The boys still declared he had no right to punish Swipsey without permission from the president. Quick as flash Bluster said:
“Say, pres., didn’t I have permission?”
The president could do nothing but back Bluster up. He had given him full authority. At this juncture, Swipsey made his appearance. His hair disheveled, face and hands dirty, and clothes in a terrible condition. Swipsey listened to Bluster’s story with a great deal of patience. He looked guilty.
“All we want to know,” said the leader of the gang, “is whether we can punish a boy for violating the rules, even if we are not officers.” That was a leading question, and experience had taught the president that it was a very wise thing to have any boy punish a member, and in his own way. The only provision made was that no badge must be taken away from a boy by a non-officer. Where a boy cannot be corrected by a fellow member, he must submit the case to an officer. This was agreed to and the boys were satisfied with the method used by Bluster. The two boys were made a little present, and they all left in their usual happy mood.
CHAPTER XIV.
The more experience the president had with the street-boys, boys who spent most of their time in selling papers or shining shoes, the greater his desire to keep in close personal touch with each boy. He had learned that it was not wise to censure a bad boy, to punish a boy who had violated any of the rules. That belonged entirely to the officers.
Some of the best suggestions for gaining the most good came from the boys, and boys whom the general public would ignore, pay no attention to. The boys were working out their own salvation. Solving the boy problem themselves.
The strongest argument for self-government, among boys, was solved by the boys, the sellers. This was when they began to bring to the president money and valuable articles they found on the streets, and the sincere, earnest request, in every case, “to please find the owner—it doesn’t belong to me.”