many cases are never entered on the docket. All counties were investigated of which thirty out of forty-four responded.

The observations of the judges as to cause and remedy, and the transcripts of the individual cases are compiled in readable form to support the statistics. Lastly, I include some observations of my own gained from my personal investigations and dealing with delinquents and courts. With these explanations I submit the following.

GENERAL SURVEY OF THE FIELD

Idaho is a state supported largely by agriculture. Our total population according to the 1920 census was 450,000 spread over the huge area of 80,000 square miles. Over three quarters of our people are supported directly or indirectly by agriculture and its kindred pursuits. In the state are 889 towns and villages, only 9 of which have over 5000 population. We have only one city, which is Boise, the capital of the state, with 25,000 people. Pocatello is the only other city in the state with over 10,000 population, it being credited with 17,000. The latter is the only railroad center in the state. With the exception of a few small towns in North Idaho supported by lumbering and mining, all of the towns and villages are supported by adjacent agricultural districts. Outside of lumber mills, a few sugar factories and the mines, we have no industries which employ a large amount of labor. Our shipping routes are all through transcontinental lines, and being inland we have no seaports. The population is white, largely native born, and much of it recently emigrated from the middle west.

All religions are represented in the population, the protestants predominating, some Catholics and a few Jews. with the southern part of the state largely peopled with Mormons. Politically the state is normally Republican, but it is not a fixed quantity.

The per capita wealth of Idaho is fairly high being $1108.00. We have a few rather large fortunes in the state, but we have scarcely any genuine poverty as it is known in large cities. As a practical matter, and with rare exceptions there is work for everybody, so that no one need starve. However, during the past four years, Idaho farmers have suffered enormously from the agricultural depression, and times have been difficult.

A complete school system extends into every county of the state, which is under the direct control of the state, with local self government by means of districts. Education of children is compulsory.

Idaho, therefore, furnishes a typical rural field for investigation, with almost a total absence of those elements such as large cities, shipping terminals, and factories, which tend toward excitation to crime. So this survey will undoubtedly apply to other such communities, and will be of interest to those charged with law enforcement in them.

THE MACHINERY FOR THE ENFORCEMENT OF JUVENILE LAWS

The control of juvenile delinquents in Idaho is vested by law in the probate judge of each county, there being 44 counties in the state. These probate judges are elected bi-annually at the general elections, through party politics. In addition to their juvenile jurisdiction, they are charged with the probate of decedents' estates, guardianships, and a limited civil jurisdiction. The power of these judges over delinquents is exclusive, and practically unlimited after the fact of delinquency is established. The Board of Commissioners of each county is also empowered to employ a probation officer, who is the field man acting in co-operation with the probate judge and the school authorities.

In addition all peace officers of the counties and towns assist in the detection of delinquency and in bringing the delinquent before the probate court. In some few of the larger counties a county nurse is employed, and in some the local Red Cross has provided a welfare worker, but this is not common practice.

For temporary detention of juveniles there is provided in all but a few instances only the local county or city jail, where the juvenile must share space with adults convicted of petty offense, or waiting trial for felonies. In most cases the jails are old, poorly lighted, more or less unclean and with but meagre provision for the care of females. For convicted offenders the state provides the Industrial Training School at St. Anthony, where the delinquent is confined, pending parole, with other delinquents. Some delinquents without homes are sent to the two "Children's Homes," but these latter are primarily for the care of orphans.

The probate judge has the power of commitment, or he may parole the delinquent subject to periodical reporting. He must compel attendance at school of children under 16 years of age. He can take delinquent children away from unfit parents and institutionalize them.

Thus it can be seen that the law has made provision for the detection of delinquency, for its punishment after it happens and for the care of delinquent, but, aside from those communities providing a county nurse or other welfare worker, no attempt is made to investigate physical and social conditions which bring on delinquency. Indeed, most public officials in Idaho look upon such work as an extravagance and a waste of public funds. Except the organizations in a few of the large towns, there are no voluntary associations engaged in the work. The delinquent child is never noticed until he breaks the peace and becomes a public charge.

I am convinced that the probate judges of the state do the very best they can with a difficult problem. But they are untrained men, often along in years, dealing with a problem which trained scientists cannot solve. They are also charged with other burdensome duties, and as a practical matter they are confined to their offices by routine. Their probation officers, when they have one, are subject to the same limitations. The office is entirely political, and many unfit men necessarily are elected. These men are not required, nor do they have the time, to investigate social conditions. Police officers are employed to detect delinquencies and catch the offender, and nothing more. Then, too, the great areas and distances of the various counties, with their widely scattered communities, often precludes any personal contact with the probate judge, who resides at the county seat.

Although required by law, the court records of delinquency in the counties of the state have been carelessly and inadequately kept, in many instances not at all. An accurate check is impossible, much must be left to estimations from known figures.

STATISTICS OF JUVENILE DELINQUENCY IN IDAHO FROM 1914-1923

INCLUSIVE

The statistics obtained on delinquency in Idaho during the past ten years were obtained directly from the probate judges, and embrace all cases of which a record has been kept. The figures are as nearly accurate as can be obtained. Unquestionably in nearly all counties the records are not complete, and as nearly as can be estimated there are two or three times more unrecorded delinquencies in the smaller counties than are reported. However, I believe that these figures represent

the trend of delinquency not only in Idaho, but throughout the nation, and to my surprise correspond rather closely to figures compiled for large cities.

As G. Stanley Hall remarks in his "Adolescence," "Although vice is very different from crime, and although but a relatively small proportion of all offenders are caught and sentenced, the number of convictions affords one of the best indexes of the general state of morality of any age."

I therefore submit the following:

TABLE A

First, as to delinquencies by years, table A gives the annual report for all crimes by counties for the ten-year period ending 1923. From Table A these facts appear.

(1) Juvenile delinquency shows no material increase up to 1918, and a constant increase since 1918, both by county and by state, the figures for the state being:

For the five years ending in 1918 there were recorded 2536 delinquencies.

For the five years ending in 1923 there were recorded 5250 delinquencies.

The per cent of increase is practically 100 per cent as recorded. Ada County apparently has furnished the only set of complete statistics for all juvenile detentions, it furnishing 5161 cases out of the ten-year total of 7786. But this comparison is unfair, as the total of 2625 for the smaller counties should be at least tripled to care for the unreported cases. So the total should read 10,000 cases to be even approximately accurate. Even at that the percentage of Ada County is astonishingly large. In great part it can be accounted for by better records, extra activity of the probate judge and the use of two trained welfare workers. To my mind, it is a good sign, rather than bad. The small communities show practically the same per cent of increase as does the state at large in recorded cases, and undoubtedly their unrecorded cases correspond. Kootenai County is a typical county with apparently well kept records, its figures showing 142 cases for the five years ending 1918, and 282 for the five years ending 1923, or practically the identical increase.

The years of 1922-1923 produced 2444 cases, or about one-third of the entire ten-year total. For Ada County the year 1922 was the most prolific of delinquency with 999 cases. For the smaller counties the year 1925 was the premier, with a total of 492 cases.

TABLES B AND C

Table B is compiled for different crimes by sex for the five years ending 1918.

Table C is a similar table for the five years ending 1923.

A comparison of these tables shows the following:

For the periods in all of the counties there were committed:

Thus, to recapitulate, recorded sex crimes increased 112 per cent, property crimes 170 per cent, general misbehavior 81 per cent, assaults none, and intoxication 1000 per cent.

Other facts can be gleaned from these tables; thus, as to the

In this period the girls were docketed two times more often than boys for sex crimes. The boys committed 11 times as many property crimes, 5 times as much general misbehavior, 13 times as many assaults and 16 times were intoxicated as against none for girls.

For the period ending 1923 there was committed:

In this period girls were arrested twice as often as boys for sex crimes-boys committed property crimes 11 times more often, general misbehavior 5 times more often, assaults 221⁄2 times more often, and intoxication 4 times more often.

The percentages are identical as between males and females for the two periods, except as to assaults and intoxication, where females gained.

Boys increased from 2061 to 4348, or 111 per cent. Girls increased from 476 to 907, or 96 per cent.

TABLE D

Table D is a summary of the ten-year period by kind of crime and sex for the various counties. It has been prepared for the purpose of comparison by counties, and will give a true indicia of comparative delinquency over the state.

TABLES E TO H

These tables are compiled from the record of the State Industrial School, which are accurate and complete. They sustain the county statistics, and strongly verify the conclusions which I have derived, as hereinbefore indicated.

For example Table E shows a steady increase in commitments from 1914 to 1923, with the high peak in 1922 and 1923. The total number of commitments in the ten-year period is 1140. The total commitments for the period 1914-1918 inclusive were 445; for the period 1919-1923 inclusive were 695, an increase of 250 in number and 56 per cent in percentage.

PERCENTAGE OF INCREASE BY CRIMES