Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1935-06-16
OPT|M|STS DRIVE
ON CORNER GANG
Local Club Will Carry Fight
Against Delinquency to
Convention.

Holding that crime has It's roots In
Juvenile delinquency. the Washington
Optimist Club is initiating what 1t
hopes will be a concerted Nationwide
movement by social welfare organiza-
lions to break up the corner gang"
evil.
ENCOURAGED by success of boys club
work in Washington, the club has
sent to the international convention
Of Optimist Clubs in st. Louis this
week q delegation instructed to exert
every effort toward launching of a
national boys work campaign.
Armed With Resolution.
The delegation is armed with reso-
buttons adopted by the board OF gov
errors of the local club. commencing
the plan of combating crime by pro-
Viding wholesome recreation to offset
street loafing by boys. The resolu-
tions will be submitted to the inter-
national meeting during its three-day
convention, with a proposal that all
welfare agencies join in co-ordl-
mated drive in behalf of under
privileged boys of the Nation.
The crusade is in line with Attorney
General Cummings recent call for a
revival of interest in crime-preventlon
measures and also in accord With
recommendations made by the Ma
tional Crime Conference which met
here several months ago
The proposals at st. Louis will be
made by the following group from
the local club: Joseph E. Rice. presl-
dent of the Washington Optimists;
Wash B. Williams, Peter Dorsch, j..
Benton Webb, George Richardson,
Joseph Kammerer and William H.
Whittlesey. Another member of the
club, Henry Schaffert, is interna-
tional president of Che Optimists' or
eanization and will preside at the
convention.
Plan Calls for Coordination.
The representatives of the Wash
ington club will seek Endorsement of
the international body for wider CO.
operation among existing State. mu-
nicipal and private agencies inter-
ested in problems of delinquency in
children. At present, the delegation
will point out, the agencies are tack
ling the problems haphazardly and
independently, with resulting over
tapping of work. The plan calls for
q general, voluntary coordination of
these efforts after preliminary studies
designed to effect plan for concerted
action.
Schaffert. on the eve of leaving for
the convention, pointed out that the
movement is crystallization of rec
concentrations made by the National
Crime Conference, which declared
that criminal careers usually origi-
nate in the early years of neglected
childhood" and that "the most funda-
mental and hopeful measures of
crime prevention are those directed
toward discovering the underlying
factors in the delinquency of children
and strengthening and co-ordinating
the resources of the home, school and
community for child training and
guidance" The conference urged ma
tional and State leadership in foster
ing development of co-ordinating
agencies and provision of vocational
and recreational opportunities fol
youth.
Active in Boys Work.
The Washington Optimists have
taken an active part in promoting
boys work through clubs and other
agencies. Leadership in this enter
prise has been vested in a vigorous
young eleventh precinct policeman,
Bert Sheldon, who is chairman of
the clubs Boys Work Committee.
Police work has convinced me Of
the real need for intensive, construc-
tive effort in stamping out street
lettering among our boys" Policeman
Sheldon said in an interview. Grim
tnal careers too often are Matched on
the street corners and back lots. I
believe the remedy lies in providing
attractive. supervised recreation and
character building hobbies for our
boys"