THE NOME NUGGET
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MKMBF.R OF ASSOCIATED PRESS
Youthful Criminals
It saves money to save youth. Recent studies show
that it cost the community $500 to $750 a year to keep
a youthful offender in prison, not counting the original
cost of building correctional institutions, but that
good probation can be provided for less than $75.
Every time a boy is sent to prison who could be saved
by good probation and psychiatric care, it costs society
an initial outlay of $500 a year, and in addition t(Te
community loses what that boy could produce in the
nation’s war effort.
No one can tell how much war production a youth
ful offender could accomplish but certainly $2,000 a
year is a modest estimate of the average. That means
that every time we sent to prison an able bodied youth
who is capable of war production the nation loses at
least $2,500 a year. We must protect ourselves from
the dangerous criminal young or old, and the statis
tics of the Department of Justice show that many of
our worst criminials are young, 19 being the peak age
for all crimes.
But many of the crimes of adolesence are crimes of
exuberance and restlessness. Fifty years ago a boy
on a farm could stretch his muscles by jumping on a
horse—and if the horse belonged to a neighbor instead
of himself he wasn’t taken to jail for the offense. If
mischief called loudly he stole an apple — and still
went to Sunday School. Today in our great cities the
grandson of that farm boy may take a “joy-ride” in a
stolen car, and come before a court charged with a fel
ony. In such cases the crime should not be measured
in terms of the value of the car. Morally there are no
$500 and $1,000 crimes. The whole circumstances and
the character of the boy should be considered. Usually
common sense and understanding in dealing with such
a boy may pay good dividends.
For five years New York City has been trying, an
( xDeriment. an adolescents’ court for special handling
of boys 16, 17 and 18 charged with crimes. In that court
4 he better boys are sifted out and placed on proba
tion. eventually escaping with no criminal record on
the court’s books if they complete the probation per
iod satisfactorily.
A recent study of this court compared the later
criminal records of 500 New York boys, some of
whom had been treated in this way and some by the
ordinary criminal processes of adult courts. The
study, which covered the five-year period after orig
inal arrest, showed that boys who had committed the
same types of crimes had a better chance of rehabili
tation if they were handled in this special court, apart
from older criminals. Of the boys handled as adult
criminals, 29 percent were convicted again in New
York City within five years; of the boys given this
special treatment without the stigma of a criminal
record only 15 percent were later convicted. —Juneau
Daily PImpire.
Diversion Tarlies
The enemy must be getting more anxious about our
preparations and moves in the Pacific. Otherwise he
would not be trying so desperately to create a diver
sion by submarine operations in the Gulf and off our
Pacific Coast. For these operations are risky. Sub
marines cannot enter an enclosed area such as the
Caribbean and expose their presence at a point so far
from the entrances of the sea as Aruba without taking
very grave chances of never getting home again. Nor
can the sea raiders operate on a well-defined hostile
shore 4.000 miles from their nearest base without run
ning similar risks.
The officers and men of these submarines must have
known full well when they set out on their perilous
missions that return was unlikely. But human beings
can be inspired to take such risks by having held be
fore them the ideal of sacrifices for a great purpose.
American tankers can be sunk elsewhere than in
the Caribbean. Shells can be fired into American terri
tory elsewhere than on the California coast. It seems
certain that there must have been in the minds of
those who sent the suicide subs on these missions, the
hope that these operations would divert strength from
the main American effort in the Pacific.
Diversions such as these are not uncommon in war
fare. Their success depends on a variety of factors —
the importance, both in the morale and material scale,
of the targets menaced by the diversionary force; the
skill and determination with which these diversions
are carried out; the ever-present factors of time and
distance, and above all, the morale of the opposing side,
both in the tough-mindedness of the high command,
and the resistance qualities of the populace.
Communication
(Daily Alaska Empire)
The Editor, March 15—I have
read with great interest your edi
torial published in the March
14 issue of the Empire, entitled
"Youthful Criminals.” The ar
ticle draws attention in its early
paragraphs to the practical side
of keeping youths out. of prison
! and thereby assisting in the de
fense effort of the nation. The 1
| remainder of the editorial draws
attention to the fundamental prin
; ciple underlying the treatment
; of juvenile delinquency. It is a j
practical illustration of what so-;
cial planning and treatment can '
1 do for the youth of today who j
through no basic fault, of their j
own find themselves in the coils j
: of the law, possibly for so-called j
crimes, no more serious than!
their natural instincts for the re |
lease of pent-up enthusiasm and
energy have resulted in the tech
nical violation of statutes design
ed for the protection of society
from the ruthless depredations of
persons who have no respect or
consideration for the rights of
others.
The editorial confirms the fact
that the nation is and has plan
ned for many years for the pro
tection of children and is doing
everything possible that they
may grow up to be useful, digni
fied and respected citizens of the
greatest democracy on earth —
| such principles being denied and
| of ridiculous thought in the Nazi
1 Fascist psychology of world dom
! ination. The youth of today is
j the nation of tomorrow, and no
: more far-reaching concept of
• democracy can be illustrated,:
j than the serious consideration1
1 now being given to the rights of
the youth of America, than that1
1 they shall be1 guaranteed the free
privileges of education, training
and the opportunities of becom
ing mora'ly responsible for the
democratic principles of civiliza
tion.
To bring the psychology of
juvenile planning and practice
d rectly home to Alaskans, per
mit me to refer to a legislative
measure introduced during the
1941 seas on of the Alaska Legis
lature, which measure incidental
i y failed of passage, and is there
fore nut on the statute books of
Alaska today. I refer to House
Bill No. 77 proposing a Juvenile.
Code for Alaska and repealing
conflicting laws now on the
books. The suggested proced
1 ure for the handlhig of juvenile 1
delinquency would guarantee to j
a juvenile and to society that a ,
, child would not be found guilty i
' of a criminal act merely for be-!
ing dependent, or because of oth- j
er minor violations classed as i
misdemeanors. Under our pres-!
' ont statutes in order for such aj
child to receive the protection of
the Boards of Children’s Guard- I
i ians, he must be found guilty in j
! the U. S. Commissioner’s courts, j
his name being attached to a
criminal record with exists per-j
, manently in the records of the
court. The procedure for hearing ,
the case is a bona fide trial with !
all of the rules of introduction of
evidence and judgement being .
returned in the form of a com
mitment which brands the juvo- j
nile as a criminal. These prac-1
tices exist in Alaska as far as
children of the white race are
i concerned. Under the conflicting
authority of the various statutes,
1 Alaskan children of native blood |
can be tried in the same manner
! and in all other respects would
i be committed. However, ironical
ly enough, there is no place of i
j committment for such class of
1 children. Therefore, very few
: cases of juvenile delinquency 1
among the native children of Al- j
aska are conserved in the Com- j
missioner's courts because of this !
j apparent conflict of authority and
1 as a result nothing further in
! most cases is done about the con
ditions which originally prompt
j ed the case in the beginning.
House Bill 77 was prepared by j
, the Alaska Department of Public
I Welfare after considerable re- ;
search and advice from promin- j
ient nationally-known societies,
i and organizations who have as- j
| sisted nearly every state in the j
nation in modifying and correct
ing its juvenile codes for the ;
benefit of the child and society
' as a whole. The bill was an ef-'
i fort to correct the situations re-1
! ferred to above, and while it j
1 J
AMATEUR RADIO
LICENSING IS TO
RE RESUMED
The Federal Communica
lions Commission, at the
request of the War and
Navy Departments, has re
sumed the issuance of new
amateur radio operator li
censes.
The Commission is advis
ed that the classification of
men for Navy and Army
radio duty is facilitated
greatly if such persons
who are qualified to hold a
radio operator license are
in a position to verify this
fact by exhibiting their li
cense.
When cessation of am
ateur station operators was
ordered following the out
break of the war, the Com
mission followed a policy
of not issuing any new am
ateur operator licenses or
amateur station licenses, al
though examinations for
the former have continued
to be conducted. As a re
sult, there are approximate
lv 1500 applicants who
have successfuly complet
ed the examination for op
erator’s license and have
complied with the provi
sions of Commission Order
No. 75 (proof of U. S. cit
izenship) and arc now
qualified to receive new op
erator licenses.
SOURDOUGH STATIONERY
Write to your friends and rela
tives on the 'Outside,' using Sour
tough Stationery They'll get a
>ig kick out of it.
WITH THE PEOPLE
BY THE PEOPLE
FOR THE PEOPLE
might not have received the com
plete approval of the members
of the legislature, it was advoeat
ed strenuously in order to bring
to the attention of the Alaska
Legislature the importance of
correcting outmoded and damag
ing laws which exist in Alaska
today. Due to the peculiar judic
ial system of the Territory of
Alaska and its reliance upon fed
eral courts, the principle of juve
nile hearings was placed in the
jursdiction of the U. S. Commis
sioner’s courts, with complete
safeguard to the civil rights of
the juvenile and with complete
opportunity for appeal to the Dis
tret Courts in cases of unjust
decisions. Alaska has been fore
most among the states in plan
ning for (he welfare of children
and the adult populaton of the
Territory. It has recognized
many times over its responsibil
ity for handicapped, dependent
and deserving children.
I feel confident that with pro
er consideration by the 1943 Al
aska Legislature some corrective
measures will be taken to pre
vent the youth of Alaska from
being classed as criminals in or
der to be afforded the advantages
and privileges of a free democ
racy, for which The United Stat
es of America and all other demo
cratic nations of the world are
fighting for today.
I believe your editorial is well
timed, is a serious discussion of
what is being done elsewhere in
the nation for the welfare of
children, and points the finger of
responsibility to the people of
Alaska to do their part in seeing
that “the youth of today become
the nation of tomorrow”—a na
tion dedicated since its creation
to the principle that all people
shall have the right to live as I
free people, worship as they
choose and govern themselves in
their common interests and for
their common welfare.
(Signed) Sincerely yours, Rus
sell G. Maynard, Director Alaska
Department of Public Welfare.
PIONEER LINE
Bases At
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ALASKA AIRLINES
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CAA To Inaugurate Program
Train Communication Personnel
A program for the training of communications per
sonnel is to be inaugurated in the near future by the
Civil Aeronautics Administration at Anchorage. This
program, which is described fully in a booklet entitled
“Eighth Region Aircraft Training Program,” is, in a
sense, a Territorial project inasmuch as it is planned
to make it available only to residents of Alaska and
is believed to represent a definite opportunity for a
number of qualified persons who are interested in this
type of vocation.
This is the first program of its kind to be undertaken
by the Administration. It has been necessitated by an
acute shortage, of communication personnel required
to complement existing and new Airway Communica
tion Stations throughout the territory.
The initial class will accomodate a student group
of twenty-eight, which capacity is capable of being
expanded if necessary. Touch-typing experience is ad
vantageous and preference will be given applicants
who show conclusively that they are able to operate
a typewriter at a minimum speed of forty words per
minute by touch-system. Class facilities are expected
to be ready for operation within a month. However, a
date for beginning of instruction has not yet been an
nounced and training will probably not begin prior to
April first.
The training program is under the immediate super
vision of Mr. W. E. Cruse, CAA Communications In
spector, formerly in charge of CAA communication
facilities at Juneau.
WANTS CRACK AT JAPS
Walter Bozarth (above), 20, former army sergeant and
expert machine gunner of Olympia, Wash., is a man
with a purpose. Whe nhe learned his father and bro
ther had been killed at Pearl Harbor he decided to
re-enter his country’s service by enlisting in the Navy
at San Diego, Calif. “Al I want,” he said, ‘‘is to get a
couple of Japs in the sights of my machine gun. That’s
all I want.” (Official U. S. Navy photo).
THEY WOULD READ YOUR AD
TOO, IF IT APPEARED HERE