The Chattanooga news. [volume] (Chattanooga, Tenn.) 1891-1939, 1920-12-09


The year is from September 1 of tn,
i previous past year to the same date o
the year indicated.
According to this table, homicid,
cases In this city are out OF ali pro.
portion to the burglaries here; Il i,
either that the killings are much
heavier than is usually the case, OF
that the burglaries are very much un.
der tho normal figure.
! Wave Petty Crime,
Inc past few months has seen the
start OF wave OF petty crime in Chat
tanooga. ana considerable increa sc
In the number OF homicides. What
connection there is between the two
is hard to explain. At any event there
seems to be very close relationship
between the number OF burglaries here
ana that OF murders In other cities,
Doth on this side of the ocean and in
england. the burglaries are q hundred
times the murders
In explaining the disparity OF crime
In America and Europe Mr.. Fosdick
writes in his book, which is destined
to take rank with his European Pc.
ice system among works in this field:
The task OF the police IL further
handicapped in the United States, as
compared with Europe, by the greater
volume or crime committed there. Po-
lice statistics show that crime 10 far
more prevalent in American cities than
N the cities Of England, France ana
Germany.
THE point will undoubtedly be made
that fnasmuch as the prime duty OF
the police Is the prevention OF crime,
this unhappy condition 10 the result
OF our police ineffectiveness, rather
than one OF the causes OF It. In part
this point Is well taken, and Il must
be admitted that in assessing respon-
sibility for the condition. we are in a
borderland where analysis is impossi-
Mr.. Fodstick's comparison OF Euro
pean crime and that of America gives
this country n decided black eye.
Chicago, with its heterogeneous foreign
number OF murders that London had:
a population OF two and a half mill
lions and one OF thirty-eight millions
contrasted here unfavorably In this re-
spect for the former. For that mat
ter, Tennessee in the same year had
more murders than the entire city OF
Chicago, with its heterogeneous foreign
population and warning nations.
In Memphis In 1915 there were sew
enty-six cases OF murder: In this same i
year the total for the British Isles was
OF the Memphis cases. the |
death list was seventy eight: OF the |
persons killed, nineteen were white |
and fifty-nine colored: OF the perpe- |
traitors, there were seventeen whites |
and fifty-three colored four being I'M |
known. Arrests were made in but thir- |
ty-seven OF these cases; according to |
Fosdick, in the remainder Of these
cases, two white perpetrators were
known but not apprehended. twenty
nine colored perpetrators were unap-
pretended, sfour remained without |
clue. and one perpetrator committed
suicide
1t seems 10 be generally believed
that American crime Is much larger
han European though no valid reason
Tor this fact has yet been advanced
by Investigators.
Bakers View.
w. l.. Baker. chief OF police. offered
IN explanation OF the small number OF
Durglaries in this city, saying that
particular attention Is paid by police
md detectives 10 suspicious charAc-
ers. especially those who come from
,ther places. The slightest nisstep OF
hese strangers. he stated, results in
heir arrest Then, too. ioiterers ana
,rowlers are also nabbed. These
measures keep Chattanooga practi-
ally free from evildoers and accounts,
he chief believes, for the few burgi-
Iries.
Judge Martin Fleming. from the :.