El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1920-02-24
POVERTY, DISEASE, IGNORANCE!
THEM TO CURE ILLS


This tho Of undesrshles most Of the crime and
insanity. And with daily increased incidence Of them
staring Us in the face it is time we stopped while and
took inventory Of stock
There about 5000 counties in the 4s states IN the
unio1 Each OF these counties with possibly dozen
osptions has jail It has been reported by government
ststsans that the average American jail has so inmates
Some iais Ike Fl Paso couuy have many than SO
inmates But there Of sils that have fewer
than dozen prisoners Accepting as at least aPpIoxi-
stey correct the estimate Of so persons 70 jail We have
10000 persons in county jais
The United States has 2o5o cities with population OF
than 1000 each Each Of these cities has oaaboose
or civ iai The average is 20 prisoners to each civ
jail Of the larger cities Of have hundreds
That would give city jail population Of Al 300 We
lave IS state penitentares with average Of 100
vets n each, total Of about 1880. Federal and
other prisons bring the total number Of couvicts H.
CO., according the World almanac exclusive Of county
and city Jail inmates and inmates Of refomatores State
reormatores have than $1,000 inmates The grand
total then Of criminals quasi-crmnals the United
States is 3s2eoo, 3e2 to every 10000 Four times
large among us
The United States has s4tss paupers in aims houses
More than 100000 persons constantly the verge
Of starvation and live less with the aid OF charity
In 1918 the United States had 25s820 insane persons
institutions The number not cared for regularly is
tated at 10000 These vary in the degree Of their IN
sanity from idiots to high grade We have then,
total Of T7osi5 persons instuouay cared for the
result Of crime, poverty and insanity.
But not through We have in the United States
than 5000 blind persons receiving institutional
In city and county hospitals have 10000 persons
der at public expense bringing the couservatvey
tmsed total Of units receiving institutional
than $4,000 almost person out Of every 100 This
awful burden Of unforunaes is costing average Of
$500 year person to feed oothe, house and for
incidentally total Of s5922O0Ooo
Under the head Of ignorance find that IT percent
Of the population Of the United States years Of
age neither read wTite That s4s5ooo per
ssus over ten years Of age totally ilIitsrate.
Whatever is wrong with civilization is reflected IN
the instability Of the institution Of matrmony In 1916
The latest repor-theIe ff2o36 divorces than
euetenth Of the marriages That increase Of 20
900 in ten years nearly 200 percent Of the divorces
50 percent for deseron e percent for cruelty and II
per cent for unfaithfulness.
If poverty disease and ignorance are the causes Of
most Of the crime insanity and marital unhappiness ana
to degree Iiteracy, It is time the government
gave thought to finding the cause Of these and
remedy.
Even worse, perhaps, than the physical and mental
symptoms Of decay Is the fact that apparent moral
progress has been made since the first century following
the death Of Christ This is not the fault Of Christianity
certainly, for that regies, would espouse It and
i've BY IT. would exat TO moral perfection. But the
fact remains that the public and private conscience less
easily quiekened insnevey today than before and
more readily governed by expediency than ever before
We seen to be immoral rather than immoral This IS
ause for greater alarm than anything else that ais
the perturbstOns OF the planets are causing all the
trouble here it IS only fair 10 ask the astronomer what
causing the planetary Perturbatoas-
The pTssdeHtisI wrath nay next fan CT vice president
Marshall In public address he pointed TO Lincoln our
greatest president.
American money circulation now totals s5sso,ss2-
1880 The galley hoy says he account for the so
,ents-
We need not become excited over the new youth re-
1eWIng elixir The prohibition law probably covers It