THE FOREMOST CITIZEN OF COLORADO
Fisher, H. G.
"The Foremost Citizen of Colorado" By H. G. FISHER "The Beast" in Denver is on the trail of Judge Lindsey. The kid's judge and friend of the people is being made the target of the most despicable...
...save a child and you save a soul plus a life...
...Judge Lindsey is unquestionably the foremost citizen of Colorado, if not the entire West...
...The kid's judge and friend of the people is being made the target of the most despicable attacks...
...No malicious mind can besmirch his character...
...Solomon once said: "Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it...
...But the charges of "egotism," "self-righteousness," "unholy ambition," "insanity," and "hypocrisy" are too old to be effective...
...Among these are the political, social and industrial conditions of our day, and to advance the great work of child-saving, he has found it necessary to help ameliorate these conditions by attacking the causes of poverty, vice and crime, and in exposing their protectors...
...I hold that the appellation of "great" can justly be applied to Judge Lindsey...
...The system established and worked out by him in dealing with youthful delinquents is one of the greatest boons to mankind...
...But it is not my purpose to mention the individuals or interests that are attempting to defame Judge Lindsey...
...No petty politician can mar the fame of Judge Lindsey...
...IT SEEMS TO ME that there is one true function of education, one fundamental and undeniable function, and that is the creation in human beings of the power to think clearly and fearlessly.—B...
...Even the Master himself was rejected and subjected to indignities by the people of Nazareth...
...Lindsey is Truly Great THE world knows Judge Lindsey and will not lose faith in him without good reason...
...Among these there is none who more typifies the progressive ideas of the citizens of this country, and who has more fearlessly and unselfishly raised the banner of justice and right than Judge Ben B. Lindsey...
...But it has ever been thus with the seers and doers ef the world's history...
...It will be difficult to undermine the influence of such a character as his...
...And his influence is not bounded by the shores of America, but extends throughout the length and breadth of the ent re world...
...Just why any sane person, in face of this fact, would heedlessly attempt to undermine his influence or defame his character, is beyond the comprehension of thinking people...
...His integrity is unquestioned, his public service unimpeachable, his personal life irreproachable, and his life-work without a parallel...
...But to the great masses in all parts of this wide country, Lindsey is, and will remain, the servant and benefactor of humanity...
...The theory of the Judge is fundamental, as it deals with the human being in the formative period...
...IN EVERY GREAT CRISIS of any nation there always emerges some great individual, some master-mind to concentrate the ideas and direct the energies of a people striving to reach a higher standard of life, into proper and practicable channels of activity...
...In Denver, Colorado, these coarse attacks may meet with some measure of success in poisoning the minds of people against Lindsey...
...Christ first taught the world the value of childhood and Judge Lindsey is but following in the footsteps of the Master...
...Against these men the same charges and even worse, were made by their contemporaries, and attempts to inflict bodily harm upon them were also made...
...Indeed, he is the only personage of any considerable note in the affairs of the nation from this state...
...A prophet is not without honor save in his own country...
...Rhita Childe Dorr, in Hampton's Magazine...
...Suffice it to say that the enemies of Judge Lindsey brand themselves for what they are, and all lovers of truth and honesty love him for these enemies he has made...
...Hence his great activity in all the affairs of men...
...The principle of the Judge expressed in his own language is this: "It is better to correct a child, than punish a criminal" and this is the chief aim of his life...
...Falsehood and innuendo are put into print and (at some one's expense) are being sent broadcast throughout the country...
...Lloyd Garrison, reign supreme...
...THERE WOULD BE no Tammany Hall in New York, no George B. Cox machine in Ohio, no Lorimer scandal in Illinois, no gang in Pennsylvania, if the men in those states knew how to vote.—Mrs...
...Because his work is fundamental, dealing as it does with the youth, it must necessarily be years before its true value can be known...
...However, in the process of his work, Judge Lindsey has found that many things enter into the waywardness of children, and has had to study all phases of life to maintain his principle...
...The following estimate of Lindsey by the president of the Denver Christian Citizenship Union— a man who has been associated with Lindsey ever since he went on the bench, understanding and supporting his work in the juvenile court—shows that, even in Denver, the snarls of "The Beast" do not always frighten good people.—Editor's Note...
...But we shall in God's own time, and then will we raise our hearts in gratitude and praise to the Most High, for one who sacrificed and suffered to perfect our civilization, and hasten the coming of the "Kingdom of God" among men...
...Only, instead of a single individual, there are several men in various sections of our country that stand forth as beacon lights in the onward march of civilization and humanity...
...Every great reformer has been so charged in his day,— even the Master himself...
...Neither shall I dignify their attacks by specific reference to them...
...It has been so in the past in this country, and it is so today...
...And so effective have been his efforts that he has naturally aroused the bitter antagonism of those who would stop the evolution of the race, because it would place restrictions upon their selfish and unpatriotic desires...
...So universal is this doctrine that the civilized nations of the earth are universally accepting it, and all render homage to Denver's chief citizen for his service to all mankind...
...Yet, their names live on, shining brighter with advancing years, while their critics have passed into oblivion...
...While another has said so pointedly: "Save a man and you save a soul...
...He who is truly great is one who establishes a great principle (whether he first conceived it or not) and this the Judge has surely done...
...The favorite methods with which his enemies attack him are the coward's weapons of ridicule, satire, and calumny...
...The only danger that confronts him is physical danger, and this he may not escape...
...Only when boys and girls that have come under the influence of the doctrine of "juvenile delinquency" have become men and women, and are playing their several parts in the great drama of life, can we know all...
...By continuing such attacks the Judge's enemies themselves are securely placing him in that enviable and select class of immortals in which such men as the Apostle Paul, Savanarola, and Wm...
...Russell Herts in The International...
Vol. 3 • July 1911 • No. 27
