Evening star., 1933-01-21
Ally TELEGRAPH, London
Sir John Simon, the foreign
secretary, has written to the

versity, saying that he consider
it advisable that steps should be taken to
warn intending visitors to Greece of the
dangers Of walking tours without q
guide. This Is due to the rugged and
solitary character of parts Of the coun-
try and the existence Of treacherous
and crumbling lime rock.
This notification Is understood to be
a sequel to the death early this year OF
an oxford undergraduate. Mr.: David
Cochrane, q nephew Of Mr.. H. A. L.
Fisher. He disappeared In April last
wear while on q walking tour through
Greece, and his skeleton was discovered
on Mount Parnasus IL months later.
French Methods Against
Juvenile Crime Deplored.
LIE Matin, Paris.-The cause and cure
Of juvenile criminality Is q subject
which is most appropriately engaging
the attention Of mental experts: 1t Is
conceded that the delinquency OF youth
in present days Is traceable not so much
to inherent changes in the nature and
tendencies Of the young Of the human
species as 1t Is to the larger opportu-
mites existing for the pursuit OF I'M
proper pleasures and diversions.
It has also been satisfactorily Demon
strated that q fundamental dinerence
exists between the motives OF an aoult
criminal and q minor delinquent. ine
former weighs carefully his chances OF
getting gain and plunder through &C
tivities essentially nefarious; the youth
is impelled solely in the majority OF
cases with the desire to enjoy himself.
The first realizes fully his culpable re.
sponsibility, and considers the Likelihood
and degree of the ordained penal pun.
ishment. The youth has no Thought Of
and makes no provision for, the legal
consequences of his acts. He Is swept
of his feet by the impulse OF the mo-
ment. and in many cases Is even en-,
couraged to yield to misdemeanors and
malfeasances by the unethical behaVloi
of other strata of society.
A child hears his elders boast tnat
they have influence with the tribunals
and with the police; he, too. then
makes the same claims, and awaits the
first chance to make good his flourish
And so. when q garcon decamps with an
automobile, to regale his equally young
associates upon a motoring excursion,
he assumes, when the tribunal releases
him with a warning not to oneno
again, that it is his "influence" that
has won him remission OF the punish
ment provided. Frequently his family
are afiicted with this same erroneous
idea, and 50 the youngster is actually
impelled to new and worse o1enses
against the law.
It is Idle to speak Of parental con-
troll; parents are too concerned with
their own dubious diversions to care
much how their offsprings employ
themselves. So, to release . minor de-
linquent to his family with the under
standing that there will be exercised
in the home . proper restraint ano
surveillance Is futility truly tragic.
In some cases, however, 1t Is not
the eagerness and curiosity Of youth
which leads to crime. It Is q phys
ical or cerebral deficiency which requires
skilled and adequate treatment. but II
is far from likely that 1t will ever be
conferred, certainly not bcfore It Is
too late to mitigate the worst results
of some congenital weakness or defect
inducing to q gross deprayity. Between
the Scyl1a and Charybodls OF natuIa
impulse and inherent blcmish, youth
is left without q pilot to cnart its own
way with far larger opportunities and
lures than ever existed before until
caught In the whirlpool Of vice and
criminality. We are fully In accord
with preventive measures against crime
in general, and juvenile delinquency
in particular, but when will any meth.
DDS be decided upon, much less adopted
and applied? The ideal would be an
institution where youth, once caught ~
the meshes Of the law, would be treated
both biologically md psychologi gica!ly!
then educated, and patiently developed
in every worthy respect before released
with the hope that It would thence
forth comport itself IN Q healthful and
sane human relationship. Is It not
high time that the authorities devote
themselves seriously to the wretched
situation. however urreelised by those
SO situated, Of our young delinquento,
and employ energetic and hrfhcient ef-
forts to render them their rights?