El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-03-10

of all this. a sculptor fashions a won
derfuI statue OF liberty, which we set
at the mouth of our principal harbor as
beacon to the stranger
And now we discover that when our
poets and our orators and our artists
have finished telling Of our greatness
and our glory, we have fOstered wicked
ness and lawlesSneSS as has no other
nation in the world; that, behind our
boosted institutions of government. the
thug and the thief and the assassin are
operating with a vigor and a freedom
duplicated nowhere else in civilization.
Aud our crime and wickedness are
steadily increasing
There are four and a half times az
many murders for every million of our
population today as there were 20 years
ago.
The significant fact about it all is
that the rest OF the world does not
share these statistics Our increased
wickedness Is confined to our own Dor
ders. In the march OF civilization, as
applied to the protection Of public life
and public property. we have fallen wo-
fully behind We may lead the globe
in many things We assuredly lead II
in crime. In So percent OF the homi-
cides of Germany, the guilty person is
brought to justice. In Spain, the num-
Der of convictions is IS percent of the
lC
is 81 percent; in Italy, II percent; In
England. so percent. Do these facts
when Offset against our two convic-
tioDs in every 100 murders-explair.
why our IawlessnesS is increasing; why
we have more homicides every year
than Italy. Austria France, Belgium.
England. Ireland, Scotland, Spain, Hun
gary, Holland and Germany combined7
These are not theories. They are
facts. These are not the haphazard
claims of fancy. They are the tested.
proved figures OF record, open to all
who will search-to you as well as to
me. They form the reason Of my probe
through our departments Of public
safety 1t was because Of them-be-
cause of what they failed to tell-that
entered on the winding trail which
was TO lead me through the ranks OF
our lawmakers and our lawbreakers.
What is wrong? What is the reason
for our murders, which do not need
even the cover of darkness? Why are
we so much more wicked than O
neighbors? Why do other countries
punish the evildoer and we do not? Why
are those governments, which we have
been accustomed to view with scorn
and contempt, able to protect their citi-
zens and homes, while our government.
which we have held forth as a model
i
have gone to the men whom we pay TO
defend our property and our lives, for
the answer. I have gone to the Amer
lean police, who swear 10 preserve the
public peace and safety-and whom we
pay s12,000,000 a month TO keep their
oath-to ask them why they are falling.
Because they are falling We cannot
disguise this fact They cannot evade
it Is it because Of a lack OF skill, a
aaI< Of
lzation or a lack of inclination? Or do
all Of these features enter into the
answer Germany convictS nine muir
derers in every TO- We convict only
two in every 100 This IS, perhaps. the
most shameful admission OF weakness
that the American nation has ever been
called upon to make; perhaps. we should
say, forced 10 make. What is the rea-
son for this weakness?
The American Police.
The source from which alo--c we can
obtain our answer Is the American DO
lce-our public guardians This then,
IS TO be the history of their guardian
ship 1t viii be a startling history. SEN
sational even; perhaps, almost unbeliev-
able at times But it will be an I'M
Drejudiced. unbiased history. And. If II
rises to the proportions of an arraign-
nent, il should be borne in mind that
II contains nothing of malice Also.
the police as national body should not
be condemned for the faults however
persistent, that we may find In the DO
lice of individual cities Perhaps n
would be better to reverse this state
ment and say that we should not con-
1emn Individual cities for the faults
that we may find in the police as a ma
ional body While the American DO
ice are falling, openly, flagrantly. in
he protection of the cities and the
country. we cannot ignore the signs OF
l better era that we catch here and
here In Toledo, Cleveland, Washing
ION. Boston, we can see these fugitive
evidences o. an awakening, and. il they
ire scattered and far between and en-
'hasize more deeply the remaining de-
PRESTON, in the interests of truth and
optimism we cannot pass them by.
Our kid gloved penolog,sts have been
-fraid to tell US the truth about the
menace OF our unpublished crime Our
nachine politicians, who buy and sell
he positions on our police forces as a
butcher deals in steaks or a grocer in
otatoes. have howled down those re-
Orm officials who have tried TO turn
searchlight into the darkness Those
ew police heads who have chafed under
he sway OF things that they knew
ugnt not to be. have dashed out their
oiilcaI careers against a stone wall
ne average citizen knows that there
something wrong with our police sys-
I'M, that It IS not what it should be-
lat he must hire private watchmen and
electives and buy expensive burglar
arms and electrical safe devices if he
ould protect his property He has
'me 10 take these things a good deal
II granted and to view the police de-
artr1ent with q contempt more or less
BOD natured-dependlng on the amount
his taxes If he retains any one
finite impression of the public guar
an in the blue uniform, II IS that OF a
lily with club. who has made him
II useful to the political boss" and
no. in return for his campaign serv-
rs, takes things easy the rest OF the
ar, chatting the bartender on the
rner, joking with the gamblers and
e women OF the town, and perhaps.
the purpose Of emphasizing his a,l-
GRITTY. dashing through the city in tbs
troll wagon with his hand on
unken mans collar.
A drunk" was sent to the Philadel-
Ia city prison the other day for in
CfN0riOn Il