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

nal" we think we have given an IL
Illuminating answer AS a matter of fact,
there is not one man in 1000-yes, we
can apply this to the poIice-who could
spot" the average burglar if he met
him on the street without his Jimmy"
L was discussing a ''yegg case with a
policeman not long ago-a "yegg' is a
tramp burglar, if you don't know. A
safe had been rifled. and the evidences
of the crime were scattered about the
stuffy, SX10 office.
He must have useG Il tremendous
quantity of soup for such short
'squibs,'" I commented, rumma ging
about the safe.
The policeman man of u years
experience-surveyed me in bewilder-
ment- Cant you speak English?'' he
growled- The officer, assigned on be-
half of public. justice, did not even
know two of the commonest express
sions in the criminals alphabet, which
any police reporter could have inter-
preted instantly. On the chance that
you are neither a police reporter nor
a criminal, 1 will explain that soup"
in the "yegg" vocabulary, means nitro
glycerin, and that "squibs," in the same
parlance, stands for a fuse.
The Underworld.
What is that vague, mysterious re-
gion which we know as the under
world?" Where is it? We talk bitterly
or pathetically of our criminal class
es,'' of the 'nonsociar' strata of hui
mainly. What do we mean? To most
of us, the criminal and the under
world" are something as vague and far
away as the Fiji islands or central
Africa.
DO you know that our criminals cost
Us S3,500,O0O a day?
Do you know that 100000 persons
whom the law never touches-are -eu-
gagged in the systematic pursuit of
crime as a business?
Do you know that the American pick
pockets are as thoroughly organized as
any trades union?
Do you know that the pickpockets of
New York retain the permanent serv-
Ices of one of the best known criminal
lawyers of the United States to look
after their interests"
Do you know that there is a certain
wealthy Hebrew resident of New York
who owes his income TO the fees of
prominent criminals, who pay him TO
travel up and down the country as a
''fiXer" between them and the police?
Do you know that during the past 10
years the tramp burglars of this coun-
try have almost doubled?
Do you know
But let me emphasize the cost of our
crime from the selfish standpoint OF
the dollar. The golden yield of wheat
for the year 1908 brought the Ameri-
can nation a total of s735, 0OO000
In every corner of the nation where
men burrow underground to find the
fuel which warns them above ground,
the production of coal for this same
period spreads its bulk to the pinnacle
OF $3.50, O0o,000
Two sets OF figures-two widely
varying harvests of the soil. Together
they will pass the billion dollar mark
by a margin of S5,000,000. In this
same year Of grace. American wool,
the shearing of the millions of sheep
at the four points of the compass,
brought to the pockets of the Ameri-
can people s29S, 0oo, 900. Before us, we
now have three columns Of figures, and
their combined total gives Us the
giants calculation of s1,373. 000, 900.
This is what crime costs the American
nation each year.
We pause aghast before the 1864. 000,-
900 of our national debt If American
crime could be eliminated for eight
months. the saving 10 the country
would liGuidate this obligation Kin full.
Our imports of mercha ndise for one
year are 100000 900 less than the cost
Of our crime. The output of our gold
and silver mines for one year is equal
to only half the cost of our crime.
Lump the market value of all of our
horses, our cattle. and our sheep, and
the cost of our criminals for one year
would just balance the result.
Every hour of the "a. whether the
nation is asleep or awake. our crime
costs us over 100000.
And it is increasing, gentlemen of
the police.
Here is the table of national taxation,
due directly or indirectly to crime
gathered also from the records of the
New York Prison Reform association:
What Crime Costs the American People
Each Year In Taxes.
City and county taxation chargeable
to crime:
100000 inhabitants at per
capita rate Of 81. 81 2S, 200, 600
Town and county taxation.
100000 inhabitants at
per capita rate of s1.50... 10000, 900
Federal and state taxation
chargeabIe to crime. -. 100000
s255, OOO,O |
And yet we have reached only the
first strata of our crime ravages. The
American nation spends S255, 00O, 900 |