There is a city ordinance in Chicago which prohibits fishing in the
lakes of the city parks, and persons caught doing so are treated as
trespassers. No one would blame a boy for wanting to fish.
A boy, ten years old, left home with line and hook for one of these
artificial lakes. After securing a pole from the drift-wood near-by, he
sought an inviting spot to fish; and amid the green bushes, the songs
of the birds and the breeze that brought sunshine to his young heart,
he cast his line into the peaceful uninhabitated waters.
A protector of the peace, a defender of the law, saw this little boy
fishing in public waters. While earnestly waiting for a bite the boy
was arrested. He was taken, by the policeman, to the station. He did
not have any friends to give bond for him, so they locked him up and
left him there all night in a cell alongside of men who were in there
swearing and cursing, using the vilest of language. He was placed with
hardened people whose association could not be anything but injurious
to a ten-year-old boy. Next day he was brought into Police Court,
accused of fishing in the lake, sentenced for violating this great and
important law of the city of Chicago, and sent to the work-house, to
serve a time in the city prison.
This was twenty years ago, and, just such incidents as this, caused
good honest-thinking people to try to introduce something that would
protect and care for similar cases. Now, the boy who violates a law is
not arrested and placed in jail or even a Police Station, but under the
splendid Juvenile Court system the boy is brought into the presence of
a judge who has an opportunity of showing what he would like to do in
other courts, by extending an encouraging hand to the wayfaring boy.
The boy is greeted kindly and the strange feeling, which even men
and women have under similar circumstances, is removed. Instead of
the judge looking sternly at the criminal, as has been too often the
custom, thinking, perhaps justly, the dignity of the law requires it,
he kindly explains to the boy where he has made a mistake, where he
has violated some law; and after gaining the friendship and confidence
of the little offender, he is placed in charge of a kind-hearted
Probation Officer, who personally looks after the interests and
welfare of the accused. The Juvenile Court has power to require the
boy to go to school, and the boy is impressed with the fact that it
is for his benefit. Truant boys are looked after by this method, and
the Probation Officer goes so far as to visit the homes of the boys to
learn their surroundings. This has been the means of influencing many
families to take better care of their homes and to keep things in a
neat and tidy condition. This has never been accomplished before by any
methods of a legal nature.
With the valuable work of the Juvenile Court and the Humane societies,
together with the self-governing plan of the Newsboys associations,
all working harmoniously, what must naturally be expected of the boy?
The home is the natural environment in which to develop a boy in the
direction of true, self-sustaining manhood; and it should furnish the
conditions most likely to bring about the happiest results, not only to
the individual and the family, but also to the State. When this fails,
as it often does, the Juvenile Court steps in and the results are
wonderful.