Evening star., 1926-04-27
NEW BOOKS
AT RANDOM
THE REVOLT OF MODERN
YOUTH. Judge Ben b. Lindsey
and Wainwright Evans. Boni
q IiHarAnl,t

clear signal at which q world OF
frightened elders-parents. teachers.
preachers-will scurry to cover. much
as the child under some pursuing
fear. seeks a fieeting sanctuary by
burying it's face in mothers lap.
And truly it is fearsome story.
or would be were it not SO much
more and other than that. For
brought into the open hers Is the one
thing upon which in tacit conspiracy
all the elders have practiced their
most fragrant ignorance. their deep
est concealments, their most panic
hypocrisies.
Here are tales Of a thousand -and-
)ne days drawn, not from the fan
tastic Imagination of O. SchehereZade
oent upon saving her own life. Drawn
rather from the stark reality Of the
present by a man bent upon succOr-
-ng the society Of tomorrow through
/ rescue OF the youth Of today.
X X !. 4:
For more than 25 years the exclu-
I'VE preoccupation of Judge Lindsey
IS head Of the Juvenile Court Of Den :
During these years the urgent con-
,ern of this judge has been to save
the boys and girls around him from
certain serious mistakes such as the
mere fact of having been born into
his life entails upon every human.
The ultimate vision of the man. how
ever, is q social fabric that will be
better thing than this of the pres
ent-tiner in thread, more closely
woven in texture, more beautiful to
he eye in bright patterns OF kindly
living. softer to the hand in deeds
of brotherly love, warmer to the
heart in an inclusive and persuasive
friendliness. But tomorrow in all di-
rections depends upon today. So
ciety In that nearing future rests
with the youth Of the present. Clear
ly the work at hand is to know this
youth. to come close to its problems
and perplexities.
Certain 1t is that this is no one
man job. The plain implication OF
The whole matter is that every city
md town and all the countryside
must unite IN its elders for re-
learning of the lesson OF youth, for
a revival of sympathy toward it, for
friendly ways of approach to it. for
inspired means Of fellowship with It.
Casual mention may be made of the
young folks Of today. Promptly the
elders split automatically into two
classes. On this side one says. "Oh,
boys and girls are pretty much what
they've always been! To be sure
lhere are temptations that our day
knew nothing about-the automobile
with its stolen joy-rides, the forbidden
drink that bears the glamour Of ad
venture, queer dancing steps and
postures by day as well as by night
within every other doorway, girls at
typewriters earning money that they
spend on long silk stockings and
correspondingly short skirts. They
kick about q good deal, these girls
and talk across to the boys on per
fectly level terms. They often make
the advances-but this has always
been so. 1t looks to me as if they've
learned, better than We did, how tC
slip the leash. and that's the chief diff
ference between them and u.s." The
other side. shocked, frightened and
less articulate. merely laments or
thunders according to nature and tenn
perament. Both dodge the issue.
And out of his long experience what
does Judge Lindsey say at this point
He admits the revolt Of youth against
old standards Of conduct. and de
clares this to be unlike any other re-
volt that has ever taken place before
Though--"youth has always been re
bellious; youth has always shocked the
older generation. That's traditional
The modern girl wearing skirts that
reached only to her shoe tops, was q
| problem in mid-Victorian England
But this is different. 1t has the whole
;rh% N,.1 zf,rS ~
scientific and economic order behind
| 1t. 1t has come in an age of speed
and science-an age when women vot'
and can make their own living; an age
| in which the fear Of hell-fire has lost
its hold. In the past the revolt o,
| youth always turned out to be a futile
| gesture. 1t never brought much
change. But now the guns loaded
These boys and girls can do what boy:
and girls were never able to do In tht
past. They can live up to their mani
festo, and nothing can prevent them
| The external restraints, economic re
straints that were once so potent, have
gone. never to return"
1.-THE sole question is"-and here Ii
| the pith of the matter-"how soon an(
straints Of a voluntarily accepted code
which alone can keep people goine
straight, take their place?" 4"
| think this is already happening.
don't think this younger generation Ii
| lust blindfolded bull in china shop
I think, considering the temptations
| It Is under, and considering the folly
| Of the adult portion Of the population
| that it is relatively the most moral
and the most sane younger generation
| the world has ever seem"
The conclusion of the quotation con
tains the point of the whole matter
On the one hand is youth, a very wide
awake and intelligent youth, whose
crying need is to know the truth of 1t
self and of the immediate world at
fecting 1t and affected by it. On the
other hand are the panic-stricken eld
ers Offering no assistance that is com
parable in honesty and intelligence tC
the frank call Of these boys and girls
for help in correcting their many mis-
takes.
Hundreds Of concrete examples
stand here as parts Of Judge Lindsey's
experiences with the young folks
around him. These are boys and girls
of all classes. Those Of the sheltered
life are here, no end than those nur
tured by the untender weathers of the
city streets. Through them all are as
tonishing franknesses under sympa
thetic approaches. Here are keen sur
veys OF life. sharp questions. asser
tions of right, by these youthful ad
venturers into the dark. Always from
Judge Lindsey and his kind there Is
only the effort to get together to know
why this thing was done, or that one
Then, from this basis Of plain errol
and misunderstanding, the FORWARD
steps must be those of correcting TIN
mistakes. And they are always mis-
takes--as indeed they are--instead O.
sins. From the children themselves
the matter often passes on to the sub
ject Of the family-to marriage, di
vorce, to unwedded parenthood. II
every case the attitude of this autho
! is that Of an honest survey Of tn
| facts as they exist and as they ar
| likely to work out in the lives of thos