The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1909-01-03
T7DGE DIEHL FINDS DOPE
AND DRINK RESPONSIBLE
FOR MOST OF PETTY CRIMES
o.tirinq Police Justice Records
His observations on the
Shiftinu Scenes of the Court
Room.
~ LANES p. RINToUL.


srudent of human nature, no
70 % 4ers a wider field for the OBJ
Y'S - If the vagaries of expression
-soDes. passions, joys and sorrows
q 'Ni in their Kaleidoscope
.san the police court room. In
.biring scenes of the daily court
% lowe and hate forgiveness end
hope and despair, friendship
nifty are portrayed in Their vary
ssgrses of Intensity as Just'ee
IS her hand. -,.o g
s.el' usual onlookcr at the session OF
il .,5co court is apt TO ma nothing
y h-t v-earying monOtony as case
Eas - Is called, and many times
aiu,{,ritv of them disposed of III al
- same breath. To such IT Is
~ e. case with morbid attraction or
aaD s9taciolls bit Of scandal. or some
s ,-birh friends arc involved that
~ # nm uD- aling interest. But 10
I'm who studies man there IS sell
ln -,-e that does not have its own
a' sa..is,,alifv. or some subtle shade that
- il n some way from all other
FIFTY men may be called up III
.s.sssiou on a similar charge OF
--sn,, To the OnlOoker they are
'1 li,nr,iv "vass." but behind each case
~ Student will find a different motive,
Eferent cause for the appearance OF
ne man in the court room.
Thsre is in Salt Lake today probably
~ more careful observer of human ma
.r-s nor one with a clearer insight into
he motives that aetuate men or GER
-, class than Police Judge G. B.
1ssb1 His ten years on the bench have
IN devoted TO a study of the men and
s.-oen coming before him, and the
rsuse for crime as it finds its way into
the court room.
In a chat the other night Judge Diehl
uss asked by the writer to what he
.ttributed the majority of. the cases
canning into the police court.
"Tbe great evil" he said. that we
have to contend with in our city so far
ss misdemeanor cases are concerned
/. the drug and whisky habit. II is a
growing evil. too, and We do not seem
10 be getting away from it.
q think it is safe TO say that seven
teuths of the petty thefts are commit
TED bv users of narcotics, cocoa1ne
opium or morphine and whisky, but OF
this number by far the larger part are
drug users. This is accounted for by
the fact that whisky is easily to be OBJ
tanned. If u drunkard can't buy it he
can usually End some friend to give j
10 him, or even beg it if he gets par
ticularly low. But narcotics are not 81
easily obtansbe They can only b
secured from drug stores and the Chi
nese, and they usually can only be haC
by purchase. The cocaine, opium o.
morphine 6end viii stOop to anything
and stop at nothing to secure none.
with which 10 satisfy his craving.
a peculiar thing about the drul
fiends is that in the early stages of tn
drug they become the most edroi
thieves. and display an ingenuity an
cunning that Is amazing. As they fal
however, 10 the lower depths, the
seem to lose this cunning and commi
thsfts with utter recklesSness.
Next to this, I think, the most strik
Ing feature about police court cases
the absolute disregard for publicit
among what you might term the middl
cases They viii bring all their littl
family rows and grievances into tn
court room and give them a thoroug