The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1922-01-05
JUDGE FULLY
SAYS GOODBYE
Retiring Judge of NUM-
cipal Court Makes Inter-
esting Survey.
LIKED JUVENILE WORK
Judge Looks Back On Work in
Juvenile Branch for Youth
and Mothers.

have in giving up my work as judge OF
the municipal court" said Judge FULLY
today, on the eve of his retirement
from office, "and that is in connection
with the work that comes under the
head of the Juvenile branch OF the
court, work that has to do with the
poor and unfortunate and with chill
dren. It is the opportunity that comes
to the judge in this work to set chill
dren along right lines of development
which has been of most interest to me.
at seems only yesterday since l
began my work as judge of the munich
pal court, four years ago; and here l
am ready to turn over the work to my
successor. The past four years have
been so crowded with court work that
the passage of time has occupied
thoughts little. The prosperous times
accustomed as a result of the late
world war, when money seemed to be
more plentiful than our widest dreams
could imagine and the enforcement OF
the much talked-of prohibition laWs
have brought to the attention OF the
municipal court during my term of
office every sort of case imaginable.
In one year alone about four thousand
| eight hundred cases were docketed, not
! including hundreds of other cases set
tied and adjusted without the usual
publicity resulting, wherein domestic
troubles of various kins were con-
cerned, disputes and quarrels between
wives and husbands were patched up,
or the faults Of children were lroned
out in way that seemed for their
| best interests.
One Thing or Judge to Consider.
an my opinion, there is only one
thing for the judge of court to Keep
in mind in performing his duties, and
that is to observe and hold most sacred
at all times the oath he takes at the
beginning of his term of office: To
render justice alike to all with whom
he comes in contact, regardless OF
wealth, social standing or otherwise
How we'll one succeeds in his efforts
in that behalf, the public alone can
judge.
"The work of municipal judge has its
advantages, as well as disadvantages.
There are many points that come up
| in the majority of cases that are nara
for the public in general to understand
Sometimes the judge is criticised Tor
the manner in which he disposes OF the
matter in question. This situation IS
brought about yby reason of the fact
oil fntlV Tl@
formed as to all of the facts and cir
cumstances concerning the case. FOR
| instance, in talking with personal
friend of mine one day, who happened
to be fond of hunting and fishing, he
said. 4 can't quite understand just
how YOU deal out justice. / noticed IN
| last nights papernthat you fined one
man $50 and costs for killing SOUR
rel out of season. in violation OF the
game laws, and another man, who had
stolen $50 you placed on probation l
went on and explained to him that In
the case of the violation of the game
laws the man acknowledged that ne
was wrong and was willing to pay his
| fine being the minimum under the law;
while the other man, who had COM
mitted larceny, had acknowledged his
guilt but safd that he was destitute
and that his wife and eight children
needed his support and that if he
should be sent to Jail it would become
necessary for the family to apply for
public aid.
Probation Work Interesting.
"The subject of probation has been
one that has been given the most serl-
Gus study and consideration by the
courts throughout the country, and
DESPITE the fact that many individuals
do not sanction such a course, statis-
tics show, conclusively that the best
possible results have been obtained
thereby in bringing about the complete
reformation of persons accused of COM
hitting crimes. In my work as munich
pal Judge, while at times | have re-
ceived some criticism for the action l
have taken in probation work; l feel
satisfied that l followed the best pos
sible course to be taken; that is, where
the law permitted, to give the first of
| 1enQ6r an opportunity " SIO" ChoO nc
could bring about his own reformation
without being branded as criminal.
To show that this system of probation
is a success, at least eight out of every
ten persons so placed on probation re-
| formed and did not violate the con-
ditions or provisions of their parole.
More particularly does this apply to
children, in most cases unfortunate
victims of shiftless parents. By
studying the life of a child, requiring
the application of the provisions of the
probation laws, in the majority of cases
the faults of the child can be traced
back to the conduct of the parents. For
that reason, I never committed child
to an institution of any kind unless it
became the only possible thing to dc
for the best results Of the child
Often Must Aid Cupid.
"While, perhaps, ninety-nine per
cent of the work Of the judge of the
municipal court owing to its wide
jurisdiction, consists mainly of trying
to adjust and settle disputes of
various kinds, the other one per cent
of the work is, to certain extent, hu-
morous, to say the least. He is some
times called upon to settle love affairs
! that onIv Cunid could we'll adiust.