Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 5.djvu/163

 SOCIAL ASPECT OF NEW YORK POLICE COURTS 149

however, that those committed to institutions through the Gerry Society are a very small proportion of the young persons appear- ing in court. For the majority of children under sixteen no particular safeguards or preventive measures are provided, except such as the judge may devise. The moral atmosphere of the court and the station house is in itself a contamination to any child. A simple and perfectly practical remedy for a part of these evils would be to confine all persons under sixteen years of age in separate cells, out of sight and hearing of other pris- oners, and to give them a separate examination in court as soon after arrest as possible.

If all offenses in these courts be reclassified roughly by their social significance, the results are as follows :

Personal vice and self-indulgence, including intoxica- tion, solicitation, keeping disorderly house, and dis- orderly conduct - - - - - - - 55 per cent.

Carelessness of public regulations - - - i6 " "

Roving and thriftless disposition - - _ - - 8.6 " " Thieving --.-.... ^ .. ■.

Violent temper (indicated by assault, and cruelty to

children) - - - - - - - - 2.5 " "

Carelessness of family relations, ungovernable child,

cruelty, abandonment, etc. - - - - 1.5 " "

go.6 " Miscellaneous - - - ' - - - 9.4 " "

Total - - - - - - - 100 " "

From the table it appears that the police and the police court are the regulators of personal conduct in society. As society has become more and more complex, the license of the individ- ual has been progressively curtailed, and the police power has been correspondingly enlarged. As a result, the machinery necessary to regulate public personal conduct has been elaborated without being perfectly adapted to its purpose. Such power is not a trivial or minor matter which society can leave to regulate itself, but is an immense and increasingly important factor in social development, for which no adequate machinery of admin- istration is yet provided. Mayor Hewitt, in his message in 1888,