THE GERM OF THE CRIMINAL.

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume I, Issue 201, 11 August 1911, Page 11

THE GERM OF THE CRIMINAL.

The probation system in America goes a good deal further than it does with us, and owes its existence to the method in which the law tries to get hold of a boy or girl before any serious act has been committed. Its chief exponent is Judge Lindsay, who presides over a Juvenile Court at Denver in the Rocky Mountains. He is a man who possesses a perfectly unique influence with the buy on the verge of trouble. In order to get to the bottom of a loose organisation in the district, he made use of some hoys brought before the Bench as ■‘catspaws." and this is how he spoke to one of them “Look here, kid, officer says you are one of a gang that does this. Tram Company wants to stop it —want to catch the gang. You know them, do you ? All right. Know their names ? You do ? Now, department wants to stop this. too. You think you could get the other fellows —eh ? Got a chum among ’em ? ' Good ■ Now, get hold of him -the others, too, if you can. Tell ’em the judge wants to see ’em. Don’t want you io ‘snick.’—(that is talei telling). That’ll get you into trouj ble. Better for you not to ‘snick.’ i Tell the fellows you’ve been to see I the Judge in Court—you had to,

of course —and say the Judge wants to talk to ’em. Tell ’em not to be afraid. Say the Judge acts square always. Now, I’m going to trust you. and you’re going to work with ns in cutting this thing out. It’s got to be stopped, sure ■ You get the other fellows, if you can. Anyway. if you ran t, you come up and se’e me again on Tuesday at- 11 o’clock. See I You will ? On your honour- Right. Then we’ll have another ialk. ’’

One ran fancy the astonishment of some of our juvenile culprits on being addressed in this way. but the method is declared to be remarkable effective in America.