Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 3.djvu/723

 NOTES AND ABSTRACTS 709

latter, which was circulated by the Associated Press, and worked serious injury to the financial support of the republic. As a consequence the trustees appointed a com- mittee to visit the republic and make a report to the trustees concerning the validity of the charges, and also to address a letter on the subject to the state board and to the public. The committee was composed of Professor J. W. Jenks and Professor Benjamin Ide Wheeler, of Cornell University; Professor W. F. Blackman, of Yale University; Professor J. R. Commons, of Syracuse University; Mr. 1). M. Osborne and Mr. K. W. Richardson, of Auburn ; and Mr. Frederic Almy, of the Buffalo Asso- ciated Charities. The substance of the state board's report is as follows : They assert (i) that the children are kept at the republic for only a short time in the sum- mer, and that the plan of self-government was devised solely to keep the youngsters from depredations upon the farmers of the neighborhood ; (2) that Mr. George and his family are alone in the experiment, and that they do not grasp the situation in all its bearings; (3) that the financial support is voluntary and inadequate; (4) that there is a total absence of family life among the boys and girls, and a promiscuous " hotel" takes its place ; (5) that familiarity with the "police" court and trials of the republic is demoralizing; (6) that sanitary conditions are lacking, and (7) that there is disorder and uncleanliness. The final paragraph circulated by the Associated Press was as follows : "That, so far as it has been developed, this effort stands only as an experiment and endeavor to establish, under a police system, respect for and con- sideration of the rights of others on the part of a miscellaneous community of hitherto neglected juveniles. That, while it takes from the crowded slums of our great cities a few wayward and neglected children needing a change of scene and air, and during a brief period restrains them from trespassing upon the rights of others, it lacks those features which are essential to success and permanence. Without any suggestion of the family, and barren of any educational provisions, which are the foundation upon which all efforts for reform must be based, and upon which ordinary social life is dependent, it stands only as an ingenious effort at temporary restraint. Laying aside all sentiment, and viewing it solely from the standpoint of the practical, your committee feels that it possesses none of the essentials of success."

The committee appointed by the board of trustees of the republic, in a note drafted by Professor Jenks and addressed to the state board of charities, called their attention to the fact, (i) that, while the republic originated as a fresh-air camp, its promoters are now emphasizing continuous residence for two or three years with a gradual elimination of the summer encampment, and that the winter rcMtients now number forty-six. (2) That, while the boys make their own laws, Mr. George controls them actually by suggestion rather than dictation. (3) That the republic should not be judged by the ideals of a reform school, where the superintendent enforces right actions \n the way of neatness, order, and indu>try, though those actions may not betoken a corresponding disposition. In the republic the child is expected to acquire his good habits as a result of experience, and, therefore, if the plan is to be fairly tried, the super- intendent might properly be censured if the conditions were not the free ones of daily life ; that there is a decided improvement in order and cleanliness among the citizens who have been longest in residence. (4) That a school system has been established under the charge of a graduate of Cornell University, and that, while, indeed, larger facilities are needed, the republic does inculcate to a remarkable degree habits of thrift, of self-reliance, of honesty, of self-control, the habits most essential in charac- ter. (5) That, while the surroundings lack much from the aesthetic point of view, they are not unsanitary, and there has never been any sign of an epidemic, nor any case of disease, that could be ascribed to local conditions ; disinfectants are freely used, and rooms and closets are well cared for. (6) That the police court is not an evil. Familiarity with the ordinary police court is an evil influence, but the pressure of the opinion of one's peers in favor of good order as applied through the omits of the repub- lic is a far more ennobling influence than the inflict: ; oral punishment, or of imprisonment by a superintendent. Boys who would brazenly face a police magis- trate break down completely under the admonition of a judge of their own. Respect for law and order, and for public officers of the republic, is one of the most note- worthy benefits produced by the system. (7) Family life can never be reached in any