CORRECTIONAL AGRICULTURE 297 



example to the community. Reliable and adaptable seed should 

 be provided the neighboring farmers and they should be per- 

 mitted to purchase at a nominal cost thoroughbred stock. 



JUVENILE DELINQUENCY IN RURAL NEW YORK 1 



KATE HOLLADAY CLAGHORN 



A GENERAL impression is abroad that juvenile delinquency is 

 peculiarly a problem of the cities and especially of the foreign 

 population of the cities. In so far as this impression is based 

 upon statistics of arraignments or commitments it must be veri- 

 fied from some other source, because of the unfitness of such 

 statistics to give adequate information about the problem. In 

 cities many acts which are disregarded in the country districts 

 are punishable by law: and in cities the standard of enforce- 

 ment of law, especially against children, is much more rigorous, 

 than in the country. The result is that the official record of 

 rural juvenile delinquency is unduly low because it fails to in- 

 clude much bad conduct that is passed over without court action 

 and soon forgotten but which, if committed in the city, would 

 bring the children concerned to the judgment of the court and 

 add their names to the list of delinquents. 



We can say, however, from the facts brought to light, that 

 there is a problem of juvenile delinquency in rural districts and 

 that it is a serious one. During the investigation little com- 

 munities were found which at first sight appeared to have no 

 problem yet, after study, each yielded up a quota of "bad" 

 children of various grades. The showing in the pages of the 

 report may well bring doubt into the minds of readers who are 

 under a delusion that their own neighborhoods are free from 

 taint. 



Looking over the case histories and such summary figures as 

 we are able to use, we find emerging distinctly two general types 

 of character: The active, enterprising, intelligent child the 

 born leader and the duller and more stupid child, the natural 



i "Juvenile Delinquency in Rural New York," U. S. Department of 

 Labor, Children's Bureau, Washington, D. C., pp. 11, 15, 21-31, 40, 54; 

 Bulletin Pub. No. 32. 



