PHILLIPS LEE GOLDSBOROUGH, GOVERNOR. 227

any cause is destitute, homeless or abandoned or dependent
upon the public for support, or has not fit and proper parental
care or guardianship, or who is feeble-minded or otherwise
mentally- deficient, or who habitually begs for alms, or is
found living with any vicious or depraved person, or has a
home which, by reason of neglect, cruelty or depravity on the
part of its parent or parents, guardian or other persons having
charge of it, is an unfit place for such a child.

The term "delinquent child" shall be construed as meaning
any male or female child living in Baltimore County under
the ages above specified, and who, while under such age, may
violate any criminal law of the State, or is incorrigible, or
knowingly associates with thieves, vicious and depraved per-
sons, or is growing up in idleness or crime, or knowingly fre-
quents any gambling places, policy shops or patronizes and
frequents liquor or beer saloons unaccompanied by a parent or
guardian, or is guilty of indecent, immoral or lascivious con-
duct.

SEC. 2. And be it enacted, That all such children described
in the aforegoing Section, and residing in Baltimore County,
are declared to be wards of the State, and the Judges of the
Courts of the Third Judicial Circuit of Maryland, sitting as a
Court of Equity, shall have full power to deal with such chil-
dren when brought before such Court, and full jurisdiction
over the disposition of such child or children. And the said
Court shall have the power to designate one of its Judges to
hear, determine and dispose of all such cases, and to adopt such
rules and regulations for the trial and disposition of such cases
as to said Court may seem reasonable and proper.

SEC. 3. And be it enacted, That any person of respectable
standing in his or her community, and being a resident of said
County, or the agent of any society incorporated under the
laws of this State for the care and protection of children, may
file with the Clerk of the Circuit Court for Baltimore County
on the equity side thereof, a petition in writing, setting forth
that a certain child or children, naming the same, if the name
or names be known, and also naming the parent or parents of
such child, if there be parent or parents, or the name of the
custodian of such child or children, if there be such custodian,
and the place or places of residences of such child or children,
their parents or other custodian, is or are delinquent, depend-
ent or neglected, as defined in Section 1 of this Act, and that
it is for the interests of such child or children, and the State of