THE JUVENILE LAWS OF COLORADO law, which has been termed "the adult delinquent law." The purpose of this law is to compel careless homes to take care of their children. The fourth feature of the court, as it has developed in Colorado, Illinois, and some other states, is what I have termed a system of efficiency, which seeks to avoid brutality on the one hand — which was the charge and conviction of crime, the jail and the criminal court — and to avoid leniency on the other hand, which was a mere kind talk — a pat on the head — and letting the child go, with strange notions of law and law enforcement, and a chance to mistake kindness for weakness. Both methods were equally faulty, though the faults were of a different kind. We seek to make the child a co-worker with the state for his own salva tion, which, of course, in the end, is the sal vation of the state; for the child is the state and the state is the child. He is taught, literally, to overcome evil with good. He is taught his duty to society, the meaning of law — why ordinances are passed, and by a system of education, he is taught to know how to help himself, and to make himself honest and industrious. We can't do it for him. We can only, by proper methods, point the straight and narrow way. We can't carry him; we can help strengthen and develop his character. It will thus be seen that our institution is a school-court. Its methods are purely educational and not penal. We work through the heart and seek reform from within and not from with out. I have frequently said that two things were necessary to the success of the so-called Children's Court or Juvenile Court: first, people who know and understand children, and will therefore do the work required by the juvenile laws, and second, the juvenile laws, for really, much can be done without any law at all, where there is the heart, disposition, patience, and will to do. Section i of the adult delinquent law of Colorado is the most important feature of
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our juvenile laws. Among other things, it provides : "Section i. In all cases where any child shall be a delinquent child or a juvenile delinquent person, as defined by the statute of this state, the parent or parents, legal guardian, or person having the custody of such child, or any other person responsible for, or by any act encouraging, causing or contributing to the delinquency of such child, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon trial and conviction thereof shall be fined in a sum not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000), or imprisoned in the county jail for a period not exceeding one (i) year, or by both such fine and imprisonment. The court may impose conditions upon any person found guilty under this act, and so long as such person shall comply therewith to the satisfaction of the court, the sentence imposed may be suspended." This section should be read in connection with section i of the act concerning delin quent children. This act was, in substance, originally embodied in the school law of April 12, 1899; but, in the winter of 1903, it was found that the definition of a juvenile disorderly person of the act of 1899, needed some explanation and enlargement, and so in defining delinquency the Illinois Juvenile Court Act was partially resorted to, as a good model to follow; with the addition, however, that the definition of delinquency, as made in Illinois, and the definition of a juvenile dis orderly peron as stated in the Colorado statute were more or less combined; and, in addition to the good features of both, a number of acts on the part of the child were added to the definition, as constituting delin quency. This definition of delinquency must be borne in mind as having reference to the act relating to adult delinquents, and, as be tween the two, it is ascertained what a parent or any other person may do to encourage, cause, or contribute to the delinquency of a child. The definition of delinquency is as follows :
