RELATION OF STREET WORK TO DELINQUENCY
The most convincing proof so far adduced to show that delinquency is a
common result of street work is set forth in the volume on "Juvenile
Delinquency and its Relation to Employment,"[111] being part of the
Report on the Condition of Woman and Child Wage Earners in the United
States, prepared under the direction of Dr. Charles P. Neill, United
States Commissioner of Labor, in response to an act of Congress in
1907 authorizing the study. The object of this official inquiry into
the subject of juvenile delinquency was to discover what connection
exists between delinquency and occupation or non-occupation, giving
due consideration to other factors such as the character of the
child's family, its home and environment. This study is based upon the
records of the juvenile courts of Indianapolis, Baltimore, New York,
Boston, Newark, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, showing cases of
delinquency of children sixteen years of age or younger coming before
these courts during the year 1907-1908. The total number of
delinquents included in the study is 4839, of whom 2767 had at some
time been employed and 2072 had never been employed. The entire number
of offenses recorded for all the delinquents was 8797, the working
children being responsible for 5471 offenses, or 62.2 per cent, while
the non-working children were responsible for 3326 offenses, of 37.8
per cent. This shows that most juvenile offenses are committed by
working children. The ages of the children committing the offenses
recorded, ranged from six to sixteen years, and the report adds, "When
it is remembered that a majority, and presumably a large majority, of
all the children between these ages are not working, this
preponderance of offenses among the workers assumes impressive
proportions."[112]
With reference to the character of the offenses it was found that the
working children inclined to the more serious kinds. Recidivists were
found to be far more numerous among the workers than among the
non-workers. Summing up the results of the discussion to this point
the report says: "It is found that the working children contribute to
the ranks of delinquency a slightly larger number and a much larger
proportion than do the non-workers, that this excess appears in
offenses of every kind, whether trivial or serious, and among
recidivists even more markedly than among first offenders."[113]
With reference to the connection between recidivism and street work
the report says: "The proportion of recidivism is also large among
those who are working while attending school, and the numbers here are
very much larger than one would wish to see. Some part of the
recidivism here is undoubtedly due to the kind of occupations which a
child can carry on while attending school. Selling newspapers and
blacking shoes, acting as errand or delivery boy, peddling and working
about amusement resorts account for over two-thirds of these boys
(478 of the 664 are in one or another of these pursuits). These are
all occupations in which the chances of going wrong are numerous,
involving as they usually do night work, irregular hours, dubious or
actively harmful associations and frequent temptations to dishonesty.
In addition, something may perhaps be attributed to the overstrain due
to the attempt to combine school and work. When a child of 13, a
bootblack, is 'often on the street to 12 P.M.,' or when a boy one year
older works six hours daily outside of school time, 'often at night,'
as a telegraph messenger, it is evident that his school work is not
the only thing which is likely to suffer from the excessive strain
upon the immature strength, and from the character of his
occupation."[114]
While reflecting on the excess of working children among the
delinquents, one may be inclined to attribute this to bad home
influences; but the report shows that only one-fifth of the workers as
opposed to nearly one-third of the non-workers come from distinctly
bad homes, while from fair and good homes the proportion is
approximately 76 per cent to 65 per cent. Consequently, the working
child goes wrong more frequently than the non-working child in spite
of his more favorable home surroundings.[115]
Of the total number of delinquent boys, both working and non-working,
under twelve years of age, 22.4 per cent were workers, while of those
twelve to thirteen years old, 42.4 per cent were workers, and of those
fourteen to sixteen years old, 80.8 per cent were workers. As
comparatively few children under twelve years are at work, the fact
that more than one-fifth of the delinquent boys in this age group are
working children "becomes exceedingly significant." Of all children
twelve to thirteen years of age, the great majority are not employed
because of the fourteen-year age limit prevailing in all the states
studied except Maryland; hence the larger proportion of working
offenders cannot be explained by the influences of age. The increase
of working delinquents above fourteen years is to be expected, because
so many children go to work on reaching that age.
Remembering that the proportionate excess of workers varies from two
to nine times the ratio of non-workers, it is evident that this excess
cannot be explained by a corresponding excess of orphanage, foreign
parentage, bad home conditions or unfavorable age. As the report says,
"It seems rather difficult to escape the conclusion that being at work
has something to do with their going wrong."[116]
The strongest argument against street work by children is to be found
in the following table[117] of occupations pursued by the largest
number of delinquents and giving the percentage of total delinquents
engaged in each.
As the report says, the following classification shows that the
largest number of delinquent boys were found in those occupations in
which the nature of the employment does not permit of supervision--namely,
newspaper selling, errand running, delivery service and messenger
service. Boys engaged in these occupations, together with bootblacks
and peddlers, all work under conditions "which bring them into
continual temptations to dishonesty and to other offenses."[118]
====================================================================
| PER CENT | |PER CENT
BOYS | OF | GIRLS | OF
| TOTAL | | TOTAL
Industry or Occupation |DELINQUENT|Industry or Occupation|DELINQUENT
| BOYS | | GIRLS
-----------------------+----------+----------------------+----------
Newsboys | 21.83 | Domestic service: |
Errand boys | 17.80 | Servant in private |
Drivers and helpers, | | house | 32.18
wagon | 7.30 | In hotel, restaurant |
Stores and markets | 4.23 | or boarding house | 5.44
Messengers, telegraph | 2.59 | Home workers | 16.33
Iron and steel | | Total in domestic |----------
Iron and steel | 1.84 | service | 53.95
Textiles, hosiery and | | |
knit goods | 1.84 | Textiles, hosiery and|
Bootblacks | 1.77 | knit goods | 12.36
Peddlers | 1.71 | Stores and markets | 5.44
Building trades | 1.64 | Clothing makers | 4.95
Theater | 1.57 | Candy and |
Office boys | 1.43 | confectionery | 4.45
Glass | 1.30 | Laundry | 1.98
====================================================================
The offenses with which the boys were charged are divided in the
report into sixteen classes. The messenger service furnishes the
largest proportionate number of offenders charged with "assault and
battery" and "immoral conduct"; the delivery service those charged
with "burglary"; bootblacking those charged with "craps and gambling,"
"incorrigibility and truancy"; peddling those with "larceny and
runaway," and "vagrancy or runaway." The report calls attention to the
greater tendency of messengers to immorality, and remarks that it is
easy to see a connection between bootblacking and the offenses in
which bootblacks lead. The report continues: "It is worthy to note
that neither the newsboys nor errand boys, both following pursuits
looked upon with disfavor, are found as contributing a _leading_
proportion of any one offense. They seem to maintain what might be
called a high general level of delinquency rather than to lead in any
particular direction, errand boys being found in fourteen and newsboys
in fifteen of the sixteen separate offense groups."[119]
For the purpose of clearly defining the connection between occupation
and delinquency, and determining whether the delinquency inheres in
the occupation or in the conditions under which it is carried on,
there were selected six kinds of employments which are generally
looked upon by social workers as morally unsafe for children, and a
comparison was made of conditions as to the parentage, home
surroundings, etc., prevailing among the workers in these occupations,
the working delinquents generally, and the whole body of delinquents,
both working and non-working. Of the delinquent boys under twelve
years engaged in these six groups of employments (delivery and errand
boys, newsboys and bootblacks, office boys, street vendors, telegraph
messengers and in amusement resorts), nearly three-fourths were found
to be newsboys and bootblacks. As four-fifths of the working
delinquents under twelve years of age in all occupations are found in
these six groups, it is evident that this class is largely responsible
for the employment of young boys, and "comparing these figures with
those for the working delinquents in all occupations we find that 58.6
per cent, or nearly three-fifths of all the working delinquents up to
twelve, come from among the newsboys."[120]
It was found that 54.6 per cent of all the working delinquents had
both parents living, while newsboys and bootblacks, street vendors and
telegraph messengers were found to be more fortunate in this respect
than the great mass of working delinquents, even surpassing the whole
body of delinquents, working and non-working. As the report says, "One
so frequently hears of the newsboy who has no one but himself to look
to that it is rather a surprise to find that the orphaned or deserted
child appears among them only about half as often relatively as among
the whole group of workers."[121]
Of the delinquent delivery and errand boys, 78.9 per cent were found
to have fair or good homes, of the newsboys and bootblacks 75.8 per
cent, of the street vendors 65 per cent, and of the telegraph
messengers 78.9 per cent, and in this connection the report declares,
"Certainly the predominance of these selected occupations among the
employments of delinquents cannot be explained by the home conditions
of the children entering them."[122]
The findings with respect to the messenger service fully corroborate
the charges brought against it by the National Child Labor Committee.
The report says: "Turning to the messengers, it is seen that they are
in every respect above the average of favorable conditions. Moreover,
it is well known that boys taking up this work must be bright and
quick; there is no room in it for the dull and mentally weak. Plainly,
then, in this case the occupation, not the kind of children who enter
it, must be held responsible for its position among the pursuits from
which delinquents come ... the chief charges brought against it are
that the irregular work and night employment tend to break down
health, that the opportunities for overcharge and for appropriating
packages or parts of their contents lead to dishonesty, and that the
places to which the boy is sent familiarize him with all forms of vice
and tend to lead him into immorality."[123] Referring again to the
messenger service, the report says: "The unfortunate effects of the
inherent conditions of the work are, however, manifest. Its
irregularity, the lack of any supervision during a considerable part
of the time, the associations of the street and of the places to which
messengers are sent, and the frequency of night work with all its
demoralizing features, afford an explanation of the impatience of
restraint, the reckless yielding to impulse shown in the large
percentage of incorrigibility and disorderly conduct. A glance at the
main table shows that the two offenses next in order are assault and
battery and malicious mischief, both of which indicate the same
traits. On the whole, there seems abundant reason for considering that
the messenger service deserves its bad name."[124]
With reference to errand and delivery boys, the report finds that as
the level of favorable conditions keeps so near to the average, it
seems necessary to attribute the number of delinquents furnished by
this class more to the conditions of the work than to the kind of
children taking it up.
The occupational influences of amusement resorts, street vending and
newspaper selling "are notoriously bad, but a partial explanation of
the number of delinquents they furnish is unquestionably in the kind
of children who enter them. It is a case of action and reaction. These
occupations are easily taken up by immature children, with little or
no education and no preliminary training. Such children are least
likely to resist evil influences, most likely to yield to all that is
bad in their environment."[125]
Having shown that a connection can be traced between certain
occupations and the number and kind of offenses committed by the
children working in them, the report next determines to what extent a
direct connection can be traced between occupation and offense. If a
working child commits an offense, first, during working hours, second,
in some place to which his work calls him, and third, against some
person with whom his work brings him in contact, a connection may be
said to exist between the misdemeanor and the employment. The report
insists that either all three of the connection elements must be
present, or else the offense must be very clearly the outcome of
conditions related to the work, before a connection can be asserted;
and it reminds the reader that the number of connection cases shown
represents an understatement, probably to a considerable degree, of
the real situation. The number of boy delinquents in occupations which
show more than five cases of delinquency chargeable to occupation was
found to be 308; of these, 100 were errand or delivery boys, 129 were
newsboys, 16 were drivers or helpers, 13 were street vendors and 10
were messengers.
The number of boy delinquents working at time of last offense and the
number whose offenses show a connection with the occupation are
compared, by occupation, in the following table,[126] p. 173.
"Among the errand and delivery boys the percentage (of connection
cases) is large and the connection close. Larceny accounts for over
nine-tenths of these cases, the larceny usually being from the
employer when the boy was sent out with goods, though in some cases
it was from the house to which the boy was sent. It will be remembered
that in respect to parental and home condition, age, etc., the
delinquent errand boys came very close to the average, and their
antecedents gave no reason to expect they would go wrong so
numerously. That fact, together with the large proportion of
connection cases, seems to indicate that the occupation is distinctly
a dangerous one morally."[130]
========================+=============+========================
| | BOY DELINQUENTS WHOSE
| | OFFENSES SHOW A
| BOY | CONNECTION WITH
| DELINQUENTS | OCCUPATION
| WORKING AT +--------+---------------
OCCUPATION OR INDUSTRY | TIME OF | | Per Cent
| LAST | | of Boy
| OFFENSE | Number | Delinquents
| | | in Occupation
| | | Working
------------------------+-------------+--------+---------------
In amusement resorts | 40[127] | 7 | 17.5
Domestic service | 50[128] | 14 | 28.0
Driver or helper | 107 | 16 | 14.9
Errand or delivery boys | 261 | 100 | 38.3
Iron and steel workers | 27 | 7 | 25.9
Messengers | 38 | 10 | 26.3
Newsboys and bootblacks | 346[129] | 129 | 37.2
Street vendors | 25 | 13 | 52.0
Stores and markets | 62 | 12 | 19.3
========================+=============+========+===============
As the various forms of immorality are practiced in secret, the report
truly says that the evils which are most associated with a messenger's
life could hardly appear in these studies. "A trace of them is found
in the case of one boy sentenced for larceny. After his arrest it was
found that he was a confirmed user of cocaine, having acquired the
habit in the disreputable houses to which his work took him. Perhaps
something of the same kind is indicated by the fact that one of the
few cases of drunkenness occurring among working delinquents came, as
a connection case, from this small group of messengers. For the most
part, however, the connection offenses (by messengers) were some form
of dishonesty, usually appropriating parcels sent out for delivery,
though in some cases collecting charges on prepaid packages was added
to this."[131]
The newsboys almost equal the errand boys in their percentage of
connection cases, though their offenses have a much wider range; in
fact, the connection cases for newsboys include a greater variety of
offenses than any other occupation studied. Beggary appears for the
first time, there being two cases, in both of which the selling of
papers was a mere pretext, enabling the boys to approach passers-by.
Street vendors were found to show the highest percentage of connection
cases, larceny being the leading offense.
The report concludes: "It is a striking fact that in spite of the
incompleteness of the data, a direct connection between the occupation
and the offense has been found to exist in the cases of practically
one-fourth of the boys employed at the time of their latest offense.
It is also a striking fact that while the delinquent boys working at
the time of their latest offense were scattered through more than
fifty occupations, over six-sevenths of the connection cases are found
among those working in street occupations, and that more than
three-fifths come from two groups of workers--the errand or delivery
boys, and the newsboys and bootblacks. It is also significant that the
connection cases form so large a percentage of the total cases among
the street traders, the messengers, and the errand or delivery boys,
their proportion ranging from over one-fourth to over one-half,
according to the occupation."[132]
In considering the effect of night work upon the morals of children,
the report says, "The messengers and newsboys show both large numbers
and large percentages of night work, thus giving additional ground for
the general opinion as to the undesirable character of their work";
and again, "In the following occupations the cases of night work are
more numerous than they should be in proportion to the number ever
employed in these pursuits: bootblacks, bowling alley and pool room,
glass, hotel, messengers, newsboys and theaters and other amusement
resorts."[133]
More than one-fourth of the working boy delinquents were found to be
attending day school. More than half of these pupils were newsboys and
bootblacks. It was found that the more youthful the worker, the
stronger is his tendency toward irregular attendance at school.
Eighty-three boy delinquents were devoting eleven or more hours per
day to work, and of these, 31 were errand or delivery boys, 7 were
hucksters or peddlers, 6 were messengers and 2 were newsboys or
bootblacks.
"For both sexes, the workers show a greater tendency than the
non-workers to go wrong, even where home and neighborhood surroundings
appear favorable, but this tendency is not so marked among the girls
as among the boys."[134]
This report of the government investigation furnishes most conclusive
evidence as to the evil character of street trading in general. It
bears out the description so aptly made by a recent writer: "The
streets are the proverbial schools of vice and crime. If the factory
is the Scylla, the street is the Charybdis."[135]
Another American writer has lately declared: "A prolific cause of
juvenile delinquency is the influence of the street trades on the
working boy. No other form of work has such demoralizing
consequences.... These boys are brought into the juvenile court, and
their misdemeanors are often so great that reformatory treatment is
necessary for them. Accordingly they represent a large proportion of
the boys in the different institutions. The demoralization produced by
the street trades affects others than those engaged in such trades,
but the latter are the chief sufferers; therefore the importance of
legislation which will shut off this source of infection."[136]
A Chicago physician took occasion to look into the records of the
juvenile court of that city in 1909, and found that the first 100 boys
and 25 girls examined that year were representative of the 2500
delinquents brought into the court during the preceding year. Not less
than 57 of these boys had been engaged in street work--43 as newsboys,
12 as errand boys and messengers and 2 as peddlers. Only 13 out of the
entire number had never been employed. Sixty of them were physically
subnormal; the general physical condition of the girls was found to be
much better than that of the boys of the same age, although 40 per
cent of the girls were suffering from acquired venereal disease.[137]
In the autumn of 1910 there were 647 boys confined in the Indiana
state reformatory, which is known as the Indiana Boys' School, at
Plainfield. Of this number 219, or 33.8 per cent, had formerly been
engaged in street work. To determine the relative delinquency of
street workers and boys who have never pursued such occupations, it
would be necessary to compare these 219 delinquents with the total
number of street workers in Indiana and also to compare the total
number of inmates who had never followed street occupations with the
total number of boys within the same age limits in Indiana. A
comparison of the two percentages would be illuminating, but is
impossible because it is not known how many street workers there are
in the state. However, it is safe to assume that the number of
street-working boys in Indiana is much less than one third of the
total number of boys. If we accept this as true, then the figures
indicate that street work promotes delinquency, because one third of
all the delinquents in the state reformatory had been so engaged. The
frequent assertion that, merely because a large percentage of the
inmates of correctional institutions were at some time engaged in
street work, such employment is therefore responsible for their
delinquency, cannot be accepted alone as proof of the injurious
character of this class of occupations, as it is not known how long
each offender was engaged in such work, nor are the other causes
contributing to the delinquency of each boy properly considered or
even known. This defect is avoided in the government's Report on
Juvenile Delinquency and its Relation to Employment, which, with
reference to the common practice of jumping at conclusions in this
way, says, "This appears to show that selling newspapers is a morally
dangerous occupation, but the danger cannot be measured, since it is
not known what proportion of the working children are newsboys, or
what proportion of the newsboys never come to grief."[138] The
following tables are of interest as showing in detail the facts as to
Indiana's delinquent boy street workers, who are confined in the state
reformatory:--
STREET WORKERS IN INDIANA BOYS' SCHOOL, 1910
_Table A. Distribution among Street Occupations_
==============+============+=====+======+=====+========+======+=====
COMMITTED FOR | MESSENGERS |NEWS-|BOOT- |PEDD-|DELIVERY|CAB |TOTAL
| |BOYS |BLACKS|LERS |BOYS |DRIVER|
+-----+------+ | | | | |
| Day |Night | | | | | |
--------------+-----+------+-----+------+-----+--------+------+-----
Larceny | 3 | 22 | 88 | 3 | 6 | 3 | | 125
Incorrigi- | | | | | | | |
bility | | 5 | 30 | 1 | 3 | | 1 | 40
Truancy | | 2 | 27 | | 3 | | | 32
Assault | | | | | | | |
and battery | | 2 | 5 | 1 | | | | 8
Burglary | | 1 | | | | 2 | | 3
Forgery | | 2 | | | | | | 2
Manslaughter | | | 1 | | | | | 1
Other charges | 1 | 2 | 5 | | | | | 8
--------------+-----+------+-----+------+-----+--------+------+-----
Totals | 4 | 36 | 156 | 5 | 12 | 5 | 1 | 219
==============+=====+======+=====+======+=====+========+======+=====
_Table B. Ages when at Work at these Occupations_
==================+=======+====+====+====+====+====+====+====+========
| UNDER | | | | | | | |
| 10 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | TOTALS
------------------+-------+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+--------
Day messengers | | | | 1 | 1 | 2 | | | 4
Night messengers | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 12 | 11 | 3 | | 36
Newsboys | 29 | 29 | 28 | 36 | 19 | 14 | 1 | | 156
Bootblacks | 3 | | 1 | | 1 | | | | 5
Peddlers | 1 | 4 | | 2 | 3 | 1 | | 1 | 12
Delivery boys | | 2 | | 1 | 1 | | | 1 | 5
Cab drivers | | | | | 1 | | | | 1
------------------+-------+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+--------
Totals | 34 | 37 | 31 | 45 | 38 | 28 | 4 | 2 | 219
==================+=======+====+====+====+====+====+====+====+========
_Table C. Ages at Time of Commitment_
================+=======+===+====+====+====+====+====+====+====+====+======
| UNDER | | | | | | | | | |
COMMITTED FOR | 9 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | Total
----------------+-------+---+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+------
Larceny | 1 | 2 | 8 | 16 | 16 | 24 | 28 | 19 | 10 | 1 | 125
Incorrigibility | | 1 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 | | 40
Truancy | | 2 | 3 | 6 | 4 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 1 | | 32
Assault and | | | | | | | | | | |
battery | | | | | 1 | 1 | 5 | 1 | | | 8
Burglary | | | | | | | 2 | | | 1 | 3
Forgery | | | | | | | 1 | 1 | | | 2
Manslaughter | | | | | | | 1 | | | | 1
Other charges | | | | | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | | | 8
----------------+-------+---+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+------
Totals | 1 | 5 | 15 | 26 | 26 | 40 | 52 | 33 | 19 | 2 | 219
================+=======+===+====+====+====+====+====+====+====+====+======
_Table D. Nationality and Orphanage of Street Workers_
OCCUPATIONS
+--------------------------------------- Day messengers
| +--------------------------------- Night messengers
| | +--------------------------- Newsboys
| | | +--------------------- Bootblacks
| | | | +--------------- Peddlers
| | | | | +--------- Delivery boys
| | | | | | +--- Cab driver
| | | | | | |
V V V V V V V Totals
===============+=====+=====+=====+=====+=====+=====+=====+=======
AMERICAN | 3 | 25 | 69 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 110
NEGRO | | 5 | 59 | 1 | 2 | 3 | | 70
GERMAN | | 3 | 13 | | 1 | | | 17
IRISH | | 1 | 8 | | 1 | | | 10
POLISH | 1 | 1 | 3 | | 1 | | | 6
FRENCH | | | 2 | | 1 | | | 3
SCOTCH | | 1 | | | | | | 1
ITALIAN | | | 1 | | | | | 1
JEWISH | | | 1 | | | | | 1
---------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-------
FATHER | Yes | 4 | 30 | 107 | 5 | 7 | 4 | | 157
LIVING | No | | 6 | 49 | | 5 | 1 | 1 | 62
---------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-------
MOTHER | Yes | 3 | 30 | 119 | 5 | 11 | 5 | 1 | 174
LIVING | No | 1 | 6 | 37 | | 1 | | | 45
=========+=====+=====+=====+=====+=====+=====+=====+=====+=======
_Table E. Hours and Earnings of Street Workers_
(In only 91 cases were the hours given, and earnings in only 116
cases.)
OCCUPATIONS
+-------------------------------- Day messengers
| +--------------------------- Night messengers
| | +---------------------- Newsboys
| | | +----------------- Bootblacks
| | | | +------------ Peddlers
| | | | | +------- Delivery boys
| | | | | | +-- Cab driver
| | | | | | |
V V V V V V V Totals
====================+====+====+====+====+====+====+====+=======
HOURS | | | | | | | |
Day | | | | | | | |
All | 3 | | 29 | 5 | 11 | 5 | | 53
Morning | | | 10 | | | | | 10
Afternoon | | | 11 | | | | | 11
--------------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+-------
Night | | | | | | | |
All | | 6 | 1 | | | | | 7
Before midnight | | 2 | 4 | | 1 | | 1 | 8
After midnight | | 1 | 1 | | | | | 2
Totals | 3 | 9 | 56 | 5 | 12 | 5 | 1 | 91
====================+====+====+====+====+====+====+====+=======
DAILY EARNINGS | | | | | | | |
Under 50 cents | 1 | | 47 | 1 | 6 | | | 55
50-75 cents | 1 | 8 | 23 | 3 | 3 | 3 | | 41
75 cents-$1.00 | 1 | 4 | 5 | | 3 | 2 | 1 | 16
$1.25-$1.50 | | 1 | 3 | | | | | 4
Totals | 3 | 13 | 78 | 4 | 12 | 5 | 1 | 116
====================+====+====+====+====+====+====+====+=======
_Table F. Non-Street Workers in Indiana Boys' School, 1910_
COMMITTED FOR
+--------------------------------- Larceny
| +--------------------------- Truancy
| | +--------------------- Incorrigibility
| | | +--------------- Burglary
| | | | +--------- Assault and battery
| | | | | +--- Other charges
| | | | | |
V V V V V V Totals
===============+=====+=====+=====+=====+=====+=====+=======
AMERICAN | 156 | 66 | 53 | 5 | 2 | 11 | 293
NEGRO | 40 | 10 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 65
GERMAN | 12 | 4 | 4 | | 1 | 2 | 23
IRISH | 7 | 3 | 5 | | 1 | 1 | 17
POLISH | 10 | 3 | 3 | | | | 16
ENGLISH | 3 | | 1 | 1 | | | 5
JEWISH | 1 | | 1 | | | | 2
SWEDISH | | | 1 | | | | 1
FRENCH | 2 | | | | | | 2
MEXICAN | 1 | | | | | | 1
ITALIAN | 1 | | | 1 | | | 2
HUNGARIAN | 1 | | | | | | 1
---------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-------
TOTALS | 234 | 86 | 75 | 8 | 6 | 19 | 428
---------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-------
FATHER | Yes | 168 | 62 | 44 | 6 | 3 | 15 | 298
LIVING | No | 66 | 24 | 31 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 130
---------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-------
MOTHER | Yes | 182 | 62 | 50 | 7 | 5 | 17 | 323
LIVING | No | 52 | 24 | 25 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 105
=========+=====+=====+=====+=====+=====+=====+=====+=======
_Table G. Non-Street Workers in Indiana Boys' School, 1910_
COMMITTED FOR
+--------------------------------- Larceny
| +--------------------------- Truancy
| | +--------------------- Incorrigibility
| | | +--------------- Burglary
| | | | +--------- Assault and battery
| | | | | +--- Other charges
AGES AT | | | | | |
COMMITMENT V V V V V V Totals
===========+=====+=====+=====+=====+=====+=====+=======
UNDER 9 | 9 | 7 | 1 | | | 2 | 19
9 | 7 | 10 | 7 | | | 3 | 27
10 | 10 | 10 | 4 | 1 | | 2 | 27
11 | 20 | 10 | 9 | 2 | | 3 | 44
12 | 25 | 17 | 8 | | | 1 | 51
13 | 33 | 14 | 10 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 61
14 | 46 | 10 | 14 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 73
15 | 47 | 5 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 66
16 | 28 | 3 | 12 | | 1 | | 44
17 | 9 | | 2 | | | 3 | 14
OVER 17 | | | | 1 | 1 | | 2
-----------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-------
TOTALS | 234 | 86 | 75 | 8 | 6 | 19 | 428
===========+=====+=====+=====+=====+=====+=====+=======
_Table H. Behavior in Institution_
=========+================+====================
| STREET WORKERS | NON-STREET WORKERS
---------+----------------+--------------------
Good | 39 or 18% | 95 or 22%
Average | 175 or 80% | 321 or 75%
Bad | 5 or 2% | 12 or 3%
---------+----------------+--------------------
Totals | 219 | 428
=========+================+====================
By far the largest number of street-working delinquents had been
newsboys, these being followed by messengers, peddlers, bootblacks and
delivery boys in the order given. From a hasty glance at these tables
one might conclude that street workers are not so liable to become
delinquent as those who never follow street occupations, because of
the smaller number of the former; but it should be remembered that the
ratio of street-working inmates to the entire number of street-working
boys in Indiana is much greater than the ratio of the other inmates to
the whole body of non-street-working children in the state.
In comparing Tables C and G it is seen that the street workers and the
non-street workers were committed for practically the same offenses,
and that their distribution according to offense does not vary widely.
It is significant that a much smaller proportion of the street workers
were committed to the institution under the age of ten years, than of
the non-street workers, indicating that street occupations (which are
not usually entered upon before the age of ten years), if followed for
a year or two, contribute largely to the promotion of delinquency.
From a comparison of Tables D and F it will be observed that the
prevalence of delinquency among the street workers cannot be explained
on the ground of orphanage, as only 28 per cent were fatherless and 21
per cent motherless, while of the non-street workers 30 per cent were
fatherless and 25 per cent were motherless. This indicates (1) that
street work in the great majority of cases is not made necessary by
orphanage, and (2) that street work causes delinquency in spite of
good home conditions so far as the presence of both parents
contributes to the making of a good home. Furthermore, it will be
noted in Table E that nearly half of the children for whom figures on
income could be obtained earned less than fifty cents per day--a small
return on the heavy investment in the risk of health and character.
The difference in behavior at the institution between the street
workers and the others is shown in Table H to be almost negligible,
the latter making a slightly better showing.
An English writer says: "There is no difficulty in understanding how
street trading and newspaper selling lead to gambling. We are told by
those who are best able to judge, that of the young thieves and
prostitutes in the city of Manchester, 47 per cent had begun as street
hawkers. For the younger boys and girls such an occupation, especially
at night, turns the streets into nurseries of crime. The newspaper
sellers are not exposed to quite the same dangers, but they are nearly
all gamblers. They gamble on anything and everything, from the horse
races reported hour by hour in the papers they sell, to the numbers on
the passing cabs, and they end by gambling with their lives."[139]