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B mm^run^'^^mmmmmnm^nmwm^mmmmmm^nm^ ( I 2c REVIVAL OF THE 1 CURFEW LAW. A pape:f? SI-BMITTED BY J. J. KELSO, Toronto, SUPERiNTt-NLJtNT OF NEGLECIED AND DEPENDENT Children of Ontario 10 HIE ifX, 23rd National conference of Charities AND Correction HELD IN GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN JUNE 4-10, 1896. PRINTRKS, BOOK- BINDERS, ETC. '=0 V I yHERE are piobably no two opinions among I thoughtful people as to the moral dangers that beset the path of the young who are allowed a too free contact with street life, especially after even- ing sets in. Leaving out of consideration the need of rest, of early sleep, of healthy moral teaching in the home, there ia towering over all these the almost certain deMtructioii of pure instincts, the inculcation of vicious, soul-destroying thoughts, where children are allowed unlimited street-roving after dark. Those who labor for the fifood of humanity know fuli well how many darkened young life-histories there are that trace the first wrong step to the evil stories and suggestions heard while loitering in the streets after sundown. Many boys who have had good but indulgent parents have got oflf the track through the filthy communications, and the plottings of street -corner loitering. Many young girls, more foolish and giddy than wicked, have been cast down to life-long misery and shame through the associations formed under the allurement of dimly lighted streets and street- made ace l»rieHy suiiiniarized as follows : The Curfew Law is a good measure where it receives the unanimous endorsation of the better class of citizens, and is honestly carried out. The hour at which i s enforcement should be^in, is usually agreed upon as nine o'clock for summer and eight o'clock for winter. The age generally decided upon is fourteen, owing to the dilhculty of enforcing it on children over that age ; although many persons will agree that it might with advantage be applied to children up to sixteen years of age, girls particularly. Where the Curfew Law is passed without the public sentiment of the community cordially approving it, the enforcement will be ignored, and more harm than good will often result. Such a measure will not accomplish everything, but if its adoption and enforcement could save even a fair proportion of children from the dangers and vices of the streets, is it not worthy of consideration as one of the forces that go to develop and build up a strong moral, self-respecting and industrious nation i THE CURFEW IN ONTARIO. i 4 Neprly ten yeara ago the Curfew originated in the Province of Ontario, Canada, under the following cir cunistances : The Town Council of Waterloo decided thai, owing to the number of children noticed abroad at late hours, it would be desirible to have a fixed hour when all young folks should be at home. A resolution was introduced and carried to this eftect — that the town bell be rung every evening at nine o'clock, and that all young i)erson8 under fifteen years of age, not accompanied by their parents or guardians? be warned, and arrested if found repeatedly on the streets after the ringing (»f the bell. The law had a splendid effect, and as the bell began to ring children could be seen scaL:,.ering homo in all directions. There was no by-law passed and placed on the town records, but simply a resolution which was adopted by successive councils. This plan was copied by Berlin and subsequently by Owen Sound. Wording of the Act. When the Children's Law vras being considered by the Ontario Government in 1892, it was decided to give Permissive Legislation on the Curfew question, and the following section was placed in the Statute : (1) Municipal councils in cities, towns, and incor- porated villages shall have power to pass by-laws for the regulation of the time after which children shall not be in the streets at nightfall without proper guard- ianship and the age or apparent age. of boys and girls respectively, under which they shall be required to be in their homes at the hour appointed, and such muni- 8 cipal council shall in such case cause a bell or bells to be rung at or near the time appoincad as a warning, to be called the "Curfew Bell," after which the children so required to be in their homes or oft' the streets shall not be upon the public streets except under proper control or guardianship or for some unavoidable cause. (2) Any child so found after the time appointed shall be liable to be warned by any constable or peace oflicer to go home, and if after such warning the child shall be found loitering on the streets such child may be taken by such constable to its home. (3) Any parent or guardian may be summoned for permitting his child to habitually break said by-law after having been warned in writing, and may be fined for the first offence $1, without costs, and for the second offence $2, and for a third, or any subsequent offence, $(5. Where the Bell Rings. The Curfew By-law has been adopted in the follow- ing towns and cities of Ontario : Waterloo, Berlin, Owen Sound, Sault Ste. Marie, Cornwall, Kingston, Orillia, Lakefield, St. Thomas, Glencoe, Wallaceburof, Gait, Cobourg, CoUingwood, Barrie, Kincardine, Nor- wood, Leamington, Walkerton, Windsor, Amherts- burg, Woodstook, Peterboro', Gravenhurst, Wiarton, Alliston, Huntsville, Pai ley. Petition for the Curfew. At a meeting of the Town Council of Orillia, a strong petitition was presented in favor of the Curfew Bell. 9 >ells to irning, liildreri ts shall proper s cause. Dointed r peace le child Id may led for by-law 38 fined for the jequent I follow - Berlin, ngston, ceburg, e, Nor- inherts- /^iarton , ^ rillia, a Curfew The petition stated : — " We desire to call attention to the provisions of section 31, of the Children's Pro- tection Act, (56 Vic, Chap. 45,) and to ask that your honorable body may be pleased to pass a by-law there- under, for regulating the time after which children shall not be in the streets after nightfall, without pro- per guardianship. That your petitioners have in the past year gathered information from the several towns within which such a law has been in operation, and without exception the reports are favorable to the existence of such regulations. That your petitioners believe that such a law is in the best interests of the young people of our town, and will act as a wise restraint upon those who most need it. It will also put into the hands of our peace officers an unquestion- able authority after certain hours to control the actions of the unruly element in our juvenile population, and will assist in every way towards the maintainance of law and order. "Your petitioners are convinced that in thus en- deavoring to hold evil in check in its beginnings, a far- reaching advantage will be gained, and that the simple enactment asked for, may safeguard the lives of many little ones. " Your petitioners do therefore, seek your favorable action in makino: of practical benefit to this town, the recent well considered legislation of our Province." (A by-law was introduced and passed, every member present pledging himself to support it.) f I 10 A Curfew Proclamation. The following is a proclamation issued by one of the towns : PROCLAMATION : V. li. Pursuant to resolution of the Town Council, The Town Bell will be rung each evening at nine p.m. on and Hftt r Monday the lOth day of May, 1891, as a signal that all persona under FOURTEEN YEARS OF AGE are required to be within the enclosure of their own homes or lodging places, unless employed wit'dn the scope of their ordinary employment, on an errand, or attended by some adult person. And the POLICE FORCE of the town is hereby authorized to enforce the provis- ions of the said resolution according to law. John W. Frost, Mayor. Dated at Owen Sound, this nth day of May, 1891. 11 y one of ncil, The 3 p.m. on 1891, as a their own yrit'iin the rrand, or Opposed to the Curfew. A lady wrote to a business man asking if he would assist in getting a Curfew By-law adopted. In reply she received the following letter : Dear Madame,— Although your request seems to imply that you would not be pleased to hear from anyone not in favor of the curfew scheme, allow me respectfully to state that in so far as you relegate to policemen the duty of parents, you will degrade the rising generation. If there is street contamination after dark the better plan would appear to be to cleanse it away. If the youth of the city are led by your dark-age proposal to suppose that there is a forbidden delight in the streets after certain hours, no repressive law will pre- vent them seeking it any more than a prohibitive drinking 5 law prevents the drink habit, or the Sabbatarian law prevents I Sabbath desecration, as our Sabbath carriage saints exem- plify. I heartily trust for the sake of human progress and the sacredness of individual freedom, that you will not, even temporarily succeed in your vain endeavor to make people righteous by act of penal law. Yours Truly, Aim of the Curfew. he provis- DST, Mayor. " We read in the papers that Toronto wants the Curfew bell, whose tolling at an early evening hour shall be the signal for all young persons under a given age to leave the streets and go home for the night. Some people smile at such an idea and regard it as antiquated and puritanical, but any city that adopts and faithfully executes such a law will reap a golden harvest, rich in the health and morality of the coming generation, rich in the decrease of crime and rich in 12 resources of iiiuniGipal and national strength. Few me.i become drunkards who abstain until twenty-five. Few men become sensualists who retain their purity until twenty- five. Few men become criminals after that age. If we could only keep the rising generation in the path of virtue, honesty, morality, chastity, un- til they pass through their teens, we would bankrupt almost every saloon and house of shame and gambling hell in the land. These traps of the devil all look to the children of to-day to take the place of the victims now in their grasp. And if the social purity move- ment is to a'^rest the threatened destruction of the nation it must reach out its arms to save the young." — Rev. J. W. Hunter, D.D., at Montreal, Dec. 19, 1895. A Watchman's Crv. In the olden time when the Curfew Bell was a law applying to householders generally — adults as well as children — the following is said to have been one of the calls used by the watchmen as they passed from street to street : — Cover the fire I Put out the lights I It is nine o' the clock 1 Not an Arbitrary Measure. " The Curfew tolls the knell of parting day, some- times at eight and sometimes at nine o'clock in several of the towns in this province. It no longer means *' lights out," but is simply a summons to the little boys and girls to betake themselves ofl the street to 13 rth. Few enty-five. eir purity nals after generation astity, un- bankrupt [ gambling ill look to he victims dty move- on of the young." — ;. 19, 1895. I was a law I as well as I one of the from street day, aome- ik in several nger means o the little he street to the shelter of the domestic roof, where their sphere of danger, of bad comj)any, and of mischief will be nar- rowed, while fuller scope will bo given to their capacity for rest. The Curfew bell might be looked upon as a j)iece of socialistic presumption on the part of the municipality, as an encroachment on the inalienable private right of the head of the family to order the affairs of his own household. But the moral sense of the town will wink at this elbowing aside of the parent by the municipality. The town which orders all un- attended children to their homes at eight or nine o'clock in the evening really usurps none of the func- tions of the parents. The parent who looks after his little boys and girls puts strict limits on their liberty at night, and is neither benefitted nor inconvenienced by the bell. But if the parents are so indifferent to their children's welfare as to let them wander at will after twilight, then the duty of watching over these children is not assumed by, but is thrust on the town." — Toronto Mail. No Undue Interference. The law only interferes with those parents in whom the moral sense is dead and who ignore the duty they owe to the community in which their defectivelj'^- trained child must live. Legislation is always essential in restraining the vicious and punishing those who defy public opinion in matters ff vital importance. The Chief Constable Approves. " A great deal of fun was made of the by-law which established the Curfew bell, and required that it be rung each evening at a certain hour as a warning to ^5 14 boys and girls of tender years to leave the streets and seek the seclusion of their homes. There are some persons who fail to see that the by-law is as useful as it was intended, since they are constantly colliding with the small boys as they congregate about every place of entertainment, and seeing on the streets girls who are out walking when they should be at rest and asleep, but the report of the Chief of Police is, that the by-law is fairly successful, and that it has done a great deal of good." — Kingston Whig, MONTKEAL IN LiNE. In Montreal a city of 250,000 people, a strong effort is being made to secure the passing of a police ordinance prohibiting girls under sixteen from selling small wares on the streets ; boys and girls from going to the theatres unless accompanied by their parents, and boys and girh under fifteen from being out of their homes after nine p.m., unless for good and sufficient reasons. This is a radical measure in the direction of public supervision, but it goes no further than the failure of parents to perform their duty makes necessary and imperative. Then it is not the children but the parents upon whom the penalty is laid by the Act, since it is now generally conceded that in nearly every case of wrong-doing, it is the father and mother who should be called to account. The Curfew law does not require that children should be arrested, they are simply to be warned and if necessary taken to their homes, and whera it is desirable that an example should be made, the parent or guardian is rendered liable to a fine of one dollar for the first offence, and two dollars for a second offence. 15 peets and are some useful as colliding out every reets girls rest and e is, that as done a a strong f a police ym selling om going • parents, ig out of jood and re in the lo further iity makes e children a,id by the in nearly id mother irfew law sted, they en to their example rendered ence, and Improve the Home Life. An argument often used against the Curfew is that the homes of many children are not much better than the streets. If that be true let the aim of all classes be to improve the home, and insist on its being made a better place in which children may dwell. An Opinion from Chicago. 1 1. Another imminent peril to youthful uprightness, which menaces the future of mulitudes now guileless and happy, is the frequenting of the streets by children at untimely hours. This habit must inevitably lead to most deplorable results. It is during the period of darkn ss that evil is rampant, and contamination lurks in the gloom. We trust appropriate legislation will soon check this alarming tendency. The revival of the Curfew bell in Canada, and the adoption of a similar restraint in some parts of our own country, emphasize the necessity of a timely preventive, and possibly suggest an adequate remedy."— Humane Journal^ Chicago. Curfew in Minnesota. The fhilanfhrojJist, of New York, says : The ex- tensive : V J of the Curfew in many cities and towns is note- ; i i Iry and significant. It is stated that thirty- one towi in Minnesota alone have recently passed what is known as *' the Curfew Ordinance," by which all children under the age of sixteen are to be ofl* the streets after nine o'clock at night. In the past six months Curfew ordinances have been adopted in mm 16 various towns in Oregon, Washington, Idalu), South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Michigan, MiBsouri, In- diana and Greorgia. The movement has not yet been inaugurated in the Eastern States. It seems likely, however to spread throughout the country. Adminis- tered with discretion to avoid especially hardship to the poor in exceptional cases, it would undoubtedly be a gain in many ways to have the Curfew bell again sounded at nine o'clock, and to have children thus called from the streets. The street associations in the evening of children unattended by parents or guardians are often evil and fraught with peril to the morals of both sexes . The Curfew in Omaha. The Curfew finds favor in some parts of the United States as well as in Canada. The city council of Omaha by a late vote of thirteen to four, passed the Curfew ordinance over the mayor's veto, and the law is to take eflect immediately. It provides that girls under fifteen years of age are to be at home by eight p.m. in the winter and nine in the summer. Children accompanied by grown person in the performance of any errand or other duty, or going to or from work, will not be molested. Parents or guardians allowing child- ren to be out on the streets without reasonable cause after the prescribed hours are subject to a twenty-five dollar fine. Policemen are given full power to enforce the ordinance but they do not place in confinement any child until after its parents or guardian have been noti- fied and have refused to become responsible for the non-observance of the law. ), South •uri, In- yet been 5 likely, V-dminis- dship to )tedly be }ll again ren thus ns in the uardians lorals of le United juncil of issed the I the law hat j:;irls by eight Children mance of vork, will ing child- ible cause lenty-five to enforce jment any been noti- le for the % / ';^;: I I h u ''^^MB.'"' » Ate' ♦* * 5 t . *^ ■---SiJ. 4