The Semi-weekly leader. (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1905-1941, 1921-01-01
BLAMES SOCIETY FOR
PRESENT CRIME WAVE
criminologist says Penal systems Are
nadequate--Jackson man Cited
as Example.

That the prevalency of crime in prac-
tically every section of the country is
due to the lack of sufficiently drastic
penal laws and to the frequency with
which paroles are granted, is the O.
pinion of Police Lieut.. Paul Woggen-
er. criminologist and supervisor of the
local criminal identification bureau. In
his belief unemployment is not the real
reason for the social unrest which is
permeating every corner of the nation
but that society as a whole is respon-
sible for infractions of the law.
Every day we come in contact
with parole violators who are turned
out from prison before their sentences
expire and who are at liberty to prey
upon the community, to commit even
greater crimes than those for which
they originally were convicted" the
lieutenant said. Last week. of the 2S
ex-convicts whom we 'mugged' 20 were
parole violators. Some of them were
young men who had been taught the
ways of crime by older heads In the
business while in prison.
"T. S. Ingram, found guilty of grand
larceny, arrested at Jackson, Miss, in
1918 and sentenced to Atlanta, for the
theft of 5000 while a messenger on
the Y. & M, V. Railroad, was arrested
yesterday for vagrancy Ingram was at
large on parole from the penitentiary
and found work as a deck hand on a
steamboat He roomed on Beale Ave-
nue. and his lodging place was raided
by police. If he is found guilty of va
grancy tomorrow, the result will be
that he must return to Atlanta to COM
plete his sentence.
James Cannon, negro boy, sent up
from Memphis to the State Industrial
School for one year for the murder
of Henry Hooks, negro probation Of
hcer was taken in custody Tuesday
for highway robbery. Charles p.
Jackson, according to our records, has
been paroled from the Michigan City,
lnd prison three times. He must now
return to finish his 10-year sentence.
James A. ireland, who has served five
years in Fort Madison, Iowa, for bur-
glary, has been apprehended in st.
Louis for a greater crime. He was
a parole violator
These cases brought to our atten-
tion on yesterday will clearly show
the failure of the parole law, be-
lieve. The year book of one Of our
state prisons shows that 400 paroled
prisoners violated their oath to lead new
lives. These men have gone to all Sec
tions to commit more depredations.
While police departments afford tenn
porary relief from these conditions a
more permanent solution is needed.
When young men are incarcerated they
hear wild tales of crime narrated by
the older heads. In their idle mo-
ments they look forward to their pa
role hour and the time when they are
freed and plan afresh ways and means
of living through crime.
Instead of giving man a second
hand suit of clothes and SIS note it
seems to me to be better to train these
men to such a point that they may be-
come proficient in some useful occu-
patton, though II might take years to
learn a trade. When they have COM
pleted that course grant them GER
tificate as testimonial Of good ser
vice. Then the sole thought would be
to learn the trades and little time would
be had for idleness. A mere slap on
the wrist will not solve the problem.
"In some sections the task of deal
ing with ex-convicts has become so
acute that orders have been issued
to kill when men are found commit
ting crimes. If the terms of sentence
are heightened and paroles are harder
to get such orders as Chicago's chief