(Continued from page 278)
| Published date | 01 January 1934 |
| Date | 01 January 1934 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/026455053400101806 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
280
(Continued
from
page
278)
our
Acts
of
Parliament;
she
came
to
the
conclusion
that
although
our
legislation
was
in
many
directions
behind
the
legislation
of
other
countries,
the
custom
in
England
was
to
stretch
the
statutory
provisions
so
much
to
the
limits
of
their
possibilities
that
in
the
long
run
the
children
got
better
treatment
in
England
than
did
the
children
in
other
countries.
i
.
Children
and
Young
Persons
Act.
In
some
respects,
however,
we
were
still
behind
other
countries.
For
instance,
we
had
still
to
learn
that
cluldren
must
not
be
treated
as
criminals,
but
as
the
children
in
our
own
families
required
to
be
treated.
The
magistrate
who
has
been
dealing
with
criminals
all
the
morning
could
not
reasonably
be
expected
to
change
suddenly
his
outlook
and
his
methods
when
he
switched
over
to
the
trial
of
juvenile
cases
later
in
the
day.
There
was,
however,
one
great
feature
of
the
new
Children
Act
for
which
we
have
good
cause
to
be
thankful.
It
was
that
the
Act
sets
down
in
concrete
terms
the
principles
to
be
observed
in
our
Juvenile
Courts
of
the
future,
and
Section
44
says
:--
&dquo;Every
court
in
dealing
with
a
child
or
young
person
who
is
brought
before
it,
either
as
being
in
need
of
care
or
protection
or
as
an
offender
or
other-
wise,
shall
have
regard
to
the
welfare
of
the
child
or
young
person
and
shall
in
proper
case
take
steps
for
removing
him
from
undesirable
surroundings,
and
for
securing
that
proper
provision
is
made
for
his
education
and
training.&dquo;
He
had
recently
heard
of
a
magistrate
who
had
said
from
the
Bench
to
a
girl
who
was
charged
with
larceny, &dquo;
I
am
going
to
punish
you
by
sending
you
away
to
a
school
for
three
years.&dquo;
Had
that
magistrate
been
moved
by
the
principles
embodied
in
Section
44
of
the
Children
Act
the
wretched
girl
would
have
been
saved
several
days
of
great
mental
anxiety
and
would
not
have
arrived
at
the
school
looking
like
a
trapped
beast.
It
was
unfortunate
that
from
the
Act
there
had
been
cut
out
provision
for
proper
places
where
children
could
be
sent
for
observation
whilst
the
court
made
up
its
mind
upon
the
best
form
of
treatment.
In
time,
of
course,
we
should
secure
statutory
provision
for
such
useful
places:
anther
principle
laid
down
in
the
Act
was
that
where
the
-home
surroundings
of
a
child
or
young
person
are
really
bad,
then
he
should
be
removed
from
those
surroundings
and
sent
to
a
school
where
complete
change
of
environment
would
give
him
the
best
possible
chance.
The
Act
required
too,
that
Juvenile
Courts
should
be
conducted
in
the
very
best
possible
way
and
as
far
as
possible
in
a
building
quite
distinct
from
the
ordinary
Adult
Court.
It
might
take
some
time
to
secure
this,
’,
but- some
day
we
should
get
what
we
wanted,
and
where
other
buildings
were
not
available
the
Courts
might
perhaps
be
held
in
the
local
village
institute.
Special
panels
of
justices
are
to
be
elected
by
the
justices
themselves
from
amongst
their
number
to
sit
in
the
Juvenile
Courts,
and
it
was
very
much
to
be
hoped
that
the
justices
so
selected
would
in fact
be
of
the
type
who
would
concern
themselves
sincerely
with
this
important
work.
The
Act
extended
the
jurisdiction
of
the
Court
to
include
all
boys
and
girls
up
to
their
seventeenth
birthday
unless
they
should
be
associated
in
an
offence
with
an
adult,
and
one
of
the
most
valuable
provisions
in
regard
to
extending
the
scope
of
the
Act
was
that
the
boy
or.
girl
who
was
not
getting
a
fair
show
at
home
might
now
be
brought
under
the
protection
of
the
Court.
Rescue
and
Preventive
Work.
There
are
in
every
town,
young
girls
from
13 years
of
age
upwards
who
are
known
to
local
welfare
workers
to
be
drifting
on
towards
prostitution.
Hitherto,
cases
of
this
sort
had
been
a
constant
source
of
complaint
to
the
Home
Office,
because
no
steps
could
be
taken
to
check
and
control
them,
unless
they
and
their
relatives
voluntarily
agreed
for
them
to
go
as
inmates
to
a
rescue
home.
In
future
the
Court
would
be
empowered
to
act
in
such
cases.
Section
3~
of
the
Act
was,
of
course,
of
much
interest
to
probation
officers.
In
that
Section
it
is
laid
down
that
the
local
authority
and
the
probation
officer
may
make
enquiries.
The
Act
provided
for
the
local
authority
to act
as
the
fit
person
to
whom
the
child
might
be
committed,
and
provided
that
committal
orders
to
schools
shall
be
for
a
period
of
three
years.
Where
a
condition
of
residence
was
embodied
in
a
Probation
Order,
the
Court
in
future
should
name
the
place
and
be
sure
that
it
was
a
fit
and
proper
place.
Homes
subject
to
Inspection.
In
future,
any
home
admitting
a
chid
or
young
person
on
a
committal
order,
and
accepting
public
money
towards
his
maintenance,
would
be
subjected
to
inspection.
There
were
good
homes
and
bad
homes,
and
it
would
come
as
a
surprise
to
most
to
learn
that.
there
were
still
more
than
1,000
homes
subject
to
no
Home
Office-
inspection.
In
his
office
he
had
a
list
of no
fewer
than
1,800
voluntary
homes
and
when
he
recently
tested
this
list
by
seeing
if
it
contained
all
the
local
homes
of
which
he
knew,
he
found
three
situated
within
a
mile
of
his
own
house
that
were
not
in
the
list
of
-z,8oo.
There
must
be
many
other
unlisted
homes.
To
provide
a
true
picture
of
the
homes
throughout
the
country,
it
was
necessary
of
course
that
we
should
inspect
both
the
good
and
the
bad.
In
future,
whenever
the
Court
makes
a
committal
to
a
home
the
Home
Office
must
be
notified.
The
Home
Office
had
just
completed
its
task
of
classi-
fying
the
homes
subject
to
inspection.
In
that
classi-
fication
they
had
taken
notice
of
religious
persuasion
and
of
occupational
and
educational
possibilities.
There
would
be
no
need
for
anyone
to
be
horrified
by
the
thought
of
Home
Office
inspection,
for
their
conception
of
inspection
was
that
it
provides
one
of
the
best
methods
of
mutual
help
to
all
those
who
are
engaged
in
similar
work,
and
by
it
they
had
been
able
to
make
a
real
contribution
to
improving
the
efficiency
of
all.
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