The Cairo bulletin., 1911-10-20

blxl6GN persons Will pay tHC P~Ahi'
for these crimes This Is not mer
guess, but statement based on SIT
tistics which have been gatherin
during the past twenty years OF thel
accuracy there can be no doubt. Thes
wholesale murders and the lax &C
ministration of our criminal laws ar
the most disgraceful evils that con
front our country today"
Andrew p. White sat In the librar,
or his stately old mansion at ithaca
snowy with his seventy.nine years
the glisten OF intellectual vigor In nj:
eyes and the glow OF health on hi!
fine countenance. The sun streamet
in through the broad windows looking
out upon the campus Of Cornell uni
versity with its beautiful buildings
1t was 5 o'clock Of an early Septem
Der afternoon.
The venerable scholar and dlplo
mat, who headed the American dele
CATION to the Hague conference. was
creator OF Cornell university and am
bassador to Russia and to Germany
rocked gently in his chair. He was
being interviewed.
had found Mr.. Whites favorite
subject--crime in the United States
and the lax administration of our
criminal laws. Ordinarily Mr.. White
dislikes to be interviewed. but when
one strikes his hobby he is apt to
say things.
II repeat that this annual wholesale
murder is the most disgraceful evil
in America today. and conditions are
rapidly becoming worse" he con-
tinued. "Ten years ago there were
only one hundred and seventeen muir
ders to the million. today there are
one hundred and twenty-six. Ten
years ago one in every seventy-four
cases punished. today only one in
eighty-six meets the penalty prescrib-
ed by law.
Lax Enforcement Of Lawf
THAT this condition Is due largely
to the lax manner In which our Grim
inal laws are enforced there is no
doubt Across an imaginary line In
Canada there are only seven murders
to the million annually. There Brit.
ish law deals with criminals quickly
ana effectively. 1t is pity we do not
do likewise
AS long as this condition holds
true our Declaration OF Independence
Is joke. In that great document II
Is stated that all men are endowed
by the Creator with certain unalien'
able rights. that among these are life
liberty and the pursuit of happiness
are, Of course. impossible The United
States today has the highest percen.
tage of murders Of any country in
the world. Even Southern Italy, with
Its Camorrists and Mafias, does not
have as many murders In proportion
to the population as our country.
in England when a man makes
money he seeks home in the country;
in America he seeks the city, con.
tInued Mr. White Fortunately we
are beginning to adopt the British
idea, and the back to the farm move.
ment Is one of the most significant
movements In America today. Quick.
er transportation. better roads and
improved housing conditions make
life In the country far more enjoyable
than II used to be. And right here
] want to emphasize the Importance
OF good roads. To my mind 1t would
be far better for the state of New
York to spend its millions for inn
proTed roadways than for the large
canal Good roads mean almost az
much to farmers as good crops.
Each year immigration and nat
ural increase add approximately two
million hungry mouths to be fed. and
an Increase Of approximately seventy
five million bushels of food-produclng
cereals per annum are needed to sup
ply this demand. Failure to increase
the production is steadily and rapid.
ly Increasing the cost Of living. The
only possible solution, the only posi-
Bile salvation for the country is an
immediate and most thorough awak
ening OF our people to appreciation Of
the overshadowing Importance OF this
condition, followed by systematic
campaign Of education.
New York Falling Behind.
In 1860 New York state was amons
the first of the great agriculture
states Of the Union. Today the state
Of Maine, lying further north. witt
Its rocks and forests, raises more o.
all OF the cereals per acre than we do
and her potato crop averages 22I
bushels as against so bushels per acr,
In New York.
"A state department OF agricuIture'
bulletin reports $4,000 acres OF i'm
proved farm for sale at an averag.
price Of SITS per acre, and nearl,
100000 acres at an average price O
SIS per acre. Every acre Of agricul
tural land, worn out and improve,
ished as much as 1t is, is worth $40
an acre when built up and replenisf
ca, We must increase production b
more intelligent methods or we mus
face the relentless, certain coming q
the day when we shall not produc
food enough to supply our own nece,
stiles.
This, more than anything else,
what our agricultural colleges al
striving tor.