Mail Tribune 100, Dec. 7, 1921 – Medford News, Weather, Sports, Breaking News

Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback)

2021-12-07

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Mail Tribune 100, Dec. 7, 1921 By Alissa Corman Dec 07, 2021 12:00 AM A A The following news items were drawn from the archives of the Mail Tribune 100 years ago Dec. 7, 1921 CURFEW LAW FOR JUVENILES PUT UP TO COUNCIL Parent-Teacher Ordinance in Favor of 18 Years and Nine o’Clock as Hour — Thought Too Drastic — Copy After Salem Law. As a result of the visit of quite a delegation consisting of the members of the council of the local parent-teacher circles and other prominent citizens last night before the city council, and their submitting a tentative draft of a curfew ordinance, the city council will later on pass such an ordinance to prohibit the boys and girls of Medford from being on the streets of Medford late at night unless properly accompanied by elders. The city at present has a curfew ordinance which has not been enforced for years because it is regarded as too drastic. This ordinance will be revamped embodying some of the main features of the parent-teacher council draft. This draft fixes the age limit under 18. Mayor Gates and some of the other councilmen think this limit is too high and favor it being fixed as 16 and under. This draft also fixes the curfew hour as 9 o’clock on summer nights and 9:30 o’clock on winter nights. The mayor and others also think that that time should be changed to 9:30 in the summer and 10 in the winter. Otherwise, there seems to be a disposition in the city council to regard the submitted draft in the main as agreeable all around. Among the speakers of the delegation were Mrs. George Kunzman, president of the parent-teacher council, Superintendent of Schools Aubrey Smith and Attorney C. M. Thomas. The latter explained the tentative ordinance, which is based on the Salem, Ore., ordinance, which is generally regarded as the best curfew measure in the state. The committee which drew up the draft investigated all the curfew ordinance in force throughout Oregon, and gave careful consideration to drawing up the tentative ordinance. All the speakers dwelt upon the necessity for a curfew ordinance in the city, which should be enforced rigidly, and declared that they were not dictating to the city council, nor asking anything unreasonable, but that they wished to cooperate with the council in bringing about a measure for the morals of the city and the good of its youth. — Alissa Corman; [email protected]