Schoolboys as Train Wreckers
By T.
A two-hour battle was fought on April 19 between the Italian fleet and the shore batteries of the Turks on the Dardanelles. The Italians made the attempt to destroy some Turkish torpedo-boats, and other war-ships, but were not able fully to carry out their design, because of the fire from the shore. "Schoolboys as Train Wreckers"
UNDER the title that stands at the head of these paragraphs, the Examiner of San Francisco has the following to say: The attempt of half a dozen boys to wreck a passenger-train on the New York Central Railroad presents an appalling moral problem. The outrage took place within the city limits. The boys seen flying from the place as the train dashed into the railroad ties that had been heaped upon the tracks, appeared to be youngsters of public school age — from twelve to fifteen years. It is to be borne in mind that criminal exploits of this character are no novelty in this country. A long list of like events could be compiled out of a year's files of any newspaper. Also it is to be borne in mind that boys are gregarious creatures; it is impossible for any small group of boys to be very different from the larger group to which they belong. Thus it is to be inferred, from this incident, that not merely six boys, but many more boys in the district where this outlawry was perpetrated, are capable of sharing the motives and states of mind that go to the wrecking of a passenger-train — "for fun." Of course the boys that did this thing should, if identified, be punished in a severe and exemplary way. "Boys will be boys" — but there is no reason why boys should be felons. The real question is, How did it become possible for half a dozen schoolboys to think so basely and squalidly of human life as to be able to conceive and execute such a project? And again, What changes should be made in the training of schoolboys in New York and elsewhere so that such a deed can be satisfied with mere retribution? Certainly there have been times and places in which six schoolboys could not be found to wreck a passenger-train for fun. What is the matter with our times and our towns? What is the matter with our teaching, that such a thing can happen here and now? That is the question which reflective minds will consider upon hearing of the shocking and significant event of last Saturday. A little attention to the foregoing from the Examiner will serve to show that the editor who wrote those paragraphs recognizes that juvenile criminality has become sufficiently frequent to constitute a problem for "reflective minds." Not only do we have adult criminality alarmingly on the increase, but the children and youth of the rising generation are becoming so lawless as to cause deep concern among men and women who think. The overpowering corporations that control the money, the transportation, and the commodities of the nation, have not hesitated to use bribes to persuade men to violate the principles of right. Legislatures and city councils have been corrupted by the same means. This kind of work has been carried on everywhere, and the moral sense of large numbers of men has been blunted. And with the morals of men thus weakened, is it any wonder that there is lacking in the home the moral strength that would deter boys from such crimes? The committing of such crimes can not, in justice, be charged to the school. It is not what the public school teaches or fails to teach that is responsible for this juvenile criminality. It comes as a result of the lowering standard of morals in the home. Such youthful criminals do not come from the homes where the Ten Commandments are properly respected and taught. And where the morals of the home are not as they should be, no amount of work done by the school-teacher can correct the evil. The general intelligence of the world seems to be advancing in a very commendable way. But the recognized increasing criminality among mere children is only one of the many things which show that the morals of this world will soon reach the point where divine justice will have to strike against the prevailing iniquities.