IN THE MINDS OF MANY INTELLIGENT AND EDUCATED PEOPLE JUVENILE DELINQUENCY IS A TWENTIETH CENTURY PROBLEM, RECEIVING ITS FIRST PUBLIC RECOGNITION FROM THE PASSAGE OF THE FIRST JUVENILE COURT ACT IN ILLINOIS IN 1899. SUCH PEOPLE ASSUME THAT BEFORE THE BEGINNING OF THIS CENTURY CHILD LAWBREAKERS WERE TRIED AND PUNISHED IN EXACTLY THE SAME WAY, AND WITH THE SAME SEVERITY, AS ADULT OFFENDERS. THE SELECTIONS IN THIS TEXT, HOWEVER, MAKE IT ABUNDANTLY CLEAR THAT AS FAR BACK AS WRITTEN RECORDS GO CHILDREN WHO HAVE BROKEN THE LAW HAVE BEEN TREATED ON THE WHOLE MORE LENIENTLY THAN HAVE ADULT OFFENDERS. THIS IS THE CENTRAL THEME OF THIS BOOK OF READINGS. MATERIALS IN THIS VOLUME WERE GATHERED FROM SOME OF THE LEADING LIBRARIES IN ENGLAND AND AMERICA, AND INCLUDE EXERPTS FROM RARE BOOKS, PAMPHLETS, AND OTHER DATA ON JUVENILE DELINQUENCY. THE FIRST SECTION OF THIS VOLUME CONTAINS SELECTIONS FROM ENGLAND, SCOTLAND, AND AUSTRALIA, WHILE THE SECOND SECTION CONTAINS READINGS FROM THE AMERICAN COLONIES AND THE UNITED STATES. FOR HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE THE EXTRACTS ARE ARRANGED IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER FROM ANGLO-SAXON TIMES DOWN TO 1900. MATERIAL SINCE 1900 WAS NOT INCLUDED SINCE IT IS USUALLY QUITE ACCESSIBLE AND GENERALLY KNOWN. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT MODIFIED)