Perth Amboy evening news., 1920-12-13
THE HASKIN LETTER
AMERICA LEADS IN CRIME
~ FREDERIC j. Haskin

M WASHINGTON has a1t1N
as many homicides as Liverpool.
In New York more people are muir
dered i'm a year than in all of Eng
land and Wales put together. III a
typical American CO there are sew
oral times as mary eurglaries ev-
CRY wear as there are in London, in
proportion to population. i've
5000 automobiles were stolen in
New York in 1919, while 200 were
stolen in London and zen in liver
pool.
These are a few typical samples,
chosen at random, of the statistics
presented by Raymond b. Fosdick
in his book on American police sys-
tams They show that the United
states leads the world in crime, not
by a small margin, but by several
hundred per cent. 1t is perhaps the
most lawless place on earth which
pretends to have a civilized govern
ment
MI. Fosdick occupies a unique
place in this country as an expert
on crime and police work, who has
studied all the principal police sys-
TENS of Europe. as well as that Oh
his own country. During the war
he was placed in control OF the COM
mission on Training Camp Activities
which was certainly one of h most
c%reditable of our war time activities.
His book is not of a popular nature,
and appeals chiefly to students and
professionals. 1t therefore seems
worth while to give the gist of his
remarkable facts and arguments
here.
Far more interesting than proof
- ..w,,a'- world 1Ga6arEhin an
the production of all kinds of crime
is his acute analysis of the reasons
for this. His viewpoint is that of a
cosmopolitan rather than a typical
American reformer. He does not
see the cause of our crime-ridden
state primarily in the fact that we
do not all go to Sunday school, nor
in the dime novels, nor In the fox
trot. nor in short skirts, home brew
nor cabarets. He does not believe
that a great wave of moral reform
could sweep all this crime away, o
that a multiplication of laws would
solve the problem. On the con-
trary, he makes put a strong case
for the view that what we suffer
from is too many laws. which at
tempt 10 regulate personal conduct
instead of to prevent crime, laws
which are fundamentally unenfor-
chile. because they are not suifi-
ciontly supported by opinion, and
which have had the effect of maxi
ing all law ridiculous, and of Civ
ing social sanction to much law
breaking.
Causes of Crime.
True. he sees other causes for our
national criminality. He shows that
our astonishing mixture of a
simulated racial elements presents a
unique police problem. He shows
that the absurdity of our admins
tretion of criminal law is an ncour
agement to crime. He shows that
almost any criminal who can hire
a lawyer has at least an even
chance to escape conviction, and
that IN with plenty of money, or
with political pull, is seldom con-
victe.d This is painfully true, and
has been pointed out before. But
Mr.. Fosdick's analysis of the ma
tional mind is the most original and
arresting thing he has to offer. He
shows that none but the Germans
OF the period before the war were
ever so ridden by laws designed to
make of men a regimented mass,
rather than a group of free individ-
uals.
THE Willingness with which we
undertake to regulate by law the
personal habits of private citizens is
a source OF perpetual establishment
to Europeans" he writes. I'm no
country in Europe. with the excep-
ton of Germany. is an attempt ever
made to enforce standards of con-
duct which do not meet with gem
eral public approval. or, at the be-
hest of what may be a minority. to
bring a particular code of behavior
within the scope of criminal legisla-
ton. With US, however. every year
adds its %accreton to our sumptu-
airy laws. 1t suits the judgment of
some and the temper of others to
convert into crimes practices which
they deem mischievous or unethi-
cal. They resort to law to supply
the deficiencies of other agencies of
social control. They attempt to
govern by Means of law things
which in their nature do not admit
OF objective treatment and external
coercion. The views Of particular
groups of people on questions of
private conduc. are made the legal
requirements of the state. We are
surrounded by penal laws whose
only purpose is to enforce by threat
certain standards of morality.
Moral Laws.
Indeed. this presents one Of the
strange anomalies of American Ne:
with an intolerance for authority
and An emphasis upon individual
rights more pronounced, Lerhaps.
than in any other nation we are of
all people. not ever excepting the
Germans. pre-eminently addicted to
the habit Of standardizing the lives
and morals of III citizens. Nowhere
In the world is there SO great an
anxiety to place the regulation OF
moral affairs in the hands of the
police. and nowhere are the police
so incapable of carrying out such
regulations.
Our concern. moreover. IS for
externals, for results that are for
NAL and apparent rather tnan es-
sential. We r less anxious about