CHILDREN, Spirit of Modem Legisla tion Affecting. Prior to the year 1899 chil dren who committed offenses against the law were dealt with by the courts as criminals. They were arrested by the police, detained with adult criminals in police stations and jails, ar raigned in police courts, where they listened at the trial of older criminals. They were in dicted by the grand jury, tried in the criminal court, convicted of crime, and sentenced like older criminals. This process was demoralizing and hardening. Efforts were made in some communities to avoid these evils. In some parts of Canada and in Boston, children were tried separately from adults, but they were still regarded as "juvenile criminals." In 1899 the legislature of Illinois enacted the first "juvenile court law," which revolutionized the treatment of juvenile offenders throughout the United States, and has affected it also in for eign courts. The juvenile court law of Illinois rejected the title "criminal" for children under 16 years of age, and classified them as "juvenile delinquents." It took children from the juris diction of the police court and other criminal courts and placed them under the circuit court, which is a civil court, and a court of chancery. They were no longer tried under the criminal laws but under the chancery laws. This meant that they were no longer regarded as enemies of the State, to be hunted down by the police and punished according to the enormity of their offense, but that they were regarded as wards of the State, to be reformed, trained and guided into wholesome and decent lives. This law has resulted in a complete change of prac tice in dealing with delinquent children. In stead of a warrant for arrest, a summons is issued to the parents or custodian, to bring the child to court. Instead of confinement in jail, pending trial, the child remains at home, or is kept in a "detention home" apart from any prison. Instead of a policeman or a deputy sheriff, his father or mother brings him into court. Instead of an indictment for crime, there is a petition alleging that the child is delinquent. Instead of a prosecutor employed to make a case against the child, there is a probation officer appointed by the court "to represent the interests of the child.' In short, the case is not "The State of Illinois versus Harry Jones," but "The State of Illinois pro Harry Jones?' The court seeks to ascertain the facts not as a basis for inflicting a penalty, but as a basis for doing whatever may appear to be for the best interests of the child. Pro ceeding on this basis, a preliminary investiga tion is made by a probation officer for the in formation of the court. The ordinary rules of evidence are modified and the probation officer is allowed to give hearsay evidence, or the child is encouraged to tell his own story of the case. A jury may be called, but the jury cannot find the child guilty of any offense, it can only find that he is in the condition of delinquency. When the testimony is concluded, the judge does not pronounce a sentence. He may make an order returning the child to his own home, with an admonition to his parents; or he may make an order placing the child on probation, under the care of a probation officer, either in his own home or a foster home; or he may make an order, committing the child to a juvenile reformatory—not for punish ment but for training and education. The
juvenile court idea commended itself to the practical judgment of jurists and legislators, and juvenile court laws have been enacted in most of the States of the Union. In many States the chancery principle has been adopted; in others the jurisdiction of the criminal courts continues, but, in general, the effort is made to free the child from the stigma of crime, to separate him from the adult criminal, to sur round him with good influences and to give him the opportunity for development into a nor mal, wholesome and happy life. Most of the juvenile court laws provide that, whenever possible, the child shall be brought into court not on a warrant but on a petition; and that the child shall not be confined in any jail or prison where adult prisoners are kept. The success of the juvenile court depends largely upon the spirit and temper of the judge. In some cities as in New York and Philadelphia, the juvenile judges were frequently changed, but experience proved that this plan is unde sirable, and now, as a rule, the juvenile judges serve for several years in succession. It is generally recognized that the essential feature of the Juvenile court is the probation system. Under this system the boy or girl is placed under the watch-care of a selected probation officer, a man or a woman chosen with special reference to their wisdom, tact and patience. The probation officer makes a preliminary in vestigation of the case before the trial is held, visits the child from time to time in his home, advises the parents, admonishes the child, and acts as the representative of the court. If the child's home is unfit he may be placed in a foster home under the watch-care of the pro bation officer and then the probation officer stands as his next friend and adviser. There is increasing effort to select probation officers of high character, intelligence and wisdom. In the large cities they are selected by civil service examinations which are generally conducted in such a way as to bring out the special fitness of the candidate. In connection with the pro bation system a plan has been evolved known as the Big Brother and Big Sister Movement, originated by Ernest K. Coulter, Esq., formerly chief probation officer of the Children's Court of the Borough of Manhattan in the city of New York. This plan enlists young men and women who co-operate with the probation offi cers and become responsible for the personal oversight and guidance of one or two individual children. The relation between the big brother and the little brother is made as humane and close as possible. The big brother, in his own way, undertakes to establish a relation of friendship and confidence with the boy and to assist in building upright character. In Massa chusetts, New York and Illinois State pro bation commissions have been organized to direct the work of probation officers, both for adults and juveniles.