Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-11-29
U,S,F|NDS HERED|TY
CAUSE FOR CR| NE
Parents Shown to be Deficient in
Majority of 1l9 Cases
Investigated.
Nv Frederick ]. Haskin.

Washington. d. c., Nov. 25.-At the
aoe nj IA Robert Field broke into the
hardware store in his town, and stole
c,seful of iacknives His guilt suspected,
he was searched and the missing property
found in his clothing. The owner OF 'ne
hardware store agreed to leave hobert s
punishment to his father, who gave hun
vigorous thrashing.
Since then. Robert has not been caught
in any delinquency, but he appears to
have n bad influence on the rest OF the
small bows In the town, and Is accused Oh
having encouraged one boy TO steai
bicvcIe. His school record shows that he is
alwsvs ont of school because of alleged
illness. and consequently has never pro
rressed beyond the fifth grade, tic
clsims to have heart trouble, kidney
trouble" and stomach trouble -fiaims
IN which his mother strongly supports
him. -
Further investigation of Roberts his
horv reveals the fact that his father, who
d,od of tuberculosis shortly after the
incident. of the jackknives, was dr1Inkard
ard ne'er do-well His mother also mas
very bad reputation
ONLY oNF; OF MANY
rhe case of Robert Field Is only one OF
many uncovered In recent invesnsa-
tscn of juvenile delinquency undertaken
nv Kate Holladay Claghorn OF the tnited
States Children's Bureau. Out ol q
communities investigated, Miss Tag
horn reports 1S5 cases OF erring Iuvenlles'
llo of whom were boys and 90 OF "'oin
were glrls.
hered,tv and crime been more clearly
illustrated than In this investigation by
the Children's Bureau In nearly every
case the parents OF the delinquent child
are shown 10 possess mental or moral
defects. il
WHY for example, did Robert Field,
.r>,ny oil the other little boys IN his VII
Lao, show An irrepressible tendency To lie
- steal9 Some will contend that It was
ths h.,v's environment, but st the time
that he broke into the hardware store, ms
e.,y,ronment Was much the same as that
of the other boys IN hls community oniy
he was handicapped by his heri'ags-a
drunken father and a dlsreputable mothcr.
Hore Is another case reported by Miss
CIaoborn Al the age Of IL, Harry PottcT-
field stole a watch from nelghbnr- Inc
nei0hhor Inrrediatelv got out warrant
for the arrest Of both Harry and ms
fetber and the watch was discovered IN the
nossessslnn Of the father. The father
asserted that Harry had stolen the watch
ard that he vas gong to make hum return
i but this was doubted by all who knew
thefather.
RErAMY GANG LEADER.
Two wears later Harry had become the
leader of q gang Of boys who were causing
the village all sorts Of trouble. Among
other things, they wrecked several oulid-
inrs on the local picnic ground. An m
vessigaalon OF Harry's family showed that
hrs father had reputation for stealing
r~,rc,rs.Ik chickens. that he had been on
rrnha ton tgloe for deserving his family
and that be was in the habit OF going On
snrees every time he got money enough
Another case IS Bert Snyder, who com
rnitted his first offense against society at
the age of IA. when nc broke nso the
schoolhouse. locked up for the noon hour
and anproDriated money irom the teach
cr's desk. Encouraged by his success,
Bert tined this second time and was
caught and thrashed by the princlpaI OF
the school year Later Bert, IN com
nanv with another boy, broke INTO the
local grocery store and stole SD. Inc
bows were suspected apd put through an
informal third degree, IN which the other
l.cv confessed. No action was taken, how
ever. since the owTer Of the grocery and
Bert 5 father were friends
4t the age of Is, Bert left school, hav-
mo connleted only the fifth grade HIs
latest occupation Is collecting money on
deliveries of meat for his father, who IS
butcher. charging them on the books and
keen,ns the money for his own use Some
light IS shed on Bert's propensItles when
we learn that his father IS what Is known
as bottle drinher and has recently
had a case Of deIrIum tremens which
nearly left him insane.
Tho same kind OF heTedIty Is found M
II Il ~
racentlx became the mother of an IL
legitimate child. the father OF which Is
man % wears old who has finally de-
c,ded 10 marry her. Tracing Jennle's
record. the investigator found that she
had scarcely gone 70 school at all, and
.hat the school authorities had not been
tr-s1FIed bv her absence because she was
believed To he feehle-rninded John Park,
the father of Jennie Is immoral and lazy,
and Is probably subnorTnal mentally
His wife. who provides most Of the sup
nnrt NJ the family bv scruhbing Is lIn-
u1estlonably subnormaI
COUSIN ALSO DELTNoUINT-
Richard Park, Jennie's COUSIN, Is also
ceIInuuint OF Is, who has committed
several offenses Of a feebe-mInded nature.
He has gwen his teachers great deal OF
trouble in school where ne has never ad-
V-3ncel DeFonQ bllS liIIu Rtauc- CHc VI AIS
first caprioes was to take a horse from a
pasture and ride II 50 long and hard that
the animal died He also bought eggs on
account at one grocery store and then
sold them for cash at the grocery store
across the street It Is believed, however,
that a rnaturer intellect instigated this
particular proceeding, since 1t involved d
business sense which Richard Is not be
lieyed to have Since then, Richard has
stolen everything within his reach
chickens, vegetables, hrewood, boots
Richards father, who IS the brother Of
.Jennies father, is mentally subnorInal,
illiterate. and incapable Of supporting
his family HIS mother, also q village
scr7lbwoman, Is mentally deficient
All of thus goes to prove what European
psvchiatrists have long known that
crime is due to mental defect, which Is
generally both hereditary and incurable
4 man who is a thief generally has child
who is a thief, unless the mother heTedity
is sufficiently strong and untalnted To
counteract the effect Of the other.
Here in America the question Of here
ditv is Just beginning to receive the at
tan4Ion hat Il deserves For MANY wears