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INIWIIIIR, 1909, by the New Yell Herald 00. All Billh leirvlll

' N Colorado a judge has won_a name and _reputsf 1

, tion for his work'in the Ch1ldren's Court. In Phil

sdelphia lives a charming woman whose work in be- half of unfortunate children in that city and State, carried on for tea years against the greatest dif-

iicultles, is second to none, not even that of the Colorado J udge. .

Judge Benjamin B. Lindsey is oiilcial Judge of

the Cliildren's Court of Denver. _Mi-s. Frederic C.` Schod is _lust Mrs. Schott, without edicisl title, and yet none the less she is the actual judge ei the Children's Court in Philadelphia, and the magib trstes and judges of that city with one voice ac- cord to her that title. ’

lfor is the title merely honorary. Philadelphia(

has a rather peculiar judicial system. Its judges rotate. They sit a while in one court, then move to another, then to another, until they have made the rounds. Consequently the Chlldren's Court is presided over by some fifteen judges, coming one

after nmcéther, each one quite unacqualnted with thef recor s of the little chaps lined up before him,” One might have appeared before this same Judge a ‘tweiveinonth ago and have been a prodigy of plftue since, yet the Judge, fixing him with an eagle‘ eye, 'remembers only'that first, appearance, while another who has appeared quite frequently within the last' ten months is, to the Judge, a new offender.

Consequently Philadelphia judges are dependent mainly for thelrldeclsions upon the information given` by the probation otllcer. And the probation otiicer every week goes over her cases in every detail at ri joint meeting of probation oiiicers, at whose head is Mrs. Schod. The probation oiilcer may he new and the records of theboys may he only matters of scheduled reports to her, but Mrs. Sched knows. For ten years she has heard cases, gone over detail after detail,-and she remembers this boy and that and his home sur- roundings. She it is who _decides that a boy is to be round work and kept at it. and`that employed ng

s 'an ,of geadaeting..!rom court altogether, §he"E%` o demands that s 'father be called before the court sad' made responsible for his son. and her`de~ cisions are handed down via the probttion oiilcer to the presiding Judge, who accepts them with e sigh of relief as he hears:- ’

' “Mrs. Sched recommends that"-isnt! why? Why

should the word of one woman carry, such weight! One must go hack ten years to answer.

One day in May, 1899, a Philadelphia newspaper

°printed as one of its dist page stories an account of the

arrest and imprisonment of a little girl of eight years. .She had set tire to the house in which she lived. When asked why she had started the tire she said franklyz- ` “To see the iire burn and the engine run."

The account was accompanied by a picture of the

child and stated that the presiding Judge had sent her to a reformatory. The childs history revealed the fact that she had been left motherless at two, placed

in' an orphanage, anti recently been made a household sm- the Fifa Bum and thc Engim, .

,- l . -_ Run." 5he_Said.Eranldy ._

drudge in a city boarding house, with no associates

a _ __ _ .. >~' *r"°“

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/j\ Lfffze e Gif/ of Efghz,rP1a».'f.g .

._ ' *wt-th s Matches, Sfarfedf ai. Fire That,

Famed by plies. Frederic Sf/off, M of -Philadelphia, Greet) ]nfo-a.S‘zveep- _g ' " ing Blaze of fu<veriilé Reform, _

save ignorant servants. The whole account was sur- “ -

mounted by the startling headline:-“A Prodigy of Crlme.” '

The city read and was properly shocked by such de-

pravity in one so young. Doubtless several mothers remembered the day their Marys set ilre to the lace curtains “just for fun," and sct the paper aside wltha sigh ot sympathy for the unfortunate 'little wait.

' \ One Mother Roused. ` \

~... .

pea'ied to the New Century Club, an organization of six hundred women, to help her. When a committce had been formed M~|°s. Scholl denioiistrntcti one of the remarkable qualities that assure hor lcndershlp. The women .with hcl' lmrriilcd bv the tales thcv had

heard, were for proceeding at once to relieve single" V

cases, but Mrs. Scholl' insisted that nothing be done

0|", mother umm, seemed tg feel q need for g¢¢1°|;|_ /until a thorough study of every .State in thc Union

Sitting in the cointornlble library nf her home, at No. 8418 Baring street, Mrs. Schott read the story.

“Prodigy of crime!" she said incligiiantly. Then she

looked at her own daughters at play. Suppose one of them had set ilre to the house in ii spirit of fun, would she have been sent to a reformntory? What was to become of this innocent girl, to be associated with companions whose ways had been proved evil? Mrs. Schott put on her bonnet. She kissed her own daugh- ters and hurried from the house. An hour lat_er found her in the oliice ef the Judge who sent the child to the reformatory. _ U

"But, Mrs. Scnod," pleaded the Judge, what am I to

do with her? I have no other place to send her, and. truth to toll, they do not want her there, because of the character of her offence." -

Mrs. Schod was bewildered. She retumed home de-

termined to know more of thc law that branded eiK\1f' yeer-oldw children as criminals mid scat them to re-

fermatories. ,Wlth, as she says, “nn inward veg to work unceasingiy until something better could be one for unfortunate chlldren,"_ she set to work to investi-

“£;';?,‘:|::q€3n;ii:;|(:»‘h‘;;s, “that there were ilve hundred ¢||l1¢||-gn, ranging from six to sixteen, in Philadelphia county prisons. There were from two hundred to time honored children every 111011111 passing thrvush

the station houses of the city standing _in crlticailnerd of intelligent direction and guidance, ye :ees vs S nothing. There were children in every cogn y pflnod in Pennsylvania, committed for trlillng o ences mm submitted to innuences that could not ui; i :lemon in ev". Mum, There were eight liuudr lc u ren M each of the two reforxnstorles and no dist nc ogv wt' made as to the children committed thelre. llmr homeless little ones. children steeped in cr me, were ld sent to the same institution. Any niagletratle col; commit I child to n reformatofy 0” "le l"“`°“t Bas? 5; ment of pdncorrlgibllity, and no edort wats m that provg;-‘the p'drent’s statement. The resu _west ste taste and stepmothers desiring to he fifed rom theggl “ of* children took this methodtot! hi-r:lv‘;'i_i;§ them ugh the State, and more than lac t e c ; om- m th. W* n Rem" we" were oi* “tu” dtligrs

ng, ggupfly ltipfllhefs B gpm '

., motmrrf mm wg, schud, as ii nielilns

s1_ 1 '|- boy, would condemn biz tio tI\ede:;":_

tion ef_naul1¢'! MY’ °°““"t_th “gut-e dm

mime a mir. and yet this wi" Wh* ° ' A sl in t criminal courts. and in the call" Q3 ' gh. 52;; and girls waited' their turn, lis- ten to gg too vile to mention and receiving les- . ' - f tteul" ' _ f‘“"E"!mc”°»;:htfull° ifndr uma nn. some sa-

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be made, not only as to methods but ns to results, both as to expense and as to ct`l’ccli_\'cncss in saving the children.

These women worked all wlntcr compiling n re-‘

port, “The Statutes of Every Stale in the Unlicd States Concerning l)cfecti\'e, licllnqucut and Ile- pcndent Children." i\Ii\ssnciiusclts, Michigan and illinois had the best records, so Mrs. Sclnifi’ pnckcll her lrunit, kissed her own clilldreii and visited iliassn- ¢~l\u,~'\-tts, Michigan and Illinois. illinois, which had Jiist introduced a jiiwiiilc court and probation sys- tem, produced ii proi‘ound impression. . ' Urging the Reform.

Armed with this dam the wuinen got in work.

Mrs. Sched went lo the (lo\'ci‘noi' of 1'cni|s)'l\':u\l»\, in various political loiulurs, urging that reform nieasnrcs be taken. Wiien questions were asked sho was rl-ndy to answer. When stuioiucuts were ques- tioned she produced hcl' data. At every turn she met them.

Then she employed ii lawyer to draft t\vo bills for

the Legislature. Those bills provlded:-

First-Separate time and place for trial of chil-

dren'e cases and no detention of children lu police sta- tions or prisons. , `

Second--Probation nlllcers whose salaries were not

to be paid from the public treasury, yet who were ap- pointed by the Judge.

Third-A house oi' detention in ull cities of tirst

and second class for ciilldrcn awaiting trial.

Fourth--Boards ofyluitnrs composed of men and

women for all chlldrenis institutions.

Immediately the managers of the Flnstern House of

Refuge arose in opposition. ~l)cprlve them ‘of chil- dren nnd lose their places! Nevertheless the bill went through and in May, 1901, the lnws were inode. '

Then there arose ri storm oi opposition. Pennsyl-

vania is a conservatlvu State. I-Iuiulrclls of persons really felt that the old laws were good enough. hun- dreds of ‘place holders naw reformntories, oi-phanages and “homes” emptied, and hastened to the politicians. Mrs. Sched and her committee were privately termed “n nuisance," and although. as they were not officials, their position was imprcgmible. ce:-lnln organs of the press sought by satirical comment and much publicity to discourage them. i ' V ,

lint Mrs. Schott is not easily discouraged..." Sho

found n probation olilccr and the New Century Uluh guaranteed hor salary. 'fin-n she got the Pennsyl- vnnm (}m\g|~¢\sn of Motliers to sunpiy il second probe- tion ofhcer. With those Mrs. Sched and her com- mittee, ami thc jiidgi- ,\\ hir niippciwll tu be sitting,

and who was only len glad to he helped along in this new order of prove ure. ovelwfl the llrst Jave-

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g Trying to Learn-How To

niie court of Pennsylvania, on June 14. 1900.

Meanwhile the disgruntled place holders, their

friends and allies startcd a suit against the constitu- tionality of the laws. Mrs. Sched at once engaged the best legal talent, and when, in February, 1903, the laws of 1901 were declared unconstitutional Mrs. Sched had also ready and presented to the Ifegis- lature one month before five new bills covering the detects of the previous laws. These were fought every step of the way. Mrs. Sched and her com- mittee went to Harrisburg. The Pennsylvania Con- gress ot Mothers and the New Century Club held meetings and sent to the Legislature hundreds of re- quests for their passage. Even after their presenta- tion to the Governor an appeal was made for is vote, but the bills went through and still stand.

But Mrs. Sched did not feel that the work had

ended. She induced the Jewish people of the city to provide the salary of a probation oiilcer who could speak Yiddish, she spoke at prayer meetings in various churches, and obtained the salaries of several others. Then she met these oiilcers every week without fail at her own home and went over with them, detail by detail, every case. She attended the Juvenile Court almost daily. She became acquainted with the young pdenders. She also became acquainted with their parents. This- gave her a new idea. ,Since the of- fences of the children were, in a majority of cases, directly due to the deilciencies of their parenm why, not train the parents?

|_ Fathers, Toe, Interested. ‘ `

There had been sporadic attempts at mothers' clubs

in connection with the public schools before this. But Mrs. Sched wanted a fathers' as well as a mothers' club, and so she suggested the new name. These as- ocistions were joined for the primary purpose of as-_ sisting parents in the training oththeli' children. After one year of work there were thirty thousand parents in these associations meeting at the public schools, trying to learn how to he emcrenl: fathers and mothers.

Having set the bail rolling, Mrs. Sched never

stopped. In addition to the New Century Club Mrs. Sched was formerly president of the Pennsylvanid Congress of Mothers, which oillce she resigned te become, in 1903, president of the National Congress of Mothers. Into each one of these three organiza-

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tions she introduced her juvenile court worl”slC parent-teacher associations. Arousing their intibt she has been able to give an impetus to mev 1 tl that have accomplished wonders. _Aiwa I 'l crucial moment she has left her home adage the hands of her grown daughters and hastened tothe centre of the fray. _ .

One year after the opening of the juvenile equrt

in Philadelphia, at her instance, s similar- " opened at Pittsburg. Now they extend all thre C'

the State. Other States in which Mrs. Schoili been a direct intiuence in starting the juvenile court and probation system are Connecticut, Louisiana and Idaho. The National Congress of Mothers, stim- ulated by her influence, is establishing parent-teacher associations in every State in the Union. _

Mrs. Sched has been the recipient of unique honors.

She is the only woman who has spoken at their re- quest before the members of the Canadian Parlia- ment. This was ln 1907. Both houses adjourned and held a joint session to hear her addlelm- At- their request sbe trained two probation odicers, and, as a result, juvenile court and probation work is will

started in Canada. ~ " ' _-= _

Despite her sudden accession to prominence luis-

tional aitairs, Mrs. Sched is justthe some apprw able, unassuming woman that shs~.was before She is the mother of seven children. ‘

“My family," she says, “is the best part of my life,

and the most delightful is being a grandmother. With- out the direct responsibilities of motherhood, I cal thoroughly enjoy my grandchildren." _

Only one year ago a certain Philadelphia mslilhlh

resigned because, as he stated to the reporters, “l`.l’l. Sched meddled too much and she gave tee mush Ili vice. One had no authority."

Concrete results of her worir are best sllewll ll

iigures. Q

There were six hundred children under ltrtsel

years of age in Moynmensing prison in 1900. ' ' `

To-day there are none. ,- There were three hundred children a month- pi

ing through station houses in Philadelphia,

To-day there are 50 per cent of that number lb

rested, and these are held in the House of Detention.

There were 1,468 cases in the Philadelphia Juvenile

Court ia 1908. _ 4.:-|

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