Fort Mill times. [volume] (Fort Mill, S.C.) 1892-current, 1921-01-06

ness men, would not put their money
in goods they were doubtful OF their
ability to sell. Every yard Of cloth
the mills weave means marest Tor
tustethat nnch Amoye raw cotton.
and while athe resumption OF work
at these mills Ii OF most fmmediate
concern to the thousands of employ
ees who have been idle. 1t neverthe-
less also will help the farmers. mer-
chants and other business interests.
And IL only the cotton market would
take an appreciabie bound upward.
pretty soon the South would again
be on its feet.
There seems to be little II any d.
minution In the crime wave which
has been sweeping over the country
for several months. In the large
centers Of population the reckless
disregard for the rights OF property
and the sacredness Of human life
goes on and as yet no effective
means to curb the lawlessness has
been set in motion. In the smaller
cities and towns there have been
many robberies in recent weeks, but
in only a few instances have the
robbers gone so far, as to add MUIR
der to their crimes in plying their
trade. Not so in Chicago and New
York, for instance. There Is not q
citizen of New York who has any as
surance that he will not be robbed or
murdered at any hour Of the day or
night" says the New York World in
describing crime conditions in the
metropolis. Crime also has been
rampant in st. Louis and The Globe
Democrat OF that city indorses tho
statement that the courts are largo.
Is responsible for the present un-
paralleled excess OF crimes of yio-
lence. There must be an entirely
different spirit and attitude toward
tho matter on the part of the bench
and the bar" says the st. Louis pa
per. adding: Assuming that the
police arc successful in catching q
robbcr-and that is what the robber
himself at the present time does not
assume-the road from that point to
the penitentiary must be shortened.
widened and Strengthened. the crooks
aiken out OF 1t. and all the by-roads
md side-tracks removed or closed
up and the road hard surfaced for
10
It can be done here. We have more
'riminal courts and less to show for
hem than any other land under the
un. 1t Is not credit to our intel
hEence and our common sense. 1t
the certainty. OF punishment, and
'ot Its severity. which eNerts n re-
5training effect upon the commission
Of crimes in other countries. 1t is
The lack OF that certainty which
gives us our unenviable notoriety as
pelng the most criminal nation in
the world. We believe in training
the young. in humane and reforma-
tory treatment of convicts, in an ef-
fort to educate them morally, intel
iectually and mechanically, and in n
parole system properly administered.
All those come before or afterward.
The fundamental thing in repres-
sion Is to bring into the minds OF all
the people. criminals. possible GRIM
mails and impossible criminals, the
common thought that one who vio-
lates the law or commits n crime of
violence Is certain to be caught and
certain to be punished. They all
have the opposite mental condition
now. 1t must be changed"
There is n lesson in the grade-
crossing tragedy in Charlotte Satur-
day. in which four lives were lost,
that should be taken to heart by
every automobile driver In this sec
ton. Few people ever are so press
ed for time that they cannot afford
the loss Of the minute 1t takes to
bring their cars to a full stop be-
fore attempting to cross the tracks
of n steam railway to make sure
they are not running into danger.
The Times does not know whether
the driver OF the automobile that
came to grief in Charlotte Saturday
or the railroad company was respon-
sible for the loss OF the four lives.
but It does know that with due pre-
caution many. perhaps most. OF the
grade-crossing accidents could be
avoided. Human life Is too valua-
BILE to be thrown away when 1t could
be preserved by the exercise of