The Colville examiner. [volume] (Colville, Wash.) 1907-1948, 1918-10-05

and enlightened criminal legislation
of the last SO years.
at was not created by one mind.
S! II 'uo!4nIoAe 10 lIns5I aql s! 81
the product of the thought of the
master minds among social workers
and philanthropists. Its radical de-
parture from the existing path of
criminology may perhaps be best
demonstrated by the following quota
tions from our statute creating the
juvenile court:
"This act shall be known as the
Juvenile court law and shall apply
to all minor children under the age
of IS years who are delinquent or de-
| pendent, and to any person or per-
sons who are responsible for or con-
tribute to the delinquency or Deepen
dency Of such children.
"This act shall be literally con-
strued to the end that it's purpose
may be carried out, towit: That the
care, custody and discipline of de-
pendent or delinquent child as de-
fined in this act shall approximate
as nearly as may be that which
should be given by it's parents, and,
in all cases where it can be properly
done, the dependent or delinquent
child shall be placed in an approved
family, and may become a member
of the family by adoption or other
wise.
at becomes apparent at once that
the state has finally come to full
realization of it's duty not only to
protect the child but also to direct
it in the channels that lead to good
citizenship. It's departure from for
mer methods Of treatment lies in it's
recognition of two principles: First,
the economic value of the child, and,
second, the abandonment of retribu-
tive punishment commensurate with
the magnitude of the offense COM
mitted.
"By the former, the state acknow-
lodges that to every normal child
must be given the opportunity to
| grow to vigorous manhood in a
healthy and normal environment. By
the latter, the state refuses to con-
tinue to regard child under 16 as a
criminal or to treat it as such. The
juvenile court law imposes no penal
ties. The orders and commitments
Of it's judges are solely for training,
never with the sole idea of punish
ment. The idea of criminality is
carefully suppressed and brought to
| light only as an object lesson for the
purpose of training the child. The
atmosphere and practice of the police
court is neither present, nor INDUCED
in. The child is not tried for the
purpose of ascertaininig whether it
is guilty of some particular offense
which it may have committed, hence
no prosecutor appears in the juvenile
court to represent the state. The
entire inquiry is directed to ascertain
|
dependency or delinquency. This en-
tails searching inquiry into the
child's life, it's character, education,
habits, environment and associates,
likewise those of it's parents. Once
the primary cause is discovered, all
efforts of the judge and probation
officers are directed to it's removal
and if punishment is inflicted, it is
merely incidental thereto and for the
purpose of training the child.
"Many citizens labor under the
misapprehension that the juvenile
court is concerned solely with delin-
quent children. Such is not the fact.
Much of it's time is devoted to the de-
pendent child, the child whose con-
dition of dependency, whether
through death, misfortune OF other
cause, touches the heart strings and
awakens systematic, determined
and sustained effort to alleviate it.
"This phase of juvenile work is
the most important, as far as society
is concerned. The case of the delin-
quent child is frequently merely tenn
porary, child's error, Immediately
corrected and quickly forgotten. Not
so with the dependent child Its
entire future must in many cases be
determined by the court and fire.
Quently it's permanent CUSTODY trans
ferred from it's natural parents to
foster parents. For the correction
of the conditions of such child, no
investigation and no supervision is
too onerous for the officials of the
| court "