Is your son a gangster? - Just a moment, I beg you. Keep your dignity and think of where your boy spent his time during the last few weeks. Perhaps he is a gangster and you know nothing about it.

The above mentioned words are not our own. We are not quite that pessimistic. This was quoted from a writer in one of the large English newspapers in Chicago, - a man, who for a long time, has studied the various boys' gangs in Chicago. It is, therefore, of interest and importance to hear what he has to say and then to think seriously about it.

2

In Chicago, there are hundreds of gangs. Their memberships run into the thousands. Most of the members are between the ages of 10 and 18 years. Those that have long been with the gang and whose careers have not been ended by the Juvenile Court have become hardened criminals, or associate with such.

The remarkable feature in this gang situation is that most parents of these children know about them but take very little interest in the matter. These parents generally give one of two excuses: They believe it is an innocent club for boys that their son belongs to, or, on the other hand if they know the nature of the gang they have no knowledge of their boy's being a member there.

3

When that criminal, Webb, who murdered a policeman, was arrested, his mother and sister were surprised and frightened to death. At first they believed that surely this was some mistake. It was extremely hard for them to imagine that "their boy," their own dear child and brother is that hardened criminal that Chicago police have so long sought. There are today in Chicago hundreds of mothers, thousands of sister, who may be astounded by their sons and brothers, as the Webbs were, when their sons will be caught and their careers halted by arrest.

The hundreds of gangs in Chicago, have their hide outs or rooms in old half broken down shanties, in the city alleys, or in dens or pits in the sparsely populated neighborhoods. The barns and pits of these gangs 4are full of the loot of their robberies. They have secret codes and keep their mouths shut. This code is strictly adhered to, since in no other place does he meet the punishment that is here dealt to the gang member who violates its secrets.

Mr. John H. Witter, the superintendent of the Chicago Boys' Club, claims that people do not rightly understand the Chicago gangs. The public pictures the word "gangster" usually as a man who shows the lines of criminal tendencies in his face. But, as a fact, this is false. The gangster is generally a young boy of about 16 or 18 years of age in whom one can see no harm. But he is a criminal. He is a thief, a petty thief as yet.

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When he reaches his 17th or 18th year he becomes more and more the criminal. The Chicago police can bear witness to the fact that there isn't a more desperate law-breaker than the young gangster. An old hand is very cautious with his tools. He avoids the crime of murder. But a youngster will unwittingly shoot a policeman the minute he sees him. He would cold bloodedly shoot a person just to have a bit of "excitement." And, because he does not show the symptoms of a true criminal, it is difficult to find him. After he has committed a murder he goes home and behaves as a normal innocent child would.

According to Superintendent Witter the entire blame for the existence of gangsters in Chicago can be laid at the door of their environment. The city boy reaches his most trying period at the age of 10. Up to this 6time, the boy has played in his home. He has toys and playthings that occupy his young mind. But at ten his desires change. He must have new thoughts and things to amuse him such as his home does not furnish. Especially in the more crowded neighborhoods is it hard for the boy to find a more suitable preoccupation. Then he travels far from home to distant empty lots or alleys to meet other young boys like himself.

It is in the nature of young boys when they meet to get together and do things. The spirit that accompanies this first step is very good. It is the right one to take. The club that they thus form may have a very good educational value of healthy play and amusement. But they have no one to direct and lead this club. Thus without guidance it may easily be transformed into a group of bad children.

7

The youngsters, so organized, now roam about seeking entertainment. If they are in the country they go to hunt squirrels. They roam the woods gathering nuts, or go swimming at the nearest creek, or even to fish. But, the city boys do not have these opportunities. Their first expedition is to an old empty house. The plumbing is removed and sold and with the money they buy, of course, candy. But you can't confine yourself only to tearing down plumbing; and besides, in the more densely settled neighborhoods, the rooms are not often empty. The boys must therefore seek other means of obtaining excitement and cash. Thus, the filching begins.

Should one of these boys be caught early in his career and placed in the hands of the Juvenile Court, he may yet be saved. But if he should avoid arrest until he is 19, he will have become a full-fledged criminal that enters a large criminal gang operated by such persons as the Webb boy.

8

There are certain places in Chicago where the average local citizen is afraid to go when it is dark, because they are known as hideouts for gangsters, bandits and tough youths. Hundreds of businessmen in the districts of the tenements and the schools are being constantly robbed by these young gangsters who break into stores whether some one is there or not.

Mr. Witter has come to the conclusion that the gangster problem is not only the task of the Chicago police but should be the problem of the entire community. The Chicago Boys' Club of which Mr. Witter is the director, has done much to rescue our youth. It is done by taking the boy off the street and giving him a place to play and to amuse himself in the clubrooms. But, the Boys' Club, inspite of the fact that it has many buildings in the various parts of the city cannot enter more than a limited number of boys. The club membership at present consists of 1,500 boys.

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This is but a drop in the bucket as compared with the hordes of children that leave the straight and narrow path.

"There is one thing I want to warn parents about," says Superintendent Witter. "That is, not to oppose the organization of children. It is the best thing for them. Some children even have to be encouraged to organize in clubs. But, parents should make it their business to know all that takes place there and should even participate, to help their boys in club work and keep them from gangster tendencies. The entire question is just a matter of play. Give the children many good play-grounds and you will find that the energies the tenement children are expending on bad features will be spent on worthy and useful purposes.

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"What Chicago's parents must understand is that these small untutored gangs are the biggest schools for law-breakers, and that the youngster who graduates from these schools is the most horrible of criminals. He becomes accustomed to crimes from his earliest youth and he does his unholy work with exceptional spirit, not as crime, but as exciting sport. - What, then, were the automobile gangsters that terrorized Chicago, about a year ago? They stole, and robbed, and murdered, more for sport than for hunger or thirst."

E. M. Wolfson.