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EDITORIAL

THE FAMILY OF THE CONVICT

Sooner or later, one important problem-dealing directly with nearly every agency that works along the lines of philanthropy-must be solved. Regardless of just what particular branch of special work at which an agency is engaged, in order to insure that completeness and harmony in results the agency is striving for, they will find this problem of importance.

Are wives and children entitled to the earnings of men in prison? The results of the present system effect those who are at work with both dependent and delinquent children, as well as the various agencies, both public and private, who are engaged in aid, relief, settlement and general charity work.

For example—a man commits an offense, is found guilty, and is sent to the local institution of correction or jail. Here he is compelled to labor, and the results of this labor are taken from him. We will say he has a family at home. Are we by our present system taking the results of this man's labor from him, or from his family? Imprisonment does not compel the man to stop eating, and oftimes he is a better man physically from his incarceration.

But how about the family? His wife and children are innocent, but they are the ones to suffer. The main reasons for incarcerating this husband and father in prison were for the protection of society, and his reformation

which the state hopes to accomplish by instilling habits of indutry, mental and moral improvement. If they fail in this, absolutely no good has been done, and probably harm.

One man has sinned, and his whole family suffer and are perhaps thrown upon society because this one man committed a sin against society. When we take the bread winning power from a family of little ones, we are committing another sin. We are contributing towards this family's dependency. It is true that in some states provisions are made to allow two or three dollars per week to the family, but what is that amount if this family consists of two, three or possibly more children. It might buy bread, but it will not furnish fuel and medicine.

Here, and here alone, is the solution of the whole problem. Authorities inform us that prisons can be made to pay a profit, and it has been demonstrated to that effect. Then we should not withhold from the family of the prisoner the results of his labor, over and above that required for his maintenance while in prison.

In the city of Detroit today, and Detroit is not as bad as many other cities, there are forty-four families. on the books of the Poor Commissioners, who have to be fed and clothed by the citizens because the husband is confined in the House of Correction. These women are probably unable, for physical reasons, to work. If they did go out washing for a living, their children would be neglected. Yet by our present system we cause these women and children to suffer to atone for the father's sin against our laws. It is wrong in both principle and fact.

In Detroit, by the present system, the law allows the wife one dollar and a half per week, with an additional fifty cents per week for every child under the age of fifteen years, while the father, if he is arrested for desertion, remains in prison. But how about the man who has not deserted his family, who has protected and given them proper support, who really loves and cares for his wife and children and works for them, but through error commits crime and is thrown into prison. How about his family? Why should not they, as well as the family of the deserter, receive some benefit from the results of the labor of the head of the family while in prison. These cases have proven to be more really deserving of such benefit than the average family of the deserter.

A man who deserts his family could be placed under bonds to support his family, and not sent to the workhouse. By the present system a man's wages while in prison in the State of Michigan goes to the State or the prison contractors. Consequently, his family suffers, and is forced to bear the brunt of his punishment. We ask you, is it right?

Once upon a time there was a little girl who dearly loved all kinds of flowers. She was never happier than when roaming through the woods among the ferns and leaves, hunting for the little blossoms hidden there. She never picked the flowers, just to carry for a short time and then to be carelessly thrown away to wither. The flowers to her were too precious to be thus destroyed. They were real companions to her. Sometimes she would bend low her head and talk to them. Sometimes when she found a flower that especially pleased her she would ask it to come home with her; then she would carefully dig it up and carry it home, to be transplanted in her own litle garden.

This garden was indeed her joy, and it was here she spent the most of her time, talking to her flower children, pulling up any weeds that would crowd the tender plants, carefully loosening the dirt around the roots so the sun and rain might penetrate: sometimes enriching the ground with nourishing plant food, sometimes, if the ground were dry, carrying water to the thirsty plants; sometimes placing sup. ports for the frail branches, training them so they would grow strong and straight and beautiful.

And as she grew older she became conversant with the habits and development of the plants. She could tell just when to expect each plant to send forth its beautiful flowers; just how long it took each flower to develop from the little bud, rocked in its cradle by the breeze, into the full-grown blossom, holding up its head to view the world.

She learned of the various parts of the flower-of the petals, which she called the flowers' cheeks; of the stamens.

song of love. One day the girl, now a young woman, found a very beautiful plant in the woods, and very carefully took it up, carried it home and transplanted it in a new bed in her garden. She was very careful to choose a plot of ground that was abundantly supplied with golden sunshine. She carried it water and carefully shaded it during the heat of the day. At first it seemed very happy in its new home and smiled up at every passerby, telling them how much it enjoyed the golden sun and the rain, and how delightful everything and everyone was. But, alas, it soon began to droop and lose its bright smile. The woman could see that it was growing weaker each day, until at last, one morning she found it dead. What could be the trouble? She thought she had provided everything needful for its welfare -all the golden sunshine, rain and shade. But one little thing

the ovaries, wherein grew the little ovules which were to develop into seeds; of the style, which was the little tube leading to the ovary. She learned

of the pollen which contained the fertilizing element, and of how it was carried and deposited in the stigma or opening to the ovary, where it united with the ovules to form the complete life element. She had watched the development of the ovule to the full-grown seed, and then she had watched the develop. ment of the seed in the bosom of Mother Nature until it became the little plant.

Each day she spent many hours with her flowers, watching them as carefully as a mother does her children. Then she would take a walk into the woods for a talk, she said, with her wild children. Indeed, it seemed as though the flowers really knew her, for she it was who always was able to find the rarest and most beautiful blossoms. The butterflies and birds seemed to know her, too, and fluttered around her with touches and

she had forgotten. The soil of garden plot looked so beautiful and rich that she had not taken the precaution to examine it carefully, and in this soil there was a dreadful worm which gnawed at the roots, sapped the vitality of the little plant and finally caused its death. How the woman mourned when it was too late; how she blamed herself for neglecting to find out the condition of the soil. Although she felt so sorry for the death of the plant, strange to believe, she made no attempt to destroy the worm, preferring to leave it there rather than to have anyone know that such a thing had been in her garden. So she was careful not to tell anyone what had destroyed her beautiful plant, and allowed the worm to grow on, to perhaps destroy other plants.

In another part of this garden she transplanted a second very beautiful flower. It grew strong and straight, lifted its beautiful flower face straight up to be kissed by rain and sunshine. The butterflies and bees flitting by stopped to admire it. To all

it gave a merry smile and nod, living each day in happiness, believing that all the world was good and noble. But, alas, one day a bee, stopping for a sip of honey, left on the stigma a germ. This germ worked its way down the style to the ovary; here it gradually developed into a destroying blight which eventually killed the ovules so that they could never develop into the wonderful seeds, and the beautiful little flower could never have any little flower children.

Now this poor little flower had a little sister who was also very beautiful, and who was also so unfortunate as to receive a germ of this blight. But this time the terrible blight did not succeed in entirely destroying the little ovules, and they grew and grew, but, sad to relate, when later they ripened into seeds and then began to develop into little plants, it was found they

were weak and so stunned and twisted in their bodies that they would never be able to lift their eyes up towards the golden sun nor enjoy the wonderful sights around them.

Do you wonder why we tell this simple, childish tale? Listen. It is not simply a story of a little girl's garden. It is a story of human life. The garden is the world, the beautiful flowers are the young girls. The first little flower girl was taken from her protected home life and transplanted to the garden of married life. The golden sunshine and rain were the gold and modern comforts, which the parents were careful to see were provided; the soil was the husband, and the dreadful worm which gnawed at the roots and ruined her health and happiness and finally took her life was one of those dreadful diseases sometimes called the black plagues.

The two beautiful sisters were transplanted into the garden of the busy business world, and the bees and butterflies who admired them were the people of their world. The wicked germ that caused the blight was the other one of these plagues. The ovules it destroyed or maimed were human ovules, and because they were destroyed many women are childless and many children are maimed or blind from birth.

Statistics tell us that over forty per cent of the operations upon women are caused by this terrible blight. It is also estimated that from sixty to seventy per cent of the blindness in the world can be traced to it. With the thousands of deaths and sightless eyes mutely witnessing the ravages of these plagues, we are still allowing them to continue in their path of destruction, a path far wider and longer than that made by any devastating army. If we saw a venomous snake slipping unawares upon its unsuspecting victim would we fail to give the warning because we preferred the victim should not know of the existence of the reptile? No! But we allow innocent girls to pay the penalty of ignorance by their lives because false modesty says they should not know anything about these diseases, and that their very names must be spoken in hushed

tones.

It is a lamentable fact that the majority of women and girls are ignorant of the structure of their most important organs. In the various schools and colleges where physiology is taught, absolutely nothing is mentioned about the reproductive organs. As far as books or instruction are concerned, the girl is ignoant of their very existence. If she knew something of their structure and the harmful results of many practices or acts of carelessness, would she not be better prepared to take the proper care of herself and be more liable to develop into a strong, healthy woman?

If a girl in the business world is intrusted with a delicate piece of machinery she is taught the structure, use and care of it. Why is it not just as necessary that the girl who is intrusted with the care of delicate organisms upon whose condition depends the health of the future generation be instructed regarding the care of these organs? Instead, she is left in absolute ignorance, and then blamed if she mars them.

In one of our prominent colleges for girls a couple of years ago a committee of the students requested the faculty to provide some instruction on this subject, and suggested that it might be given by a woman physican. What did these wise old professors do? Grant their request? No, they absolutely refused, and replied that the young ladies were very immodest to even suggest such a thing. In our schools and colleges the girls are taught all the various ologies. They are taught how plants live, grow and reproduce; under what conditions they attain their greatest development. They are taught about the fertilization of and development of the seed, how the polen is carried and deposited. They dissect the ovary and learn of the conditions necessary to the development of the ovum. In zoology classes they are taught the life history of animals. They

learn of the various modes of reproduction from the lowest to the highest forms of animal life. But when it comes to the reproduction of the human species the books are strangely silent. It is appalling, the ignorance among even married women regarding the anatomy of their bodies.

A girl upon marriage is expected to learn many things by instinct. When she is intrusted with the care of her first born she is expected to know how to care for it; but does she? The other day a highly educated young matron wrote me: "What shall I do for my baby?" She then described its condition, but finished by saying: "I know as much about the care of a baby as a six-year-old." She had been educated along the usual lines and now finds herself living on a western ranch with no one near competent to advise her or share the responsibility of caring for a small baby. The fear that she might, in her ignorance, do something wrong has worried her until she is on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

Is the future generation of the human race not of as much account as the future generation of animals and plants? Why is it any more imodest to learn how to care for the human babies than for the flower babies? Is it not time the American woman rose up in her might, planned and carried on a crusade against ignorance, welcoming the weapon knowledge, with which these plagues that threaten their lives and the lives of their children can be subdued?

Must the News Boy Go?

Distributing companies are being formed for the purpose of manufacturing automatic vending devices for the sale of newspapers. These slot machines will evidently be placed on public corners throughout the city and street cars as well. They will be regulated both for penny and two-cent papers, as well as giving you change for a nickle, automatically with the paper. should you deposit a nickle instead of the correct change.

Should these automatic slot machines for distributing newspapers close contracts with the large metropolitan papers, it would mean the end of that little chap that greets you with a smile and furnishes you with your paper, morning and evening. He would be compelled to seek elsewhere for a means of livelihood, and it is very questionable as to what he could do to make as much money as he is now able to at selling papers. Those who are interested in the little street arab know quite well that

many of them are the whole support of their families, who would doubtless be thrown upon the mercies of others should the machine come into vogue. Many of the little grimy youngsters in our larger cities make as high as three dolllars per day. some even more. This means getting up at six in the morning in order to handle the morning edition, and oftimes working until ten o'clock at night with the last sporting editions. New York and Chicago boys are selling papers on the streets long after midnight, catching a few hours sleep between then and dawn. While these machines are of a modern aspect, and would nndoubtedly save the publishing corporations a vast amount ! nicney, we still are of the opinion that public sentiment should be with the little chap who braves the weather and hustles.

By "young delinquents” and “children and adolescents," penal minors are meant. In France, since the law of April 12, 1906, penal minority, which was formerly up to the age of 16, is now extended to the age of 18. The term "procedure" must not be taken too strictly. It is not only the form of prosecution, of examination, of discussion and decision, which are to be considered. The character and choice of the magistrates who are to deal with juvenile offenders, their competence, their manner of procedure, the provisional measures to be adopted while waiting decision, are doubtless intended to be included in this study. But there are other things to be thought of. Are you convinced that in general, when it is a question of a minor, that it is not so much the act alone which has to be considered, but the act as it is an index revealing the tendency and the conditions of life of the one who has committed it? Have you thought that greater social security, as well as the social duty toward the child, demands measures that will preserve him from growing worse, and to reform him morally and physically, often by changing his environment? Do you appreciate that that is the true way, rather than a system of penal measures? If you have considered all these things you will have seen that "procedure" can not be identical for the different ages even of minors.

I. Let us recall the chief essenials of French legislation in regard to this subject.

1. Prosecution and examination are entrusted to the same magistrates and subject to the same legal rules for minors of all ages as for adults.

2. Minors of all ages are subject to the same legal provisions touching detention and provisional release, except that juvenile criminals are kept apart, in separate quarters.

3. The custody of a child may be entrusted to a relative, or a charitable institution, till the judicial decision is given, provided he is less than sixteen.

4. If the act ascribed to a minor is a misdemeanor (delit) the tribunal is the same as for adults, no matter what the age of the minor (le tribunal correctionel).

5. If the act is a felony (crime) and if the minor is less than sixteen, it is still the tribunal correctionel which is competent to take charge of the case, unless the minor had accomplices older than himself, or unless he is charged with a crime punishable by death, or imprisonment at hard labor, or deportation. In these exceptional cases it is the cour d'assises.

6. The rules regulating publicity are the same for minors of all ages as for adults.

7. Whatever the age of the minor, up to eighteen, the court, or the jury, must deicde whether the said minor has acted with or without discretion.

There has been an evolution in legislation in these subjects outside of France. The limit of criminal minority varies from seven in Russia to 15 in Sweden. Several countries have organized special courts for juveniles. Within ten years we have seen a change in this direction, as for example in Denmark, Norway, Germany, Austria, Holland and in the Swiss cantons. Under different names and differently organized there are in these countries chambers or courts of guardianship, generally of a civil order, though having disciplinary power in some cases. They are destined in some states to replace parental authority, to look after juvenile delinquents and morally abandoned children. The Holland law, for example, differs from the Danish:

In Holland it is rather for the protection of childhood, without jurisdiction over juvenile crime. In Denmark it has three degrees of jurisdiction: With regard to juvenile offenders under 14 who are not prosecuted before the court they have paternal powers, pronouncing no sentences; for older children they act as aids to the court; for all juvenile and morally abandoned offenders they have the right of guardianship.

May we not here pay our respects, which is their due, to the American children's courts? Without forgetting the part played by Australia in the starting of juvenile courts, it is just to give the principal honor to the United States for them. The late and deeply mourned Samuel J. Barrows, wrote proudly in 1904: "If one asks what thing marks the greatest progress in the United States in the last five years in judicial methods and principles, one would reply without hesitation: The creation of courts for children." It is not to a congress gathered in Washington, at the gracious invitation of the federal government of the great republic, that we could try to describe the children's courts of the United States, nor to tell their history. There is nothing better on the subject than the excellent account of it given by Mr. Barrows himself in 1904: "Children's courts in the United States, their origin, development and results," and for the spread of ideas in France relative to this institution, the remarkable work published by Edouard Julhiet (Arthur Rousseau 1906). Nor would we forget the studies of the accomplished Miss Lucy Bartlett.

Since 1899, twenty-four states have adopted the institution on which Judge Tuthill of Chicago and Judge Lindsey of Denver have put their imperishable imprint.

The children's court has jurisdiction over minors up to the age of 16, rarely to the age of 18. A special Judge presides over them. The audience is limited. The court room is apart from the general court room. The magistrate sits near the child. No one is admitted except those duly authorized. There is no technical procedure. The forms are reduced to the greatest simplicity. The magistrate conducts the investigation and makes the decision, always with the idea of finding the best method of dealing with the case, whether by probation or by reformatory discipline.

The organization of children's courts is completed by the appointment of probation officers. The two are inseparable. The probation officers may be benevolent citizens, men or women, paid or unpaid, or they may be public officials. They secure the information about the child, his family, and his surroundings. The importance of their service does not need to be demonstrated. Partial adoption of these methods has been made in England, Scotland, Ireland, Germany, and Italy as well as in the Swiss canton. But the partisans of reform in regard to proposed legislation are divided. One side, jealous guardians of tradition, prefer amendments to existing laws rather than reform legislation. They believe in having magistrates who understand the cases of minors, for juveniles, but that they should in all cases be the ordinary trial judges and magistrates of repressive courts. Even for very young children they reject special magistrates and whatever the age of the accused they believe in entire publicity. They recognize the danger, but think the police powers of the presiding officer are sufgers, but think the police powers of the presiding officer are sufficient to ward them off.

The other side, without dreaming of overthrowing existing judicial institutions are less opposed to important changes. They do not think that identical rules can be applied to all juveniles. The forms of justice do not seem to them forms that can not be touched. Struck by the grave effects of the mixed audience, even in cases where children above twelve are concerned, they do not hesitate to suggest restricting the audiences, at the hearings, on condition that justice shall be secured by useful assistants and witnesses, whose presence is a guaranty for the judges as well as for the defendant. In a general way they believe that what is demanded is not less dignity, but more simplicity. Frequent discussions of this subject have taken place in the Société générale des Prisons. in the Comité dé défense des enfants traduits en justice, in the Congrès de patronage, in the Conseil supérieur des prisons, etc. With reference to these subjects one may read with profit the luminous work on "Les Procedures d'information relatives aux mineurs," by M. le Casabianca,

The bill proposed by the Conseil Supérieur des Prisons in 1909, must be mentioned here. It deals with all juvenile offenders under the age of 18. In this is laid down the principle that no child under twelve who is held to be guilty of breaking the law should go before a repressive court. He is to be transferred by the public minister to a new and special court that shall take charge of the case, and if found guilty, measures of security of surveillance, of discipline, and of such assistance as may be necessary, are to be under this court. The accused is to be held for safety wherever the magistrate may direct, under the provisions of the bill, but never in a prison. But these are only negative provisions. It is further necessary to verify the facts about the child, to learn all that is possible about him, and to take measures for his interest and for the interest of society, often measures of long duration; to follow up the carrying out of these measures and to modify them when there is need. To cary out this complex program an organ is necessary. What organ? A court, or magistracy, at the same time social and paternal (familial) which will watch over the child without the interference of any other jurisdiction.

Various suggestions were made in discussion, but the majority of the Conseil supérieur preferred to place the jurisdiction in the hands of a single judge, that responsibility might be concentrated. He is to be called the family adviser (Conseil familtal). Without giving the details we may sketch this portion of the bill.

The Conseil familial is to be aided by an indefinite number of deputies, men and women, for all that concerns. not the decisions, but the surveillance and care of the children. They should also aid in the inquiries about cases of children from 12 to 18 years of age. They are to be, in short, American probation officers in French dress.

In everything concerning children under twelve the Conseil familial would investigate and decide. His own investigations should be supplemented by physical examinations by a physician. The child and the parents may have counsel. The trial is not public. Magistrates, delegates from the Conseil, members of the societies of guardianship and relief societies, admitted by him, may be present. Appeal may be made to the minister against any decisions of the Conseil. These might arise in case of putting the child out of the custody of the family without their consent, or charging the whole or part of the maintenance of the child on the family.

None of the measures taken having anything of the nature of a penalty or condemnation, the question of "discernment" does not come up. The state attorney (procureur) of the republic is charged with the responsibility of seeing that the decisions of the Conseil are executed.

Youth between the ages of 12 and 18 would continue to be brought before the repressive judge (criminal court). They may

be held for detention in a prison, but in separate quarters. They may be released under surveillance.

Conclusions. I. Juvenile offenders ought to be submitted to a different régime from that applicable to adults. The knowledge of the psychology of juvenile delinquency, of the condition of existence of the duty of society in the protection, correction and reformation of children and youth; of the need of society to protect itself from juvenile crime, shows that there should be a different method for treating youthful offenders.

II. The little child who has been accused of breaking the law before he has reached the age of twelve, ought not to be brought before the criminal court, nor submitted to criminal procedure nor even brought before a so-called judge. He should be brought before an authority competent to verify the facts, to investigate his usual conduct, his education, his surroundings, and if necessary to take means for taking care of him, watching over his education, and giving such training, discipline and aid as may be needed according to the circumstances of the case. III. This principle granted, it does not permit identical modes of application for all ages included in the period of penal minority.

IV. This important work requires a special magistracy, which without being a tribunal, should advise and decide with regard to juvenile delinquents under twelve years of age. There may be, however, difference of opinion as to the name to give to this court and as to its organization; whether the power shall rest in one, two or several persons, or in a select council, where the judicial element should always be represented, but should not be the only representant.

V. This court, which should be under the public minister, should act for the good of the helpless as well as for the safety of society, and the forms of procedure should be simple. The hearings should not be public, but public authorities should be represented, and independent persons known to be interested in childhood may attend. The decisions, which may always be modified under certain conditions, may be appealed. Families may have right of appeal in certain cases and to the minister in all cases.

VI. This court, whatever the mode of its organization, ought not only to give descisions, but to make investigations, to exercise the power of probation, and release under surveillance, acting as a central office, with deputies of both sexes analogous to American probation officers.

VII. It will always be necessary to have the custody of the child under twelve. Suitable means of guarding and caring for him ought to be put at the disposal of the magistracy. But detention in a prison should not be allowed on account of its corrupting effect on a child if in contact with other prisoners, and as too severe if placed in solitary confinement.

VIII. Juveniles accused of crime, after the age of twelve, should be prosecuted before the criminal court, but always after examination.

IX. In regard to these cases the authorities having the power to examine and sentence, should, without going beyond the limit of the existing judiciary, as far as possible be specialized. In France, for example, there should still be trial justices (Juges d'instruction) and criminal courts (tribunaux correctionnels), but under the following conditions:

X. Everywhere where there are already, or where they might be created, several trial judges, one or several of them should be specially charged to be the permanent examiners of these juvenile cases.

XI. Wherever it is possible there should be in these tribunals a special chamber for the hearing. If that is impossible the hearing should at least be by itself.

XII. The criminal court thus constituted should have competence not only in dealing with misdemeanors, but with felonies (crimes).