The Topeka state journal., 1919-03-17
TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
INFORM ALTON
BUREAU
FREDERIC J. HASKIN. Director
Washinxton. d. G
THE CRIME WAVE.
Washington. d. c.

Where ponce FORCES are DelnS SlrenStn-
ened. Our highways have not been so
lowing the Civil War when. "Civil War
Buns" were a menace thruout the
country. Crimes by men in uniforms
are common and alternate reports and
denials come from Paris of the mis-
deeds of our soldiers there.
Psychologists have long been pre-
dieting crime wave and police chiefs
now say it is here. They say we need
more and better policemen. Other
authorities say that more police pro-
lection will be attacking a symptom
rather than the disease. They say
that more and better jobs are what
we need. Unemployment is the force
behind the "crime wave"
Industry is getting itself right side
up as fast as it can. Many private
employers are doing generous things
for returned soldiers. But warehouses
are crowded with unsold goods. Busi-
ness cannot for the time being pay
higher wages Or take on more men.
But if those long-promised farms for
soldiers should become reality: if
hundred thousand men could be put
to work reclaiming waste lands, and
thousand of them settled
on the resulting farms, the crime wave
would bust. There are not lacking
critics who say that congress might
stop debating the League of Nations
long enough to handle a domestic sit
uation which grows daily more acute
While fighting a soldier is held at a
tension. When he is discharged and
told to return to a peaceful occupa-
ton, the tension is relieved and a re-
action follows. If the man is strong
of nerve, brain and Will power, he
soon throws off the evil effects of war
experience If he is inherently weak,
or f his nervous system is completely
broken down, his efforts to adjust
himself to civil life are likely to be
futile. He is easily discouraged or led
astray. Unless he is protected, he be-
comes a criminal
The most easily recognized case of
nervous affection is shell shock. Not
every man suffering from shell shock
is potential criminal. But the nerv-
Gus condition of the returning soldiers
is the outstanding premise on which
the wave of crime is predicted. There
are other factors of almost equal
force
The discharged soldier leaves a life
that is sometimes monotonous, but
that has nevertheless, the power to
thrill him. If he has been at the front
he has seen excitement and adventure.
The soldier who for some months has
been sung to sleep by the music of
whistling Willies and signing Susies
may look forward to the peaceful
comforts Of home, but unless he has
other cOmpensations besides peace he
may soon crave substitu for the
danger and thrills of the trenches.
Breaking the law affords the thrill
with the element of danger conspicu-
ously present.
A similar type is the man who feels
that as he has done his duty in the
war, he should have a chance to en-
JOY himself. This is commendab BILE
The danger is that his ideas of a good
time may lead him to overstep the
boundaries of legal rights and that
his good time may end with a Jail
sentence.
Every war is followed by a wave
of crime. In some cases it is severe.
In others the nation adjusts itself to
peace conditions without many shocks.
At the close of the Civil war vagrancy
and crime were so common that the
popular term Civil War Buns" was
coined to describe the mass of SOL
diers unabsorbed into civil occupation.
Regarding the prospects of greater
criminal activity, Thomas Mott Os-
borne, former warden of Sing Sing,
SAYS:
There will be crime wave as the
result of the sudden freedom of the
men in the army. one proof of this
is the low percentage of crime during
the war There has been very no
tiLeabIe drop
The effects of war itself on crime
have been temporarily beneficial.
While war lasted prisons in this coun-
try and England have been almost de-
populated. Complete figures on
United States prisons during the year
and one-half of war are not yet
available. England has issued re-
port on/her prison situation to 1918.
The report shows that 369 persons in
every 100000 were convicted of crime
during the year before the war. In
three years of war, the proportion
dropped steadily, so that in 1917 only
11S in 100000 were convicted. Part
of the decrease in crime is attrIb-
uted to the work or fight laws en-
acted by England and a number of
states in this country. Most of Il ese
laws went out of effect when the ar
mistice was signed.
Regarding the inmates of prisons,
it is reported both here and abroad
that few able bodied men or men of
lighting age were among those con-
victed of crime during the war. Men
who were inclined to commit petty
offenses were either in the army or
had found employment. When srch
men as these are discharged from the
army or dismissed from civilian war
work, they will go back to planning
petty crimes or, hardened by war,
they will aim Cor bigger results.
The percentage of crime in army
life has not been greater than might
be expected. Soldiers in this country
have been remarkably protected.
Overseas there was some difficulty for |
a time before arrangements were
made with the French government
for precautions similar to those en- |
forced in the United States
Prohibition against use of liquor by |
soldiers is accounted a strong point in |
the army's campaign against crime |
State and national prohibition is ex-
pected to have a, marked effect upon |
crime in this country. The national |
committee on prisons says that in |
states where prohibition is in force the |
reduction in crime is already note |
worthy.
The change from military life to !
civil may be harder for a man than !