"Ben" Lindsey, the American Boy's
Best Friend
(Copyright, 1D04, by William Thorp.)
I Colo., was recently called upon
' to address a largo meeting of
rfcSSH by whoso ages ranged from 9 to
judge under such circumstances to pull a
solemn face, call his audience "My dear
young friends," and treat them to a long
string of copy-book maxima. Not so this
judge. Ho joked with the boys, used their
own slang, told them enough of his own
boyhood days to show thorn that he un
derstood and sympathized with them, and
then suddenly asked:
"Say, kids, how many of you fellows
. ever swiped things? Now, everybody who
has hold up his hand."
Every little hand went into the air as
quick as wink, although the boys knew
that the man speaking to them was the
Judge of the children's court and could
have them haled before him and punished
If he chose.
The man was Judge Ben B. Lindsey,
who presided over the juvenile court la
Denver, and who baa been selected as
chairman of the national committee on
Juvenile courts by the recent national con
ference of Charities and Correction held at
Portland, Me. Judge Lindsey is the best
known and most distinguished of all the
"children's Judges," and the power which,
he wields over naughty boys to make them,'
better Is simply marvelous.
"Ben" Lindsey, as everybody calls him
In Denver, remembers that lie was a boy
himself once, and that he was as apt to
"swipe things" as the next boy. There
fore, he has changed the old system under
which youngsters were sent to Jail for
swiping a handful of peanuts from the
"'ginney" on the street corner.
For a Judge, "Hen" Lindsey has some
slratling ideas, but they are based on
tho bed rock of common sense. The cardi
nal principle on which ho administers
Justice In his court Is that "a boy who
swipes things Is not a thief."
"In some cases it may be well to let
the boys think so; in others I would not,"
the Judge said. "In reply to my questions,
the boys in tho public schools of Denver
declared that in their opinion at least one
half of the boys In school would 'swipe
things.' Some boys suld nearly all, most
of them said two-thirds, practically all
said one-half. If this be a fact In Denver,
It Is no less a fact in every other city In
this country. Denver boys are the best on
earth.
"An Intelligent understanding from the
boy's standpoint will, I think, convince any
unbiased mind that such children are not
thieves, yet all must admit that it is such
habits persisted In that make thieves, bur
glars and other criminals. They are per
sisted in in entirely too many cases, though
I believe the majority of such cases are of
an Isolated or Infrequent nature and are
checked by proper home training, as they
should be, before the Intervention of tho
court becomes necessary.
"Every case against a child must be
Judged more from the standard of the child
than from that of the man. No one can
seriously expect a street boy of 12 to re
spect the law Intended for the protection
of the fruit vender in the same way that
we have a right to expect the adult to re
spect a law of no higher sanctity or bind
ing effect for the protection of the banker
or the merchant." .
These are the principles on which tho
Judge conducts his court. His methods are
no less original. He alms to make every
little "criminal" who is brought before him
an officer of the court.
Nearly all the cases are dealt with by
putting tho hoys on probation for periods
extending from two weeks to two years.
The judge thus keeps in touch with them
without punishing them. Every other Sat
urday they report to him. some 200 or 3)0
of them; and he usually talks to them on
some subject that Immediately gains a
boy's heart and attention. Ills favorite
topic Is "snitching" when It is right and
when it Is wrong. "Snitching," as mo.st
boys know, means telling tales, "peach
ing." "Now. look here, kids," the Judge will
say. "Of course, It's mean to be a dirty
little snitch. If you saw a pal swipe things
you wouldn't call the cop. Quite right. But
you know by this time that it's a mlstfike
to swipe things. It's wrong, and, bcsld "S,
It gets you In trouble; it gets the whole
gang In trouble
"Now, you must all agree that, If a fal
low won't leave off swiping things, you can
Irtve him fair warning to stop, and be at
liberty to snitch on him If h doesn't. It'll
be the best thing In the world to have him
brought to the court before he becomes a
regular crook, because you know we don't
want to soak It In to him. We only want
to help him."
This reasoning. Imprepsed on the young
sters again and again, appeals to their
sense of Justice nnd shows them the way
to help their friend, the Judge, without vio
lating their code of boyish honor or sub
jecting themselves to outlawry In the boy
world. Thus it Is that the graduates of the
court enforce the law among their "pali"
far more thoroughly than all the policemen
and probation officers In Denver could do.
Os
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BEN B. LINDSEY, JUDGE OP THE CHILDREN'S COURT IN DENVER.
Four boys were brought before the judge
for swiiilng things from back porches.
They were not criminals; they simply had
a craving for excitement and adventure.
The judge talked to them in a way they
couid understand, put them on probation
and made them promise that If any one of
their "gang" should offend against tho
law they would warn him, and then, if
ho persisted, "snitch."
T'.iose four boys did not offend again,
but In less than a year they brought to the
court no fewer than forty recalcitrant
youngsters who refused to leave off swip
ing. Those boys were also dealt with by
Judge Lindsey nnd sent away sworn
friends of law and order.
"I generally lind that one care leads to
many. If n boy has committed an offense
it is a pretty sure thing that somebody
else la to blame as well as himself," said
the judge.
"Take the case of that little fellow of 10,
who had held up another boy in an all"y
and robbed him of $3. I find that he has
read dime novels since he was 7, and la
particularly Interested in Jesse James,
about whom he knows much more than bo
does about George Washington. His
mother has had knowledge of his courso
of reading. She must be brought in for
contributing to the delinquency of her
child. I believe this cannot be done under
the law of any other state except Colorado.
"I find that the mothers of two other
boys brought before me are in the habit
of drinking beer and sending thorn to tho
saloon. One of the boys has abcady ac
quired a lilting for liquor. He led a raid
on a bottled goods wagon and swiped n lot
of beer for the rest of the esMig, nr lie of
whom was over 13. His mother must alto
be brought in. I have known boys who
dhl this very thing to wind up In t.ipplng
tills.
"The drug store man on tho corner, not
withstanding the rigid enforcement in Den
ver of the law against srll'n.T tobacco to
minors, has persistently sold cigarettes to
some of the boys who app?ar in my court.
He must be brought in.
"One boy lives near iho railroad tracks
nnd habitually wanders In the ,-ard. Ho
has already barely e'vapd serious acci
dent and has committed one theft cf a
brass appliance on a freignt car. which he
sold to the rag sheeny' for f0 cent Ho
the ragman and the i;sothr who permit ted
the boy to go on the r.dlr.iid 1r.t:ks, which
of itself made him a delinquent, are
brought In."
The judge has a wonderful Influence nvtr
all tho boys with whom he comes In con
tact This was shown some tlnM ago
when crap shooting became a nuisance In
one of the principal atreets of Denver,
The storekeepers complained tint the
street boys swore viciously and obscenely
when engaged In this game, to the annoy
ance of their customers.
One of the lenders of the boys heard of
these complaints, and went straight to the
Judge about them. He had graduated from
the Juvenile court.
"Say, Judge, I'll get de kids together an'
you can give dem a talk," he proposed.
"if you want 'em to stop shootin' craps,
I guess dey'll do It. Til' cops won't never
slop It. You see, judge, It's this way, if
dem cops tink dey're goln' to stop it, dey
mustn't come behlnt us."
The judge attended a meeting got up by
his young friend at a newspaper ofllce that
night, and the result was the formation
of an antl-crap shooting union by the boys
themselves. Now they are enforcing tho
law, and crap shooting is nu longer a pub
lic nuisance.
In the winter of liHK-OS Judgo Lindsey
fought a hard battle until he persuaded
the Colorado legislature to pass a law that
no children under 14 should be sent to Jail.
In the worst cases they are sent to a
special "detention home." His most ardent
supporters in that light were the street
boys of his acquaintance, who had been
the victims of the jail system. They col
lected evidence for him and testified before
the governor, the legislature, the police
board and other authorities.
Chief among these boys was one named
Mickey. Later on he was threatened with
nrrt by a policeman, and he went to the
judge about it.
"Judge, de cop says he's goln' ter shag
me," slid he. "Didn't 1 help you get this
law through?"
"You did, Mickey; you rendered noble
Borvlce."
"Well, where does I come In? Didn't I
tell you some time buck dat I wus 15?"
"Yes. Mickey, yon did."
"Say, judge, forgot It! I'm t'rteen from
now on. I've been pinched so mudi when
I haven't done' nothin' dat I ain't goln' ter
take no more chance. If ills 'ere legislator'
will keep kills out o" Joll under 14, you can
Set me back two years."
Charley Is another street nrab who Is an
Intimate friend of the Judge's. He told him
that "he never told de trut' to de cop,
leiause It wouldn't do u ting but git you
inter trouble.'' lint he always tells tho
judge the truth, '"cause 1 never been ablo
ter keep out o' trouble until I run up
'against you."
Charley is a "sport." He went to the
Judgo once In deep distress. A Denver
newspaper had printed a story about him
which he contened was a gross libel. Ho
'didn't mind that so much. What hurt him
was that "they's done gone an' put it In
on de sportln' page, where all me fren's
from Cheyenne to Albuquerque'll read It
before night."
Judgo Lindsey says bis one great Inter
est' in life is working to make fine men
out of tho street boys who are brought
before him for trial. No trouble is too
great for him.
In the evening, nt the end of a busy
session In the civil court, the other Judges
go home. "Ben" Undsey stays behind. Ho
finds eight or a dozen boys waiting for
him. They may have been arrested, or
they may merely have come for advice.
Anyway, he usually gets home late for
dinner; nnd before he Is through with the
meal there is a loy to see him.
If he knows there are any boys confined
at the police station he pays a surprise
visit to see that they are being proper)
treated. He has organlwd a footluill team,
a baseball team, and three boys' ilulm out
of tho little rascals brought before him
In court. There Is not a moment of the
day he can really call his own. It Is all
given to his boys. Even bis noon recess,
when he is sitting In the civil court, Is
Sfent dealing with u batch of Juvenile
offender brought In by his probation of
ficers. "Above all things, get the truth." said
the Judge, when discus.dim his methods of
handling the boys. "Never let a boy get
away from you with a successful lie on
his soul. You have lost the battle if you
do."
He has got his sjstem down-to such a
fine point that it is now quite common for
street arubs to come and tell 1ilm when
they have swiped things, or committed
other offenses. Here Is a typical case, told
In Judge Lindsey's own words:
"Four boys came to my chambers hits
one night to 'snitch up' tell on them
selves. They hud never been In court,
never been detected. They came to mo
through the Influence of a boy who had
been In court and whom I had befriended.
"This boy would never 'snitch.' I would
not ask him to. Yet he learned tho les
sons of the Juvenile court. He had in
duced these boys, without my knowledge,
to come to me and 'snitch up.' They told
mu they knew it would not be long before
the cops got them if they went on swiping
tilings, and they had decided to reform on
our probation system. This hapieiied two
yours ago. Every one of those four boys
is a promising fellow today.
"The lads confessed thirteen burglaries
and thefts, lnclud.'ng a number of bicycles.
Curiosity directed me to the police depart
ment to see Just how many of their con
fessions would tally with the complaints
there. I found every bicycle stolen listed
at headquarters.
"The officer in charge did not care at
first to enter Into my plan of getting at
these boys, because it did not Involve tho
recovery of any of the property, I knew
this wus hopeless. I was met with a rather
stern and determined argument that citl
sens who had lost their property In tills
way would Insist on having 11 returned. X
even stood in tin; wuy of being convinced
that 1 was about to commit a felony.
"It did not take me long, however, to
convince the officer a well-meaning man
that those four boys and their redemption
were more important to the state of Colo,
rado than the recovery of a few bicycles
and small trinkets even to the unfortunate
citizens."
Judgo Lindsey does not despair of even
the worst boy. Once he was Importuned
by the police to send two youngsters to tho
reformatory. They had a bad record,
having been imprisoned several times be
fore. The Judgo figured it out -that each
buy had cost the state about 1,000 In actual
cash, not allowing for their mare ol tho
cost in the upkeep of the jails.
"I knew the police department would
laugh at me if I let these boys out of jail
and they did not return to report If, ui
the policeman expressed it, I 'patted them
on the back and let them go.' Of course,
I never did such a foolish thing in tho
case of any boy.
"After spending twenty-six solid hours
in personal work with those two boys cn
Sundays and evenings behind iho bars, I
allowed them to go. They uioi faithfully
every engagement they had made with me.
"Of course, I had difficulty In gtillng
them to keep employment, but I also had
patience, and today one of Hiom, after
eighteen months, Is absolutely redeemed,
us steady a workman as any iverag.j buy.
Neither lias returned to his evil w;ys. I
have hope for the olli-rs, tlrnigh I am
Dot so sure of success.
"From the police standpoint ihe experi
ment has more than succ.-u led. They have
neither been in jail ror pur-uied by the
police. Before, this was const imly the
case. I have had the help and sympathy
of t lie police department K thin expcrli'ient,
though they regarded it Mispieiouhty at
first."
These are only two out of hundreds of
boys who have -been reclaimed from m bit
bid fair to be a lifo of crime and !mc.a
'over Into good citizens by "Ben" Lindsey.
He Is the best friend of the street boys of
Denver and is more popular among them
than even the local biso ball rhauii Ions
and pugilists. His work, more thu-.i that
of any other Judge in th 3 countrv has
Justified tho experiment of Iho "children's
court."
"The criminal ,:ou.-t method of hinililng
Juvenile offenders used to cost our country
an average of $12 for e ich cas'i handled m
court," said the Judga. "It now costs
about $10. The criminal court convicted
nnd sentenced nearly all for crime and
sentenced 75 per cent to lulls and reforma
tories. The Juvenile court convicts no
child for crime and is compolh-d to fend
only about 5 per cent of probationers to
tho- industrial school. 't sends nmw to
Jail. In my own experience it really ia
wiser and less expensive to save children
than punish criminals." y
WILLIAM THORP.