Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1918-08-20

obtain, conditions in regard to juvenile delin-
quency in France parallel somewhat those of Great
also appeared and arrests of boys and girls under
sixteen have grown much more frequent since the
war.
The problem in France has been neglected to
even a greater degree than in Great Britain, but
recently the authorities have been startled into
turning great deal of attention to it. Last OctO
Der the Academic des Sciences, Morales ct Politi-
ques, recommended :hat all incorrigbly p@Svert-
ed children should he sent to correctiEe asyICms.
This included victims of hereditary alcoholism,
epilepsy syphilis etc. Victims of ''evil environ
ment," said to include more than third of all
French child delinquents, should be placed under
a guardianship controlled by the courts. Recent
ly the French senate passed a bill to provide
guardianship for all children orphaned by the
In Russia, asyums for delinquents are being
OVERLOADED and officers of Juvenile courts are be-
ing severely overworked. War orphans, child
refugees and child volunteers have helped to swell
the prisons Child volunteers returning from the
front found their way into groups of transported
prisoners. One prison contained sixty. of these
children all between eleven and SIXTEEN they
mingled with adult prisoners of all types Equally
serious was the of the refugees. Thousands of
SS1ng girls poured into Moscow from the zone,
anS when the authorities could not provide ade-
quate care for them, they became the easy victims
of procurers. Many of these girls who had al
ready been corrupted, enticing younger chill
dren to follow their example
Vagrancy among children has become very
common in Russia. Many thousands of children,
refusing to work, roam wildly the country.
Sometimes when the cold weather comes, they seek
refuge in asylums, but runaway
clothing is given them. In metropolitan centers
such as Moscow, Petrograd and Kev, crowds of
children of tender age found the streets
after midnight and in the lower type of tea
houses. Whiskey is sold in these establishments
and often they filled with prostitutes.
Court records published in Berlin since the be-
ginning of the show that the enemy, too, has
been touched with the growth of child delinquency.
Punishable oenses by children of less than sixteen
years much more frequent. This takes into
account only the offenses punished by the civil
courts for in many places the wartime courts
have complete supervision. Berlin authorities ad-
NIT that the has greatly swelled the ranks
of German criminals and prostitutes. In Ger
many in the other countries, the break up of
family life has had its bad effect. In Prussia
alone more than 5000 men teachers have joined
the colors, and immense number of school build
ings have been taken for military purposes
The abnormal industrial expansion has led to the
crowding of young workers into the capitals where
many of them have fallen into crime.
The lesson which should be drawn by the
United States from these examples is the necessity
of avoiding them 1t is essential that during the
war home life and community activities should be
continued. And whatever the demands of in
dustry upon labor, mothers of young children
should be sent to work only last resort Chill
dren already delinquent should be placed under
the of psychological experts and skilled pro-
baton officers, and much wider scope should be
given to the workers. Every small delinquent,
whether it be country child, a small town child,
city child, should be given the best of modern
and direction