The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1913-04-21
LAW ENFORCEMENT.

The task of effective and ADEQUATE
enforcement Of the law is one with
which not only North Dakota. but the
rest OF the states have to deal. II is
a task that is pressing itself on the
attention Of the whole country, for the
proper solution of the problem involv-
ed will materially affect the welfare of
the people. n the sooner its import
ance is realized, the better it will be
for all the people of all the states.
1t Is an absurd argument to say that
because a law is not properly enforced
1t should be repealed, for we might as
well say because there continues to be
murders. thefts, and robberies, the
laws forbidding and providing punish
ment for those crimes should be re-
pealed.
1t Is true that the open violation and
defiance Of the law causes the people
to lose respect for those whose duty it
Is to enforce it, and in some instances
causes contempt for it, but ultimately
the law must triumph If we would
maintain that advanced standard of
G4NILLhIlOn "I4lClL ali HdllOnS and all
peoples aspire to attain.
In the state of New York, for a
number Of years, there was protest
against the lack Of respect for the law
and the failure TO adequately enforce
It, and in order to improve conditions
and to meet the public requirements
TWO years ago, a committee of the bar
association of that state made some
forty or fifty recommendations for
procedure in the courts, nearly all of
which have been adopted either by the
courts or by the legislature.
All this improvement was made for
the purpose Of insuring the certainty
in the application Of the law. 1t was
done to remove obstacles that stood
In the way of the enforcement of the
law.
The astonishing declaration is made
from the official records of this coun-
try by an English magazine that our
proportion Of capital crime is higher
than that Of any other country except
Mexico, the statement being made that
between 1885 and 1912 there were re-
ported in the United States $4,000
murders, Of which there were but 5000
convictions. The number Of murders.
II is asserted, has increased ivefold
within twenty-seven years.
An amazing comparison is made. In
1885 there was one conviction for ev-
cry seventeen murders. In 1895 there
was one for every seventy nine MUIR
ders, and ten years later the record
shows there was but one conviction
for every eighty-six murders.
In proportion to population our muir
der list is five times greater than that
of Australia. fourteen times that Of
England and Wales, eight times that
OF Japan, ten times that of Canada,
and twenty-five times that of Ger
many.
This is a terrible record for this
country to face, but 1t is pertinent and
important to look for the cause and
ask If 1t can not be remedied.
The administration of the law in
this country is lax. There are too many
ways to escape punishment. Too MANY
people have a contempt for the law.
There are too many obstacles in the
way of the enforcement of the law.
There are too many loopholes through
which the offenders may escape.
The certainty Of punishment, and
not the severity of the penalty, is
probably the surest preventive OF
crime. and of course this carries with
it that the law must be stubbornly and
inapartiaIly enforced, Smaller infrac-
tions as well as the serious or