. Hellwig quotes a lecture which Professor von Liszt of Berlin University gave last year. The pro- lessor said:
 With regard to the young between 12 and IS years of age, the statistics which have been kept since 1882 show that crime among them has constant ly increased. In that year alone the number of young people sentenced for offenses and crimes was 30,719 in Prussia alone. By 1912 the number had risen to 54,949, a number which continually increased till the war broke out. Further, it must be re- marked that minor offenses are not included in these figures, otherwise we should have to multiply the num- bers by three. From IS to 17 per cent. of the above had previous con- victions."
 Among the major crimes listed in pr. Hellwig's book are the following: A servant girl, aged Is, was tried by court-martial at Griefswald and sen fenced to three years for setting fire to granary. Two Potsdam youths waylaid a beer wagon, battered the driver senseless with his own beer bottles, and obtained $60 in loot. In Munich on May 1, 1915, nine-year old boy killed his sitter, one year old by cutting her throat. At Gels '(Sile- sia) a boy of 1T heard in December 1915, that neighbor Cher husband serving in the army) had sold her horse and had the money at home He went there, but the woman was out After stealing the money he got an axe and murdered three chil- dren who had witnessed the theft His arrest followed, but during the whole trial he showed not the slight est regret for the crime. His sentence was the highest possible-fifteer years penal servitude.s In Berlin, in the same month. Helene P. killed her sister with a kitchen knife in order to steal her savings. At Ham burg on July IA, 1915, two girls, aged re- speotively IT,, and 15, entered the dwelling of woman in the Elsas- trasse, murdered the woman, and stole what they could find.
 Dr.. Hellwig gives the following reasons for the increase of bruta crimes, the class which shows the greatest increase: Economic condi- the war and high wages afterward
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