The Winslow mail., 1925-12-11

lids U6GH IeuuC6u 1U years.
A famous New York prosecutor
. finds so per cent of criminals be-
tween II and % years of age.
Almost every law enforcement
authority in the United States is
cognizant of a new era Of unre-
strained youth. We've thought of
youthful criminals coming from
homes Of poverty and vice, mental
ly deficient, or inheriting criminal
tendencies, but such is not the case
today. 'Tis boys and girls from
homes of means, often wealth,
higher Intellectually than public
school attendants of the same age,
and having good Inheritance.
In town in Pennsylvania last
May a judge sentenced a 15 year
old boy to the electric chair for
killing his grandmother to obtain
money for pleasures. The boy
twirled his hat, had nothing to say,
remained in a self-satisfied calm.
1t was the judge whose voice
shook. The law allowed him no
leniency A few finutes after
ward, the boy was in his cell play
ing jazz on a monograph and later
remarked: Il am not afraid to die
in the hot seat Anyway, they
won't get me. I've got friends who
will save me-"
There was another lad just 16
who was driving truck for whole
sale robberies in big city. When
caught, he said: "Just wait till our
| lawyer gets going on this They
can't scare me- Our crowd has the
system, that's all. I won't talk any
more. 1t was a circus anyhow"
That boy was the son of a fam
lily having an income of more than
$4,000 annually. They were plan
ming to send him to college,"
The accusation is made that
everywhere one finds the tendency
of unrestrained youth to adventure
with every sensation and the state
ment seems borne out by a report
made last year by federal grand
jury as Ell Paso, Texas:
at has come to our observation
that boys between the ages of II
and Is years are being taught the
use of narcotic drugs; that these
boys, once in the grip of vice, sell
the clothes their parents provide
for them, steal and indulge in pet
ty crimes for the purpose of OBJ
tanning funds to satisfy their crav-
ings. We find that one boy has
stated to officers of the law that
he has about twenty companions
of his own age who are drug users. !
Another disclosed that there are
forty of his child companions US
ing narcotics. Peddlers of drugs
are giving them away to some chill
dren to create addicts, thus en-
larging the demand"
Now that we have some facts
before us, let's look for contribut-
ing causes. I wish to quote some
criticisms of our present day home |
life. The retiring head of the de-
tective bureau in one of our large |
industrial cities says:
''It's not open for argument that |
the criminals who have to deal
with now are boys. It's nothing to |
find a lad of 16 doing stickups with |
an automatic. 1t would surprise |
you to know what same lads and |
girls of good families are heading
for. And it's the lack of home that |
does it. You know this old stuff |
about youth getting out of control
of the home, and parents saying
there's no use to put up fight.
fo1 hut hn
in America that's,gone wrong. Por
celain bathtubs and radios, vacuum
bottles, and so on, and even auto
mobiles for the poor. 1t all looks |
like a great civilization. But the !
home, the old home, with the whole |
family in it at night, has flapped |
away. Everybody is excited, every |
body is on the move, the move, the
move! That's one cause of crime
in America"
A chief of bureau of detectives
in a southern city comments:
1.-The real truth as to why these |
boys and girls get in here is that
the home has stopped work. The
bedrooms Of some homes are used, |
but the sitting room and library,
and sometimes the dining room,
too, wouldn't be missed When
was a boy the motto used to be
God bless our home now it's Let's
Coz And when they go, the par
ents go one way and the youngsters
another. Today in a lot of fam
lilies they are lucky if they meet at
breakfast. The old companionship
of the home and the evening lamp
and having your neighbors in has
dwindled away"
The following from a chief of
police:
How many families are there
where the mother and father jump
into the car and go out to the road
house for cocktails, leaving the
children at home? And then, when
they are tired of it, or can't stand
it any longer, the children take the
car and go out to the roadhouse for
cocktails. You can see the pictures
of the whole family in the car go
ing out to strip the woods of the
wild flowers, but l tell you I know
| the history of too many wild boys
not to know that whatever takes
parents or children out of the home,