It is clear at the very start that the punishment, as far as the law goes, has little relation to the alleged crimes as listed above. The same section of the Penal Code punishes baseball and burglary, and both of these acts are punishable under several other sections of the Penal Code. Frequently the arrest brings out a series of acts, committed in previous days or weeks, which bear little relation to the direct cause of the arrest. We find cases of children arrested for playing ball, but whose story in court reveals stealing, assault and burglary. Again, we find a child rearrested under three or four different sections of the Penal Code for the same repeated act, be it the kicking of a garbage can or assault and battery. We find in the court records the most indiscriminate blending of arrest and punishment for innocent play with arrest and punishment for deviltry or perverse crime of a serious nature. To make the case specific rather than general, a few typical instances may be given: John C. was arrested for creating a disturbance. This is a nuisance and, from the standpoint of the adult, a moral offense in a crowded city. Special inquiry developed that John C. was one of a number of boys who gathered in front of a tenement home late one evening and sang in chorus. Incidentally only one of the several malefactors was caught. Charles C. was arrested for violating Penal Code Section 675, relating to disorderly conduct and committing nuisance. His act consisted in throwing a baseball on a public street. William C., arrested for disorderly conduct, was charged with playing football on the street. The record showed that he was an athletic enthusiast, and there was no other football field but the street. In contrast with this fact, it should be mentioned that the New York Board of Education maintains an elaborate and costly organization for encouraging the athletic spirit among boys. George C. was arrested for throwing stones. The record showed that George C. had been one of a group engaging in a street fight, the street fight being a typical form of vigorous play among children of this district. Thomas C. was arrested for throwing stones. He had thrown a stone in revenge and with murderous intent at an unsuspecting enemy. His motive was wholly different from that of George C., but they were classified together in law. The figures in the Children’s Courts are of almost no value as showing the quantity of law-breaking, innocent or otherwise, on the part of the city’s children. Nathan A., for instance, was arrested for crap-shooting. There was no other arrest. Similarly with Joseph B., William C. was arrested for playing baseball, and the rest of his team are not mentioned. George C. was arrested for fighting with no mention of his fellow-combatant or combatants.