THE LATE JUDGE FRAZER

Otago Witness, Issue 2809, 15 January 1908, Page 70

THE LATE JUDGE FRAZER

By Spencer Clapham.

J*ist three weeks before Christmas the Jbows of Portland, Oregon, lost their great and loved friend Judge Frazer, of Juveni'e Court fame. With a suddenness that was

tragical this man was called from the work he was peculiarly fitted to undertake, leaving the city to wonder and to

mourn. Only a few months ago he wrote most cheerfully of his work in Oregon, end spoke hopefully of the beginning "We had. made in New Zealand. It was

One of the .grand things about him that the' light of love for humanity, and especially for the girl and boy part of it, had come to him While he was still in the prime of life and in full possession of that piagnetism and subtle influence so proJiounoed in the young. The ways of Providence are incomprehensible to mortals. Judging with our Judgment, measuring by our human stand- _ axis, we should conclude that the world has sustained a loss, an irreparable loss, by Judge Frazer's death. There is probably no man in the whole of America

■who can fill as he filled the dual position _©f Circuit Court judge arid friend of " wayyr&xd" boys. Judge Frazer would never call them bad boys, would never admit they were bad. Poor children, they might be mentally weak or perverse, or they might have been neglected so shamefully x that they were almost beyond control. They -Inight have become, through wrongful treat-

inent suffered, a menace for the rest of their. lives to society ; hut they were never toad. They were boys needing what hitherto they had missed — good boys, "without the advantages which had kept ; other boys right ; and his friendship, his Unconditional friendship, was the first good " influence of which they became conscious. Their physical needs, their home surroundings, their recreations, the friendship of good teachers, the regulation of their lives — these were his cares. The responsibilities of a father were cheerfully and - earnestly undertaken by this judge. I w«ll remember a. group of boys who were piustered along the sandy beach of -the iWillammette. " Where's Joe-? " asked one of the other. " He's down 'long with Jedge, Frazer 'to seaside." It was just a hundred miles to . i/he coast, so first opportunity I asked the judge how he managed to take his 'Jboyß there. "Well, I thought it best to nave them out at the coast. Many of « the boys have poor entertainment here in -the city, and the holidays seem very long. "Mr Hawley has charge of the camp, and the boys get plenty of fun. There's bathing and rowing,' fishing — good times generally," said the judge ; " and I generally manage to get along to see them at the - cad.of the week," he continued .in a way •'■'that showed he understood that it was a _good thing to keep in touch with "his" boys," on whom he bestowed his companionship. But it is not every man that pbvs- will accept as friend or companion. \ Their circle may not he enviable, but it is Vas "exclusive as any other. They know a fool and scoff at him mercilessly. They -. can test and detect weaknesses, and they "* chow their scorn in the " b&rbarously cruel fashion; "peculiar to boys. To qualify for the society of the rougher element of boys a member must be fcrave to the point of daring. Judge Frazer came to them with wisdom and poweT they had to Teepect, and with a love that they were Wily too willing to reciprocate. Judge 3?raaer-« place will be hard to fill — cannot be filled. But his work will not be lost. Sad thought that the seed must perish to accomplish greatest good. Great pity jre cannot get a comprehensive view of a man's life till it has been made sacred

by death. A year ago Judge Frazer wrote expressing the thought that New Zealand - might soon overtake* Oregon in the man-

agement of juvenile offenders. He was thinking of out capacity for adopting good .things, and for our unexampled care of

the interests of the masses. But here the birch and the industrial school are still .plir resorts. The wayward children of this land are still sent to State institutions simply because we have not had time to think out or adopt a proper probation '.System. In our schools the children, many <>f them, are driven into the paths of Jmowledge (?) and forced into Tespecta-

The methods we are using in the

iccrreetion of juvenile offenders are often -•faorse-than useless and tmworthy of this country. The cities of New Zealand' console their _ conscience with a periodical outcry against -- the " child-slavery of Taranaki," where of all the provinces the children are brpusht up in closest touch with their parents, and with the best idea of a helpful, healthful, happy life. It is in the cities where - J there are boys and girls growing up in idleness and drifting away from all good friendships, and -where they need the probation system with its watchfulness and guidance. We have already adopted part pf jbhe Juvenile; Court plan, but we are - leaving -out'the corner-stone. The proba- , tion system js- "effective because it watches ioe ■whole, environment of the boy's and girl's "life. It 'provides them with a true - friendship strong enough to keep them _©ut of our reformatories, in which we have - reason to .think the spirit of love i 6 mot overwhelming. In his last letter Judge Frazer wrote to Ijay that, he had succeeded in getting the s§tate legislation to_ raise the Juvenile . Court limit f ronf 16 to 18. It widened the sphere of influence, but ifrmaote the burcen too great. Under the stress of work c - Judge Frazer suddenly tooke down. Two - (Jays laid aside from his activities, an un-

Successful operation, t and he was gone! Imagine, then, how -the city has missed ,ajim, and how the -wayward would be (stricken dumb with grief by the loss of their judge friend. Perhaps it is in the contemplation of this sad spectacle that, even at this distance, we may recognise best the spirit which, permeating any Juvenile Court in "ipe wotM, will assuredly win and hold find lead back to good life and good tejitizenship the wayward boy, the wayward girl, however wayward.