The Birmingham age-herald., 1917-07-20
JUVENILE CRIMES
 ENGLISH PROBLEM
Great Increase Shown Since
 War Began
BOY SCOUTS MAY AID
Government Names a Committee to Deal With Situation Caused by Ab- sence of Parental Control
 Throughout Kingdom


 few bad boys. It is the boldest and trouble What is wanted is some agency to direct that courage and spirit of ad- venture into the right channels" These remarks were made a few days ago by Cecil Chapman. one of the London magis- trates, in discussing the alleged increase of juvenile crime since the war, and now the government has taken cogniZ- ance of the situation and has appointed a committee to deal with it. This committee contains among other famous workers for boys and girls Leut Gen. Baden Powell, founder of the Boy Scouts, Lady Baden Powell of the Girl Guides, Lady Frances Balfour of the Girls Guildry, Lieut. Col. Heathcote of the Catholic lads brigade Col. Sir F. l.. Nathan of the Jewish lad g brigade and the Rev. Edward Rogers of the Church lads brigade. Representa- tives of a number of smaller organiza- tions along the same lines are also in- cluded.
 There is no doubt, for the records prove it, that there has been a large increase since the war began of boys and girls who have been charged with various offenses in the police courts. These offenses are generally either pet ty forms of pilfering or street disorder. Gang fighting among the boys increased in London and has become so serious as sometimes to demand the interfer- cree of the police. The magistrates be- lieve that much of 1t is due to the spirit of adventure instilled by the war and to the absence of parential control. The fathers are away at the war and the mothers are either at work or unable to control the children. Fathers belt, even if he seldom uses it. is a wholesome de- terrent in peace times to the boy or girl who is disposed to kick over the traces.
 The increase in petty pilfering is also due to the war conditions It usually takes the form of stealing from the back of goods wagons In the old days every truck had two men, or a man and a boy on it-one to drive and the other to guard the load and help with loading and unloading. Now. owing to the sea- city of men, there is as rule only one man and many of the lighter wagons have no men at all but are driven by women Small parcels are a temptation to the boys and girls who have little enough of their own and whose play ground is the street. Gambling is also on the increase among children for the same reason. There is little control ana a good many boys of IA and 15 are earning comparatively large wages at various forms of war work.
 It is felt by the authorities that the real remedy is not punishment, which is often only the first step to making the boy a professional criminal, but the ex- tension of discipline and the encourage ment of organizations like the Boy Scouts and the various semi-military brigades whose chief object is the teaching of dis cipline. It is not proposed to form new organizations. In fact the dividing oi effort in this way is discourag ged. It is felt that the needs of boys of all creeds and classes are amply catered for by the eXisitg organizations.
 One great trouble now is the shortage of efficient officers and workers The Boy Scouts lost more than half of their best officers within a few weeks of the declaration of war, and most of the others who were of military age have gone since then. They are now appealing to off cers who have been discharged because of wounds or invalided out of the army to give their services in this work of just as important, if not more important, than the training of soldiers. Much the same conditions exist in the various brigades, though as a rule they are of- ficered more by elderly civilians, with the aid of retired noncommissoned off, cers as drill sergeants and instructors.
 Another difficulty which these organi. cations are meeting with is that of se- curing adequate buildings for drills and meetings. The remedy for this is ob- vious London and every other town and village in the country have thousands oi expensive school buildings. built with the public money and lying idle every even- ing at just the time when they are needed for drills and recreation by organza- tions for the training of the young. One of the first acts of the committee will be to get into touch with the educa- tion authorities and try to arrange with them for the use of these buildings Legislation may be necessary, but if it is, the government which has appointed the committee will undoubtedly facilitate the passage of short act of Parlia- ment empowering the local authorities D lend their schools for this purpose
 The whole problem is one of the organi- Zation of the care of the children after school hours. In urban conditions, where the home consists of one or two rooms and the playground Is the street, some thing more than the old parental author ity Is needed. The problem is not SC pressing in the country, where the local squire and the schoolmast ster together arc able to keep an eye on the boys and girls Of the village, but in the towns when a boy or girl crosses the school threshold at in the afternoon he or she Is prac- tically free of all restraint until 10 o'clo:k the next morning. The idea of the gov ernment is to aid and encourage the or. ganizations which are trying to take charge of this spare time and organize 1t so that 1t shall be spent both pleas antly and proftably. The magistrates and social workers generally are unanimous in declaring that they seldom find 2 boy who belongs to the Boy Scouts oi any of the brigades in the hands of the police, and the police declare that on the contrary they often receive valuable as- sistance from such lads.