Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-07-08
INSTITUTIONS HERE
HIT BY W|CKERSHAM
Report on Juvenile Care by
U. S. Flags Equipment
and Treatment.
Continued From First Page.)

for research to trace the history and
spread of institutional disciplinary
measures SUCH as silence, marching.
dressing and undressing, to count
standing on line. use Of strained or
torture positions, calisthenic drills to
the point of exhaustion, Stacking,
drenching with streams of cold water,
etc. An officer who has learned these
practices in one institution passes them
on to another; once rooted they spread
underground; the most enlightened adj
ministrator finds 1t difficult to eradi-
cate them"
Speaking Of the department for COL
ored girls of the National Training
School for Girls, Dr. Van Waters stated
that girls are locked in at night and
have to lay their clothing on the floor
outside their room. and that they are
locked in their rooms during portions OF
each day The dismal restrictive ap-
pearance Of the place reflects its spirit"
she wrote.
A report on Child offenders in the
Federal system of justice" described
other harsh disciplinary treatment ac-
corded minors and asserted many of
the jails in which they are kept pres
ent a situation of filth and misery i'm
possible to convey"
Punishments Cited.
In some institutions. the report said
fiogging is not infrequent, while in
others calisthenic drills to the point of
exhaustion. torture" positions, shac-
king. drenching with streams of cold
water and confinement on bread and
water have been in vogue. At the Fed
eral Industrial Reformatory in Chilli
cothe, Ohio the report said. conf1ne
ment to the guard house for even minor
offenses was frequent as disciplinary
measure.
"A few minor offenses noted in the
records as punished by from three to
six days in the guard house." the report
added, were possession CT a two-cent
stamp, talking In mess line, concealing
an apple in bunk. kicking refuse can,
Ste1ling five eggs from the kitchen"
The Chillicothe institution was de-
scribed as lin poor repair, crowded, I'M
sanitary and not fireproof."
Forced to Stand in Rain.
Kitchen and dining room facilities
are inadequate" it was said, mess is
served twice to accommodate all which
means in bad weather men stand in
rain and cold waiting for service. Floors
in both kitchen and mess hall cannot
be scrubbed, as they are so porous that
water would seep through to food sup
plies in the basement. Hospital space
is crowded and inadequate, clothing is
very poor. Boys sent from warm cli-
mates suffer greatly frcm exposure
Discussing the Washington State
Reformatory, at Monroe. at which some
convicted Federal juveniles are confined
under contract, the report said disci-
pline often took the form of diet restric-
ton. Correction cells were said to be
kept in total darkness, and young boys
sometimes forced to sleep on wooden
planks, ordinarily without bedding and
sometimes for 10 days at time.
939 Under Dry Law.
The report said 939 boys under 10
years of age were held in prisons dur
ing the six months ending December
81. 1890, for violating the Federal pro-
hibition act. OF there, 21S, or nearly
one -ouarter, were convicted in the
Eastern district of Kentucky.
No mention was made OF the lnsti-
tutions in which these youthful prison.
ers we're held.
No explanation was Civ n at the
White House for an apparent switch In
the commissions lineup, whereby this
report was published ahead OF a study
of the deportation Of aliens from the
United States. The document released
today was the fifth published by the
commission, but was numbered as It's
sixth report. That upon the depoIta-
ton of aliens was to be numbered fve.
Doak Objected to Report.
Prior to the technical dissolution of
the commission July /, members said, a
lengthy letter objecting to parts of their
report on decorations had been re-
ceived from Secretary Doak, who is
charged with this duty. They declined
to say whether the Secretary OF Labor's
letter would be made public.
After a fiat declaration that the con-
cept Of juvenile delinquency Is "un-
known TO the Federal penal CODE" the
commission estimated that 2,243 boys
and girls under 10 years Of age were
held in jail for violating various Fed
eral laws during the six months end
ing December 81, 1880.
THE great majority of juvenile Of
tenders against the Federal laws are
typical delinquency cases" the report
said. "It is only by accident that they
have fallen within the Federal juris-
diction.
ANY State would apply to them the
usual technique Of juvenile delinquency
treatment. Yet the Federal Govern
ment classes them with adult criminals
and moves against them with the same
machinery which it uses in dealing with
hardened offenders"
1.-The Federal Government is not
equipped to serve as guardian to the
delinquent child" the report asserted,
NOR should 1t assume this task. When
ever child has broken Federal law
his local community has failed in its
responsibility to furnish adequate pa
rental guidance. This duty is local, not
national.
1T is desirable from every point of
view that the Federal Government be
empowered to withdraw from the prose-
cution of juveniles. where such with
drawal will be in the public interest,
and to leave the treatment of their
cases to the juvenile courts or other
welfare agencies of their own States.
The commission recommends the pas
sage of legislation which will have this
effect"
The commission said it understood
legislation now was being prepared for
presentation to the next Congress, de-
signed to facilitate, among other things.
the acceptance in local reformatories
end training schools of convicted Fed
eral juveniles. 1t praised Attorney Gen.
eral Mitchell and the Bureau of Prisons
TOR their efforts toward this end.
The study was not complete. The
actual report Of the commission. signed
by all IL members, covered only FIVE