Evening star., 1936-09-06

get to the boy before he gets to the
reformatory.
Every man is his brothers keeper,
especially his younger brother. That
must be the main spring of any plan
to beat crime.
| would like to see America launch
a whirlwind campaign, as l wrote a
year ago, for men and money and
buildings. and plant 5000 club build
ings for underprivileged boys in the
neediest centers throughout the ma
tions. The facilities which these club
buildings could offer - for sports,
for recreation, for manual training.
for any kind of worthwhile activity
boys desire - could be made so
attractive that boys would desert their
street corner gangs $50 often breeders
of criminality) and be made into
decent, law-abiding citizens. Business
and professional men and women,
led by the Chamber of Commerce of
the United States and the General
Federation of Women's Clubs could
do the job in magnificent way.
That is an ambitious program. 1t
will take time to develop it. But,
while it is brewing, there is d simpler
project that can be carried out imme-
diately in thousands of large and
small communities throughout the
United States. 1t can be worked in the
crossroads village and in the big city.
In every community where there
is the problem of underprivileged and
wayward boys and girls let the earnest
men and women organize themselves
into a group to serve as Friends of
Youth"
Each of these Friends of Youth"
groups. serving without pay, would
set to work to meet the needs of its
own community. Each group would
endeavor to provide building which
could be used as club house and rec
reational center for underprivileged
boys and girls, and to organize a
recreational program, so varied and
attractive that the children of the
community would be drawn to the
club house.
Obtaining a club building sounds
difficult - but is it? In many cases
the Friends of Youth" groups would
be astonished by the resources that
can be uncovered even in the most
barren communities. have in mind
village of 200 population, the coun-
terpart of which can be found by the
score in every state. 1t has four church
buildings, not one in use. 1t has a
school of four rooms, but no gymna-
sium or play room.
One aggressive leader could unite
those people into community church,
using one of the better buildings.
Another structure could be converted
into gymnasium and community
hall, with stage. The sale of the
other two edifices would bring in
enough to buy considerable equip
ment. And that village would then be
able to interest its boys and girls in
healthy, worthwhile recreation. 1t
would be ready for its part in the war
on crime - and the neighborhood
would become progressive instead of
a deteriorating center.
That type of thing has been done
many times in American villages, but
it needs to be done thousands of
times.
The same thing could be done in
the open country neighborhood and
in the small towns that contain one
fourth of our population.
Can it be done also in our cities.
where the delinquency problem is the
greatest and the need is the most
desperate? Can the Friends of
Youth" function there, too? Well,
they are doing it here and there, even
if not under the specific name.
In Cincinnati, three churches