Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-12-20
Circulation Every r0OHso
Evening Yesterday 1OOC q
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 70. 1915.
Should be Investigated.

We believe City Council did right, a
Thursday nights meeting. in requesting
c4 the CITY solicitor an opinion as to th,
status Of Mr. i. H. Wcn7el Of Auburn
\. Y, who has been appointed probation
oticer by Judge Prickett Of the juvenile
Court. City Council has raised tho
objection that, not being a citizen q
the State. Mr. Wen,el Is not eligible tc
the position under the provisions OF oul
State Constitution, also, that by reason
Of not being a citizen he should not have
been appointed anyway, even though nc
le<sl objections should interpose.
The legal objection is based on good
grounds, and i sufficient to warrant care
ful investigation before the appointcC
undertakes 10 assume the duties of his
ofice, which are important and carry
With them extensive powers. The pre-
bat,on officer Of the Juvenile Court
under the law, possesses AL the powers
OF the sheriff 10 make arrests, and au-
thorty 10 go into the home Of any de-
Enqucnt child The latter grant OF
power is somewhat extraordinary. rs it
does not specify that the probation Of
fcer shall procure legal warrant before
entering upon the premises Of any citizen.
no matter for what purpose The in
violabihty Of citizens homo has been a
matter OF contention for years. and the
prevailing decisions OF the courts have
been that a man S home Is sacred from
invasion even by officers, without due
process Of Law. obtained III advance One
able English iuri>t, long tmc ago,
advanced he dlctum that = mans house
l. his castle A famous English states
maL. n butter opposition TO i hill before
Parliament involving the right oi search.
declared that into 8 man house. no
matter how poor the man might be or
how wTetchcd the domicile might be,
even 'the King oi England cannot enter
all his force dare no; cross the thres hold
OF the ruined tenement However, this
Is a question 70 be determined later, after
the pending objection reaches settlement
possibly following attempts by the pIo-
baton officer 70 enter a house in search Of
trusnt pupil, without search warrant OF
other legal authorization.
But IN respect Of the non-citizenship
OF Judge Prickett selection for probation
officer Of the Juvenile Gpurt there seems
TO be ground for reasonable protest under
the Law. The Constitution of the State
provides that mo person shall be elected
or appointed 70 Office within any county
who shall not have a right to vote for a
Representative IL the General Assembly
and have been resident therein one wear
before his election or appointment I'll
plain words have any meaning this pro-
vision bars the appointment of any man
not s voting citizen 20 such an Office a.
probate officer OF the juvenile Court
tribunal created by law ~ tho state
The appointee, coming from The State of
New York, could not become qualified IN
this respect until at least q year after
coming TO Delaware This objection.
therefore, seems 10 be fatal, AZ least II Is
OF sufficient importance 20 warrant care
fui investigation. A law officer not legally
qualified for performance OF lis duties
could easily cause serious trouble by hi
attempts 10 exercise them Therefore
NC believe the City Council Is en'i-clr
right 10 asking City Solicitor Bavard 10
snLghten them on this polnt
But the mere objection 70 Judge Prick
ett's selection on the ground tina, the
appointee comes from another state We
regard as puerilc 4 position of the char
scter OF probation officer, to enforce a
law against truancy or non-attendancc
AZ school, = one that requires peclbar
qualifications II IS not every man Who
can successfully or efficiently fll such al
Office. On the other hand there are mcn
who are especially and most appropriately
qualified for such positions. and II j. thls
lind of men that should be appointed 70
them Without objections on Other que--
tons, It makes no difference 10 the people
Of Wilmington whether the probation
officer Of the Juvenile Court should be 4
citizen Of Delaware or Of any other state
If he was the right kind Of man the pot-
pie would benefit by bis services, regard
less Of where he came from
Equally puerile is the protest against
the allowance of larger salary to Judge
Prickett's selection than is allowed by
law for the Office As the excess will be
provided for by interested citizens. who
saDt TO have an intelligent and effective
OF the Law, this incident is q
10 the sppointee. 1t is an
assurance that he is well qualified man,
ar better fitted Tor tie dut.es Of tie |
,flice than any man in the State oi pd-
lware available for the purpose We
l4ve gone out of the State, time and again,