With reference to errand and delivery boys, the report finds that as the level of favorable conditions keeps so near to the average, it seems necessary to attribute the number of delinquents furnished by this class more to the conditions of the work than to the kind of children taking it up.
The occupational influences of amusement resorts, street vending and newspaper selling "are notoriously bad, but a partial explanation of the number of delinquents they furnish is unquestionably in the kind of children who enter them. It is a case of action and reaction. These occupations are easily taken up by immature children, with little or no education and no preliminary training. Such children are least likely to resist evil influences, most likely to yield to all that is bad in their environment."[125]
Having shown that a connection can be traced between certain occupations and the number and kind of offenses committed by the children working in them, the report next determines to what extent a direct connection can be traced between occupation and offense. If a working child commits an offense, first, during working hours, second, in some place to which his work calls him, and third, against some person with whom his work brings him in contact, a connection may be said to exist between the misdemeanor and the employment. The report insists that either all three of the connection elements must be present, or else the offense must be very clearly the outcome of conditions related to the work, before a connection can be asserted; and it reminds the reader that the number of connection cases shown represents an understatement, probably to a considerable degree, of the real situation. The number of boy delinquents in occupations which show more than five cases of delinquency chargeable to occupation was found to be 308; of these, 100 were errand or delivery boys, 129 were newsboys, 16 were drivers or helpers, 13 were street vendors and 10 were messengers.
The number of boy delinquents working at time of last offense and the number whose offenses show a connection with the occupation are compared, by occupation, in the following table,[126] p. 173.
| Occupation or Industry | Boy Delinquents working at Time of Last Offense | Boy Delinquents whose Offenses show a Connection with Occupation | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number | Per Cent of Boy Delinquents in Occupation Working | |||
| In amusement resorts | 40 | [127] | 7 | 17.5 |
| Domestic service | 50 | [128] | 14 | 28.0 |
| Driver or helper | 107 | 16 | 14.9 | |
| Errand or delivery boys | 261 | 100 | 38.3 | |
| Iron and steel workers | 27 | 7 | 25.9 | |
| Messengers | 38 | 10 | 26.3 | |
| Newsboys and bootblacks | 346 | [129] | 129 | 37.2 |
| Street vendors | 25 | 13 | 52.0 | |
| Stores and markets | 62 | 12 | 19.3 | |
"Among the errand and delivery boys the percentage (of connection cases) is large and the connection close. Larceny accounts for over nine-tenths of these cases, the larceny usually being from the employer when the boy was sent out with goods, though in some cases it was from the house to which the boy was sent. It will be remembered that in respect to parental and home condition, age, etc., the delinquent errand boys came very close to the average, and their antecedents gave no reason to expect they would go wrong so numerously. That fact, together with the large proportion of connection cases, seems to indicate that the occupation is distinctly a dangerous one morally."[130]
As the various forms of immorality are practiced in secret, the report truly says that the evils which are most associated with a messenger's life could hardly appear in these studies. "A trace of them is found in the case of one boy sentenced for larceny. After his arrest it was found that he was a confirmed user of cocaine, having acquired the habit in the disreputable houses to which his work took him. Perhaps something of the same kind is indicated by the fact that one of the few cases of drunkenness occurring among working delinquents came, as a connection case, from this small group of messengers. For the most part, however, the connection offenses (by messengers) were some form of dishonesty, usually appropriating parcels sent out for delivery, though in some cases collecting charges on prepaid packages was added to this."[131]
The newsboys almost equal the errand boys in their percentage of connection cases, though their offenses have a much wider range; in fact, the connection cases for newsboys include a greater variety of offenses than any other occupation studied. Beggary appears for the first time, there being two cases, in both of which the selling of papers was a mere pretext, enabling the boys to approach passers-by. Street vendors were found to show the highest percentage of connection cases, larceny being the leading offense.
The report concludes: "It is a striking fact that in spite of the incompleteness of the data, a direct connection between the occupation and the offense has been found to exist in the cases of practically one-fourth of the boys employed at the time of their latest offense. It is also a striking fact that while the delinquent boys working at the time of their latest offense were scattered through more than fifty occupations, over six-sevenths of the connection cases are found among those working in street occupations, and that more than three-fifths come from two groups of workers—the errand or delivery boys, and the newsboys and bootblacks. It is also significant that the connection cases form so large a percentage of the total cases among the street traders, the messengers, and the errand or delivery boys, their proportion ranging from over one-fourth to over one-half, according to the occupation."[132]
In considering the effect of night work upon the morals of children, the report says, "The messengers and newsboys show both large numbers and large percentages of night work, thus giving additional ground for the general opinion as to the undesirable character of their work"; and again, "In the following occupations the cases of night work are more numerous than they should be in proportion to the number ever employed in these pursuits: bootblacks, bowling alley and pool room, glass, hotel, messengers, newsboys and theaters and other amusement resorts."[133]