Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-07-12


sas AN account of n crazy man, who hao
suddenly developed a homicidiai mania
md killed two people. The maniac was put
n an asylum and every member OF his
amlly, even 20 remote cousins, and the
,ntire population Of the village IN which
ne lived, were fined because they knew
the man to be meutally unbalanced, yet
had taken no measure to protect the
public against him.
In another ease youth WAS convicted
of having robbed his employer. He was
-cnt 90 jail. and his father sentenced to n
severe iloggng for having reared n thief.
and for having neglected to instill the
principles of honor and honesty in his son.
We of the Western world might we'll
adopt this Chinese system of administer
ing justice. For no man sins by himself
alone. and We are all more or less response
ole for the evil done by those about us.
No one will deny, for example, that We
are all accessory before the crime of the
political corruption that curses our coun-
try We pay taxes that should make
every road IN the State a velvct-spread
boulevard, and every city Spotless Town.
Then we sit supincly down and watch
ruad commissioners and alderman steal
millions. while We bump along over the
nuts and unmendcd highways, and have
cur children sickcn and die OF city filth.
We make our politicians grafters be-
cause We make II perfectly safe for them
to loot the public treasury, and we are Just
a. much their partners in guilt as is the
servant girl who leaves the door unlocked
so that burglars NAV come in and help
themselves to the family silver.
We deserve to have TO pay the taxes
under which we groan, We deserve more.
We deserve To serve a term I'm stripes by
the side ot the men we have encouraged
M their thciyery by our neglect of our
duty "a citizens. For we could prevent
the plundering of the public funds if we
would take the trouble to do so.
In cS,mcstic life the Chinese system of
justice even more adequately makes the
punishment iit the crime, and fastens the
guilt on the real criminal. Because when
a man or woman goes wrong, or fails I'm
hfc nine times out of ten he or she could
tnthfully say: This is my parents
fault They are 10 blame more than l."
| have never seen boy standing In
fclons dock without thinking that his
father and mother should be standing
bcsidc hum, and that they are more re-
sponsiblc than he was.
They let HIM grow up with an un-
governed temper and IN some moment
uf rage he committed murder Or they
never taught hlm 20 control his appetite
or deny himself anything he wanted and
80 when he lacked the money to indulge
himself In what he desired, he stole to
yet Il.
The father was absorbed IN business.
The mother IN society or clubs, and they
left the boy 90 grow up on the streets and |
learn has code of conduct from hoodIums. |
Neither father or mother ever took the |
trouble to get acquainted with the boy, to |
be his friend and confident snd to instill |
~ hls youthful soul those high ideals of |
principle that keep q lad a straight through |
the temptations OF life, and so he became
criminal.
thinking that Il Is her mother from whom
We should draw away our skirts, and not
her, poor soul. II her mother had ipcul- |
Gated modesty and purity IN her, If her
mother had taught her strength and vir-
tue, and mgraincd into the very fibre of |
her soul that feeling that makes a woman |
hold her chastity above her life. no man |
could have lured acr into the primrose
path: no want or poverty could have |
driven her 10 the streets.
But her mother was weak and careless. |
M she WAS frivolous and vain, She taught |
her daughter indirectly, If not directly. /
that dress was the jost important thing /
in the world for a woman. and that she /
must have finery no matter how she got |
Il. and so the girl was hardly 10 b,ame if |
she sold her soul for a yard Of chiffon
Or she let the girl go about half clothed |
and her modesty persisted, for modesty
can only exist when IL is covered by the
seven wells Of retlcence Above sll, the
girls mother never warned her that 3
woman Is always IN more danger from
herself than she Is from any man. And so
the glrl fen, and her sin is on her mothers
head.
never see an unhappy home, or hear
Of n divorce that do not think that the
real correspondents who should be named
in the suit, are the parents on both sides.
They have brought their children up TO be
selfish. with no idea of owing duty to
anyone but themselves, and when they
hnd out that matrimony consists OF more
pills than billings, more cooking than
ooing they have not the courage to en-
rre the sacrifices II demands