Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1922-08-01
INTEGRITY, ii hi i OF THE LAW
Discussion Of Grave Prtblem Con-
fronting Society.
CROOKED LAWYER DANGEROUS MENACE

Matters OF Tremendous Importance
to Fee institutions.
The United States is today being
swamped by the greatest crime wave
in its history. Contempt for law by
a, portion of our population is only
edualed by the indifference of the re-
mainder. Tho average citizen persues
the daily record of assaults, robberies
and murders in his newspaper to ex-
claim: .'It is terrible Something
ought to be done about it." But he,
himself, does nothing. Occasionally, in
some of the southern and western
states, citizens take the law into their
own hands, and organizations such as
the Ku Klux Klan spring up. Most Of
these attempts are so interviewer with
religious prejudice that their effect is
nufiified. ~
Crime and criminals we have always
had. There are men and women whose
diseased minds, cause then to prey up
on society. But criminals in the past
to a large extent were isolated, their
crimes sporadic, Today there is an in
terwoven fabrit Of crime covering the
continent. Crime mas become al bust
ness. It's tentacles reach into every
stratum of society Crime has taken
a leaf from. the, book of big business.
In fact, it is now itself big business /;
Crime, which Itself is defined as any
violation OF human or divine law,S can
be roughly dfvided into crimes against
property and crimes against man,
These can be subdivided into crimes of
guile and crimes of violence. Crimes
of guile are compassed through trick
cry; crimes of violence by the applica-
tion of force. The first almost invari-
ably leads 10 the second. A tprainy
crook will seldom resort to violence,
but for the crook Of low mentality it
is the only recourse. The success OF
master crooks inspires the lower crimi-
nails to emulation in the only manner of
which they are capable.
High Finance ana URINE.
Whenever there. is an era. of what
might be called "high-class' crime.
sometimes sugar coated by the term
high fnance,r by, means, of which
crooks, whether in the guise of promo
ters, financiers or captains Of industry,
rob the public of its savings, it is fol-
lowed by a wave of violent crimes.
The center of crime is, today, as it
has always been, in the larger cities.
InEthese congested centers Of. popula-
tiorf where no one knows his neigh
bor's business, the criminal can work
to better advantage than in the coun-
try or smaller towns where all eyes are
focused upon him. II the cities, crini-
mails OF all degrees have gravitated into
organizations which have their rami-
fications extending into the very cita-
dels of the officers whom society has
chosen to defend it,. 1t is this discov-
cry by criminals. OF the value Of or
ganization together with the laxity and
indifference of the general public that
causes the ''crime wave" Of today to
be of such potential menace to the ma
ton.
From New York, Chicago, st. Louis,
Boston, Seattle, New Orleans, Cleve-
land, Cincinnati, Detroit San Fran
cisco, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Mil
waukee. Kansas City and many other
cities these rings or arch criminals
radiate out to the surrounding sbun-
try. Here we have rings of automobile
thieves, bank robbers, bootleggers'
white slavers, dope peddlers, burglars,
bunco men, blackmailers and even
murdere.s.
These rings through liberal use of
money and political influence, have
corrupted members of the state, coun-
ty and city police forces, have pur-
chased the bar and often reached the
bench itself until. Honest officials who
really wish the law enforced find them
selves helpless, their hands virtually
tied Thus the public is LETT defense
less, at the mercy of the enemies to
society. The press which should
sound the alarm and awaken the
lethargic public to its danger, usually
expends it's energies exploiting the re-
suits but ignoring the basic causes.
There is a remedy for this mcnacing
state of affairs. 1t is an obvious RENE
dy, and a simple one. If the members
of the legal profession, if so per cent.
only Of the members of the bar would
forget their private interests and de-
vote themselves unreservedly to the
public welfare, the crime wave could be
wiped out in six months and future
crime reduced to a. minimum.
Lawyers, Defend Yourselves.
The truth is that the bar upon which
the public depends for the proper ad-
ministraton of justice and protection
from those who flout the law is no
longer either efficient or honest. Graft,
mental and moral corruption, the greed
for money md notOriety and the Let
George do it" spirit have brought it
to point where instead of acting as
q crime deterrent it functions largely
as crime incitpr