CHAPTER VII

Chapter 75,011 wordsPublic domain

RELATION OF STREET WORK TO DELINQUENCY

The most convincing proof so far adduced to show that delinquency is a common result of street work is set forth in the volume on "Juvenile Delinquency and its Relation to Employment,"[111] being part of the Report on the Condition of Woman and Child Wage Earners in the United States, prepared under the direction of Dr. Charles P. Neill, United States Commissioner of Labor, in response to an act of Congress in 1907 authorizing the study. The object of this official inquiry into the subject of juvenile delinquency was to discover what connection exists between delinquency and occupation or non-occupation, giving due consideration to other factors such as the character of the child's family, its home and environment. This study is based upon the records of the juvenile courts of Indianapolis, Baltimore, New York, Boston, Newark, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, showing cases of delinquency of children sixteen years of age or younger coming before these courts during the year 1907-1908. The total number of delinquents included in the study is 4839, of whom 2767 had at some time been employed and 2072 had never been employed. The entire number of offenses recorded for all the delinquents was 8797, the working children being responsible for 5471 offenses, or 62.2 per cent, while the non-working children were responsible for 3326 offenses, of 37.8 per cent. This shows that most juvenile offenses are committed by working children. The ages of the children committing the offenses recorded, ranged from six to sixteen years, and the report adds, "When it is remembered that a majority, and presumably a large majority, of all the children between these ages are not working, this preponderance of offenses among the workers assumes impressive proportions."[112]

With reference to the character of the offenses it was found that the working children inclined to the more serious kinds. Recidivists were found to be far more numerous among the workers than among the non-workers. Summing up the results of the discussion to this point the report says: "It is found that the working children contribute to the ranks of delinquency a slightly larger number and a much larger proportion than do the non-workers, that this excess appears in offenses of every kind, whether trivial or serious, and among recidivists even more markedly than among first offenders."[113]

With reference to the connection between recidivism and street work the report says: "The proportion of recidivism is also large among those who are working while attending school, and the numbers here are very much larger than one would wish to see. Some part of the recidivism here is undoubtedly due to the kind of occupations which a child can carry on while attending school. Selling newspapers and blacking shoes, acting as errand or delivery boy, peddling and working about amusement resorts account for over two-thirds of these boys (478 of the 664 are in one or another of these pursuits). These are all occupations in which the chances of going wrong are numerous, involving as they usually do night work, irregular hours, dubious or actively harmful associations and frequent temptations to dishonesty. In addition, something may perhaps be attributed to the overstrain due to the attempt to combine school and work. When a child of 13, a bootblack, is 'often on the street to 12 P.M.,' or when a boy one year older works six hours daily outside of school time, 'often at night,' as a telegraph messenger, it is evident that his school work is not the only thing which is likely to suffer from the excessive strain upon the immature strength, and from the character of his occupation."[114]

While reflecting on the excess of working children among the delinquents, one may be inclined to attribute this to bad home influences; but the report shows that only one-fifth of the workers as opposed to nearly one-third of the non-workers come from distinctly bad homes, while from fair and good homes the proportion is approximately 76 per cent to 65 per cent. Consequently, the working child goes wrong more frequently than the non-working child in spite of his more favorable home surroundings.[115]

Of the total number of delinquent boys, both working and non-working, under twelve years of age, 22.4 per cent were workers, while of those twelve to thirteen years old, 42.4 per cent were workers, and of those fourteen to sixteen years old, 80.8 per cent were workers. As comparatively few children under twelve years are at work, the fact that more than one-fifth of the delinquent boys in this age group are working children "becomes exceedingly significant." Of all children twelve to thirteen years of age, the great majority are not employed because of the fourteen-year age limit prevailing in all the states studied except Maryland; hence the larger proportion of working offenders cannot be explained by the influences of age. The increase of working delinquents above fourteen years is to be expected, because so many children go to work on reaching that age.

Remembering that the proportionate excess of workers varies from two to nine times the ratio of non-workers, it is evident that this excess cannot be explained by a corresponding excess of orphanage, foreign parentage, bad home conditions or unfavorable age. As the report says, "It seems rather difficult to escape the conclusion that being at work has something to do with their going wrong."[116]

The strongest argument against street work by children is to be found in the following table[117] of occupations pursued by the largest number of delinquents and giving the percentage of total delinquents engaged in each.

As the report says, the following classification shows that the largest number of delinquent boys were found in those occupations in which the nature of the employment does not permit of supervision--namely, newspaper selling, errand running, delivery service and messenger service. Boys engaged in these occupations, together with bootblacks and peddlers, all work under conditions "which bring them into continual temptations to dishonesty and to other offenses."[118]

The offenses with which the boys were charged are divided in the report into sixteen classes. The messenger service furnishes the largest proportionate number of offenders charged with "assault and battery" and "immoral conduct"; the delivery service those charged with "burglary"; bootblacking those charged with "craps and gambling," "incorrigibility and truancy"; peddling those with "larceny and runaway," and "vagrancy or runaway." The report calls attention to the greater tendency of messengers to immorality, and remarks that it is easy to see a connection between bootblacking and the offenses in which bootblacks lead. The report continues: "It is worthy to note that neither the newsboys nor errand boys, both following pursuits looked upon with disfavor, are found as contributing a _leading_ proportion of any one offense. They seem to maintain what might be called a high general level of delinquency rather than to lead in any particular direction, errand boys being found in fourteen and newsboys in fifteen of the sixteen separate offense groups."[119]

For the purpose of clearly defining the connection between occupation and delinquency, and determining whether the delinquency inheres in the occupation or in the conditions under which it is carried on, there were selected six kinds of employments which are generally looked upon by social workers as morally unsafe for children, and a comparison was made of conditions as to the parentage, home surroundings, etc., prevailing among the workers in these occupations, the working delinquents generally, and the whole body of delinquents, both working and non-working. Of the delinquent boys under twelve years engaged in these six groups of employments (delivery and errand boys, newsboys and bootblacks, office boys, street vendors, telegraph messengers and in amusement resorts), nearly three-fourths were found to be newsboys and bootblacks. As four-fifths of the working delinquents under twelve years of age in all occupations are found in these six groups, it is evident that this class is largely responsible for the employment of young boys, and "comparing these figures with those for the working delinquents in all occupations we find that 58.6 per cent, or nearly three-fifths of all the working delinquents up to twelve, come from among the newsboys."[120]

It was found that 54.6 per cent of all the working delinquents had both parents living, while newsboys and bootblacks, street vendors and telegraph messengers were found to be more fortunate in this respect than the great mass of working delinquents, even surpassing the whole body of delinquents, working and non-working. As the report says, "One so frequently hears of the newsboy who has no one but himself to look to that it is rather a surprise to find that the orphaned or deserted child appears among them only about half as often relatively as among the whole group of workers."[121]

Of the delinquent delivery and errand boys, 78.9 per cent were found to have fair or good homes, of the newsboys and bootblacks 75.8 per cent, of the street vendors 65 per cent, and of the telegraph messengers 78.9 per cent, and in this connection the report declares, "Certainly the predominance of these selected occupations among the employments of delinquents cannot be explained by the home conditions of the children entering them."[122]

The findings with respect to the messenger service fully corroborate the charges brought against it by the National Child Labor Committee. The report says: "Turning to the messengers, it is seen that they are in every respect above the average of favorable conditions. Moreover, it is well known that boys taking up this work must be bright and quick; there is no room in it for the dull and mentally weak. Plainly, then, in this case the occupation, not the kind of children who enter it, must be held responsible for its position among the pursuits from which delinquents come ... the chief charges brought against it are that the irregular work and night employment tend to break down health, that the opportunities for overcharge and for appropriating packages or parts of their contents lead to dishonesty, and that the places to which the boy is sent familiarize him with all forms of vice and tend to lead him into immorality."[123] Referring again to the messenger service, the report says: "The unfortunate effects of the inherent conditions of the work are, however, manifest. Its irregularity, the lack of any supervision during a considerable part of the time, the associations of the street and of the places to which messengers are sent, and the frequency of night work with all its demoralizing features, afford an explanation of the impatience of restraint, the reckless yielding to impulse shown in the large percentage of incorrigibility and disorderly conduct. A glance at the main table shows that the two offenses next in order are assault and battery and malicious mischief, both of which indicate the same traits. On the whole, there seems abundant reason for considering that the messenger service deserves its bad name."[124]

With reference to errand and delivery boys, the report finds that as the level of favorable conditions keeps so near to the average, it seems necessary to attribute the number of delinquents furnished by this class more to the conditions of the work than to the kind of children taking it up.

The occupational influences of amusement resorts, street vending and newspaper selling "are notoriously bad, but a partial explanation of the number of delinquents they furnish is unquestionably in the kind of children who enter them. It is a case of action and reaction. These occupations are easily taken up by immature children, with little or no education and no preliminary training. Such children are least likely to resist evil influences, most likely to yield to all that is bad in their environment."[125]

Having shown that a connection can be traced between certain occupations and the number and kind of offenses committed by the children working in them, the report next determines to what extent a direct connection can be traced between occupation and offense. If a working child commits an offense, first, during working hours, second, in some place to which his work calls him, and third, against some person with whom his work brings him in contact, a connection may be said to exist between the misdemeanor and the employment. The report insists that either all three of the connection elements must be present, or else the offense must be very clearly the outcome of conditions related to the work, before a connection can be asserted; and it reminds the reader that the number of connection cases shown represents an understatement, probably to a considerable degree, of the real situation. The number of boy delinquents in occupations which show more than five cases of delinquency chargeable to occupation was found to be 308; of these, 100 were errand or delivery boys, 129 were newsboys, 16 were drivers or helpers, 13 were street vendors and 10 were messengers.

The number of boy delinquents working at time of last offense and the number whose offenses show a connection with the occupation are compared, by occupation, in the following table,[126] p. 173.

"Among the errand and delivery boys the percentage (of connection cases) is large and the connection close. Larceny accounts for over nine-tenths of these cases, the larceny usually being from the employer when the boy was sent out with goods, though in some cases it was from the house to which the boy was sent. It will be remembered that in respect to parental and home condition, age, etc., the delinquent errand boys came very close to the average, and their antecedents gave no reason to expect they would go wrong so numerously. That fact, together with the large proportion of connection cases, seems to indicate that the occupation is distinctly a dangerous one morally."[130]

========================+=============+======================== | | BOY DELINQUENTS WHOSE | | OFFENSES SHOW A | BOY | CONNECTION WITH | DELINQUENTS | OCCUPATION | WORKING AT +--------+--------------- OCCUPATION OR INDUSTRY | TIME OF | | Per Cent | LAST | | of Boy | OFFENSE | Number | Delinquents | | | in Occupation | | | Working ------------------------+-------------+--------+--------------- In amusement resorts | 40[127] | 7 | 17.5 Domestic service | 50[128] | 14 | 28.0 Driver or helper | 107 | 16 | 14.9 Errand or delivery boys | 261 | 100 | 38.3 Iron and steel workers | 27 | 7 | 25.9 Messengers | 38 | 10 | 26.3 Newsboys and bootblacks | 346[129] | 129 | 37.2 Street vendors | 25 | 13 | 52.0 Stores and markets | 62 | 12 | 19.3 ========================+=============+========+===============

As the various forms of immorality are practiced in secret, the report truly says that the evils which are most associated with a messenger's life could hardly appear in these studies. "A trace of them is found in the case of one boy sentenced for larceny. After his arrest it was found that he was a confirmed user of cocaine, having acquired the habit in the disreputable houses to which his work took him. Perhaps something of the same kind is indicated by the fact that one of the few cases of drunkenness occurring among working delinquents came, as a connection case, from this small group of messengers. For the most part, however, the connection offenses (by messengers) were some form of dishonesty, usually appropriating parcels sent out for delivery, though in some cases collecting charges on prepaid packages was added to this."[131]

The newsboys almost equal the errand boys in their percentage of connection cases, though their offenses have a much wider range; in fact, the connection cases for newsboys include a greater variety of offenses than any other occupation studied. Beggary appears for the first time, there being two cases, in both of which the selling of papers was a mere pretext, enabling the boys to approach passers-by. Street vendors were found to show the highest percentage of connection cases, larceny being the leading offense.

The report concludes: "It is a striking fact that in spite of the incompleteness of the data, a direct connection between the occupation and the offense has been found to exist in the cases of practically one-fourth of the boys employed at the time of their latest offense. It is also a striking fact that while the delinquent boys working at the time of their latest offense were scattered through more than fifty occupations, over six-sevenths of the connection cases are found among those working in street occupations, and that more than three-fifths come from two groups of workers--the errand or delivery boys, and the newsboys and bootblacks. It is also significant that the connection cases form so large a percentage of the total cases among the street traders, the messengers, and the errand or delivery boys, their proportion ranging from over one-fourth to over one-half, according to the occupation."[132]

In considering the effect of night work upon the morals of children, the report says, "The messengers and newsboys show both large numbers and large percentages of night work, thus giving additional ground for the general opinion as to the undesirable character of their work"; and again, "In the following occupations the cases of night work are more numerous than they should be in proportion to the number ever employed in these pursuits: bootblacks, bowling alley and pool room, glass, hotel, messengers, newsboys and theaters and other amusement resorts."[133]

More than one-fourth of the working boy delinquents were found to be attending day school. More than half of these pupils were newsboys and bootblacks. It was found that the more youthful the worker, the stronger is his tendency toward irregular attendance at school.

Eighty-three boy delinquents were devoting eleven or more hours per day to work, and of these, 31 were errand or delivery boys, 7 were hucksters or peddlers, 6 were messengers and 2 were newsboys or bootblacks.

"For both sexes, the workers show a greater tendency than the non-workers to go wrong, even where home and neighborhood surroundings appear favorable, but this tendency is not so marked among the girls as among the boys."[134]

This report of the government investigation furnishes most conclusive evidence as to the evil character of street trading in general. It bears out the description so aptly made by a recent writer: "The streets are the proverbial schools of vice and crime. If the factory is the Scylla, the street is the Charybdis."[135]

Another American writer has lately declared: "A prolific cause of juvenile delinquency is the influence of the street trades on the working boy. No other form of work has such demoralizing consequences.... These boys are brought into the juvenile court, and their misdemeanors are often so great that reformatory treatment is necessary for them. Accordingly they represent a large proportion of the boys in the different institutions. The demoralization produced by the street trades affects others than those engaged in such trades, but the latter are the chief sufferers; therefore the importance of legislation which will shut off this source of infection."[136]

A Chicago physician took occasion to look into the records of the juvenile court of that city in 1909, and found that the first 100 boys and 25 girls examined that year were representative of the 2500 delinquents brought into the court during the preceding year. Not less than 57 of these boys had been engaged in street work--43 as newsboys, 12 as errand boys and messengers and 2 as peddlers. Only 13 out of the entire number had never been employed. Sixty of them were physically subnormal; the general physical condition of the girls was found to be much better than that of the boys of the same age, although 40 per cent of the girls were suffering from acquired venereal disease.[137]

In the autumn of 1910 there were 647 boys confined in the Indiana state reformatory, which is known as the Indiana Boys' School, at Plainfield. Of this number 219, or 33.8 per cent, had formerly been engaged in street work. To determine the relative delinquency of street workers and boys who have never pursued such occupations, it would be necessary to compare these 219 delinquents with the total number of street workers in Indiana and also to compare the total number of inmates who had never followed street occupations with the total number of boys within the same age limits in Indiana. A comparison of the two percentages would be illuminating, but is impossible because it is not known how many street workers there are in the state. However, it is safe to assume that the number of street-working boys in Indiana is much less than one third of the total number of boys. If we accept this as true, then the figures indicate that street work promotes delinquency, because one third of all the delinquents in the state reformatory had been so engaged. The frequent assertion that, merely because a large percentage of the inmates of correctional institutions were at some time engaged in street work, such employment is therefore responsible for their delinquency, cannot be accepted alone as proof of the injurious character of this class of occupations, as it is not known how long each offender was engaged in such work, nor are the other causes contributing to the delinquency of each boy properly considered or even known. This defect is avoided in the government's Report on Juvenile Delinquency and its Relation to Employment, which, with reference to the common practice of jumping at conclusions in this way, says, "This appears to show that selling newspapers is a morally dangerous occupation, but the danger cannot be measured, since it is not known what proportion of the working children are newsboys, or what proportion of the newsboys never come to grief."[138] The following tables are of interest as showing in detail the facts as to Indiana's delinquent boy street workers, who are confined in the state reformatory:--

STREET WORKERS IN INDIANA BOYS' SCHOOL, 1910

_Table A. Distribution among Street Occupations_

==============+============+=====+======+=====+========+======+===== COMMITTED FOR | MESSENGERS |NEWS-|BOOT- |PEDD-|DELIVERY|CAB |TOTAL | |BOYS |BLACKS|LERS |BOYS |DRIVER| +-----+------+ | | | | | | Day |Night | | | | | | --------------+-----+------+-----+------+-----+--------+------+----- Larceny | 3 | 22 | 88 | 3 | 6 | 3 | | 125 Incorrigi- | | | | | | | | bility | | 5 | 30 | 1 | 3 | | 1 | 40 Truancy | | 2 | 27 | | 3 | | | 32 Assault | | | | | | | | and battery | | 2 | 5 | 1 | | | | 8 Burglary | | 1 | | | | 2 | | 3 Forgery | | 2 | | | | | | 2 Manslaughter | | | 1 | | | | | 1 Other charges | 1 | 2 | 5 | | | | | 8 --------------+-----+------+-----+------+-----+--------+------+----- Totals | 4 | 36 | 156 | 5 | 12 | 5 | 1 | 219 ==============+=====+======+=====+======+=====+========+======+=====

_Table B. Ages when at Work at these Occupations_

==================+=======+====+====+====+====+====+====+====+======== | UNDER | | | | | | | | | 10 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | TOTALS ------------------+-------+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+-------- Day messengers | | | | 1 | 1 | 2 | | | 4 Night messengers | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 12 | 11 | 3 | | 36 Newsboys | 29 | 29 | 28 | 36 | 19 | 14 | 1 | | 156 Bootblacks | 3 | | 1 | | 1 | | | | 5 Peddlers | 1 | 4 | | 2 | 3 | 1 | | 1 | 12 Delivery boys | | 2 | | 1 | 1 | | | 1 | 5 Cab drivers | | | | | 1 | | | | 1 ------------------+-------+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+-------- Totals | 34 | 37 | 31 | 45 | 38 | 28 | 4 | 2 | 219 ==================+=======+====+====+====+====+====+====+====+========

_Table C. Ages at Time of Commitment_

================+=======+===+====+====+====+====+====+====+====+====+====== | UNDER | | | | | | | | | | COMMITTED FOR | 9 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | Total ----------------+-------+---+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+------ Larceny | 1 | 2 | 8 | 16 | 16 | 24 | 28 | 19 | 10 | 1 | 125 Incorrigibility | | 1 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 | | 40 Truancy | | 2 | 3 | 6 | 4 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 1 | | 32 Assault and | | | | | | | | | | | battery | | | | | 1 | 1 | 5 | 1 | | | 8 Burglary | | | | | | | 2 | | | 1 | 3 Forgery | | | | | | | 1 | 1 | | | 2 Manslaughter | | | | | | | 1 | | | | 1 Other charges | | | | | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | | | 8 ----------------+-------+---+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+------ Totals | 1 | 5 | 15 | 26 | 26 | 40 | 52 | 33 | 19 | 2 | 219 ================+=======+===+====+====+====+====+====+====+====+====+======

_Table D. Nationality and Orphanage of Street Workers_

OCCUPATIONS +--------------------------------------- Day messengers | +--------------------------------- Night messengers | | +--------------------------- Newsboys | | | +--------------------- Bootblacks | | | | +--------------- Peddlers | | | | | +--------- Delivery boys | | | | | | +--- Cab driver | | | | | | | V V V V V V V Totals ===============+=====+=====+=====+=====+=====+=====+=====+======= AMERICAN | 3 | 25 | 69 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 110 NEGRO | | 5 | 59 | 1 | 2 | 3 | | 70 GERMAN | | 3 | 13 | | 1 | | | 17 IRISH | | 1 | 8 | | 1 | | | 10 POLISH | 1 | 1 | 3 | | 1 | | | 6 FRENCH | | | 2 | | 1 | | | 3 SCOTCH | | 1 | | | | | | 1 ITALIAN | | | 1 | | | | | 1 JEWISH | | | 1 | | | | | 1 ---------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+------- FATHER | Yes | 4 | 30 | 107 | 5 | 7 | 4 | | 157 LIVING | No | | 6 | 49 | | 5 | 1 | 1 | 62 ---------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+------- MOTHER | Yes | 3 | 30 | 119 | 5 | 11 | 5 | 1 | 174 LIVING | No | 1 | 6 | 37 | | 1 | | | 45 =========+=====+=====+=====+=====+=====+=====+=====+=====+=======

_Table E. Hours and Earnings of Street Workers_

(In only 91 cases were the hours given, and earnings in only 116 cases.)

OCCUPATIONS +-------------------------------- Day messengers | +--------------------------- Night messengers | | +---------------------- Newsboys | | | +----------------- Bootblacks | | | | +------------ Peddlers | | | | | +------- Delivery boys | | | | | | +-- Cab driver | | | | | | | V V V V V V V Totals ====================+====+====+====+====+====+====+====+======= HOURS | | | | | | | | Day | | | | | | | | All | 3 | | 29 | 5 | 11 | 5 | | 53 Morning | | | 10 | | | | | 10 Afternoon | | | 11 | | | | | 11 --------------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+------- Night | | | | | | | | All | | 6 | 1 | | | | | 7 Before midnight | | 2 | 4 | | 1 | | 1 | 8 After midnight | | 1 | 1 | | | | | 2 Totals | 3 | 9 | 56 | 5 | 12 | 5 | 1 | 91 ====================+====+====+====+====+====+====+====+======= DAILY EARNINGS | | | | | | | | Under 50 cents | 1 | | 47 | 1 | 6 | | | 55 50-75 cents | 1 | 8 | 23 | 3 | 3 | 3 | | 41 75 cents-$1.00 | 1 | 4 | 5 | | 3 | 2 | 1 | 16 $1.25-$1.50 | | 1 | 3 | | | | | 4 Totals | 3 | 13 | 78 | 4 | 12 | 5 | 1 | 116 ====================+====+====+====+====+====+====+====+=======

_Table F. Non-Street Workers in Indiana Boys' School, 1910_

COMMITTED FOR +--------------------------------- Larceny | +--------------------------- Truancy | | +--------------------- Incorrigibility | | | +--------------- Burglary | | | | +--------- Assault and battery | | | | | +--- Other charges | | | | | | V V V V V V Totals ===============+=====+=====+=====+=====+=====+=====+======= AMERICAN | 156 | 66 | 53 | 5 | 2 | 11 | 293 NEGRO | 40 | 10 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 65 GERMAN | 12 | 4 | 4 | | 1 | 2 | 23 IRISH | 7 | 3 | 5 | | 1 | 1 | 17 POLISH | 10 | 3 | 3 | | | | 16 ENGLISH | 3 | | 1 | 1 | | | 5 JEWISH | 1 | | 1 | | | | 2 SWEDISH | | | 1 | | | | 1 FRENCH | 2 | | | | | | 2 MEXICAN | 1 | | | | | | 1 ITALIAN | 1 | | | 1 | | | 2 HUNGARIAN | 1 | | | | | | 1 ---------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+------- TOTALS | 234 | 86 | 75 | 8 | 6 | 19 | 428 ---------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+------- FATHER | Yes | 168 | 62 | 44 | 6 | 3 | 15 | 298 LIVING | No | 66 | 24 | 31 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 130 ---------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+------- MOTHER | Yes | 182 | 62 | 50 | 7 | 5 | 17 | 323 LIVING | No | 52 | 24 | 25 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 105 =========+=====+=====+=====+=====+=====+=====+=====+=======

_Table G. Non-Street Workers in Indiana Boys' School, 1910_

COMMITTED FOR +--------------------------------- Larceny | +--------------------------- Truancy | | +--------------------- Incorrigibility | | | +--------------- Burglary | | | | +--------- Assault and battery | | | | | +--- Other charges AGES AT | | | | | | COMMITMENT V V V V V V Totals ===========+=====+=====+=====+=====+=====+=====+======= UNDER 9 | 9 | 7 | 1 | | | 2 | 19 9 | 7 | 10 | 7 | | | 3 | 27 10 | 10 | 10 | 4 | 1 | | 2 | 27 11 | 20 | 10 | 9 | 2 | | 3 | 44 12 | 25 | 17 | 8 | | | 1 | 51 13 | 33 | 14 | 10 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 61 14 | 46 | 10 | 14 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 73 15 | 47 | 5 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 66 16 | 28 | 3 | 12 | | 1 | | 44 17 | 9 | | 2 | | | 3 | 14 OVER 17 | | | | 1 | 1 | | 2 -----------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+------- TOTALS | 234 | 86 | 75 | 8 | 6 | 19 | 428 ===========+=====+=====+=====+=====+=====+=====+=======

_Table H. Behavior in Institution_

=========+================+==================== | STREET WORKERS | NON-STREET WORKERS ---------+----------------+-------------------- Good | 39 or 18% | 95 or 22% Average | 175 or 80% | 321 or 75% Bad | 5 or 2% | 12 or 3% ---------+----------------+-------------------- Totals | 219 | 428 =========+================+====================

By far the largest number of street-working delinquents had been newsboys, these being followed by messengers, peddlers, bootblacks and delivery boys in the order given. From a hasty glance at these tables one might conclude that street workers are not so liable to become delinquent as those who never follow street occupations, because of the smaller number of the former; but it should be remembered that the ratio of street-working inmates to the entire number of street-working boys in Indiana is much greater than the ratio of the other inmates to the whole body of non-street-working children in the state.

In comparing Tables C and G it is seen that the street workers and the non-street workers were committed for practically the same offenses, and that their distribution according to offense does not vary widely. It is significant that a much smaller proportion of the street workers were committed to the institution under the age of ten years, than of the non-street workers, indicating that street occupations (which are not usually entered upon before the age of ten years), if followed for a year or two, contribute largely to the promotion of delinquency.

From a comparison of Tables D and F it will be observed that the prevalence of delinquency among the street workers cannot be explained on the ground of orphanage, as only 28 per cent were fatherless and 21 per cent motherless, while of the non-street workers 30 per cent were fatherless and 25 per cent were motherless. This indicates (1) that street work in the great majority of cases is not made necessary by orphanage, and (2) that street work causes delinquency in spite of good home conditions so far as the presence of both parents contributes to the making of a good home. Furthermore, it will be noted in Table E that nearly half of the children for whom figures on income could be obtained earned less than fifty cents per day--a small return on the heavy investment in the risk of health and character.

The difference in behavior at the institution between the street workers and the others is shown in Table H to be almost negligible, the latter making a slightly better showing.

An English writer says: "There is no difficulty in understanding how street trading and newspaper selling lead to gambling. We are told by those who are best able to judge, that of the young thieves and prostitutes in the city of Manchester, 47 per cent had begun as street hawkers. For the younger boys and girls such an occupation, especially at night, turns the streets into nurseries of crime. The newspaper sellers are not exposed to quite the same dangers, but they are nearly all gamblers. They gamble on anything and everything, from the horse races reported hour by hour in the papers they sell, to the numbers on the passing cabs, and they end by gambling with their lives."[139]