Evening capital news. (Boise, Idaho) 1901-1927, 1917-10-21
GREAT POWERS
VESTED IN THE
PROBATE COURT.
William G. Dunbar, in Ad-
dress at st. Anthony Con-
ference, Tells of Work
Among the Youths.
Important That the Right
Kind of Men Should Be
Selected to Fill Office
With Such Far-reaching
Responsibilities.
FLASHES FROM ADDRESS.

FLASHES FROM ADDRESS.
The truth is that no panacea has
been found for the waywardness, mis-
takes and misfortunes Of youth.
There is no magical fountain OF
which a child may drink and thus be
vemade or reformed.
No agency will relieve tho parent,
teacher and citizen OF the necessity Of
eternal vigilance with regard to the
children.
II (probate court) 10 distinctly a
eourt for the common people and is in
Iii respects informal and democratic.
cannot imagine a more foolish or
mscientinc way Of dealing with an
evil than that used by the American
people In dealing with the saloon.
Every novel ends when the marriage
Of the heroine takes place. but that is
3ust where her life really begins.
Young people get married without any
real preparation.
II was startling to see the early age
II which cnllCTen acquired Ddu IdDits
and bad ideas chiefly from association
with other children.
Parents whose children were going
wrong were the hardest to deal with
md most difficult to convince
Prevention should be the watchword
VI the Juvenile judge.
IN discussing the Juvenile Court
Problems" of the probate courts of
l. Idaho at the first conference of pro-
bate judges held at st. Anthony, the
home of the state industrial training
school this month, William e. Dunbar,
former probate Judge of Ada county,
pointed out that the time has come in
the history of the probate court that
The greatest care must be taken in the
selection of the men who are to be-
some probate judges, due to the almost
unlimited power vested in that office.
He believes the office should be made
non partisan.
The st. Anthony conference was in
many respects, one OF the most impor-
tant from the standpoint of the pro- |
bate judge. st. Anthony was selected |
because 1t Is the home OF the state in |
Btitution which deals with the children
sent there by the probate courts for
correction and higher education. Mr.. |
Dunbar pointed out in his paper the
necessity of care In guarding the chill
6ren and the duty of the parent to the |
child. the court to the child and the |
stNe. His paper is in part as fol-
lows:
The Juvenile court Is q compare
lively new institution, having been
first established in Chicago only Is
years ago. In that short time, how
ever, It has passed through several
stages of growth and Is at present in
q state of development. 1t has been
subject to much adverse criticism, es-
pecially In recent years. However,
much some Of this criticism may have
been Justified. It 10 probably true that
4 great deal of 1t has resulted from
the fact that too much was expected /
from the court. At first II was thought L
by some to be a cure all for most of II
the Ills of childhood Parents became
possessed with the idea that by un-
loading their Maynard and apparently
lncorrigible children on the Juvenile
rourt and by having them put through
the Juvenile court process of examina- II