Page:Solution of the Child Labor Problem.djvu/72

65 for his strained nervous system in some kind of activity which leads ultimately to the door of the police court. The freedom of the factory, and of wage-earning, do more than aught else to break home restraints. The working boy is usually the street boy, because the street offers more opportunity for relaxation after the long strain of a day's work, presenting a pleasing contrast with the dull sameness of home.

A vast proportion of criminals begin their criminal career as boys by some petty offense, small in itself, and often committed through ignorance, and not through intent to do wrong. It would be interesting to know how much of this ignorance is the result of early wage-earning, with its lack of opportunity for real training.

How much of the cost of the criminal system may be traced in its origin to the premature employment of children, is uncertain. One point, however, is evident. If it be true that "lines of commitment and lack of schooling run parallel" at least a proportion of the tax cost of the criminal system may be