in 1899. Many states followed
suit, including New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Wisconsin, Kansas,
Colorado, Indiana and others, till the number rose to nineteen in 1906.
In New York, where juvenile probation is supervised by the Society for
the Protection of Children, there is a separate children's court with
rooms attached, where the children for detention wait till they are
brought in for trial. Brooklyn has also a children's court. In
Pennsylvania, where the juvenile court was at first opposed as
unconstitutional, the difficulty was met by first bringing the child
before the magistrate in the police court, a course which (though
followed by his transferring the case to the special court) perpetuated
the very evils the children's court was intended to avoid; the work of
probation was, however, most effectively carried out, chiefly by female
officers. The Chicago Juvenile Court sits twice weekly under an
especially appointed judge, and policemen act as probation officers to
some extent. The court of Indianapolis, however, gained the reputation
of being the most complete and perfect in the United States. It works
with a large and highly efficient band of volunteer probation officers
under a chief. The juvenile court of Denver, Colorado, attained
remarkable results under Judge B. Lindsey, whose magnetic personality,
wonderful comprehension of boy nature, and extraordinary influence over
them achieved great results. The court meets once a fortnight, when
fresh cases are tried and boys already on probation report themselves,
often to the number of two hundred at a time. The latter appear before
the judge in batches, each hands in his school report in a sealed
letter, and according to its purport receives praise or blame, or he may
be committed to the Detention House. An efficient court was also
constituted at Baltimore, Maryland, with a judge especially chosen to
preside, probation being for fixed periods, varying from three months to
three years, and children being brought back to the court for parole or
discharge, or, if necessary, committal to the house of one of the
philanthropic societies. In Washington, D.C., the system of having no
distinct court or judge, but holding a separate session, was followed,
and it was found that numbers of children came to the court for help and
guidance, looking upon the judge for the time being as their friend and
counsellor. Probation in this instance offered peculiar difficulties o