Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1924-01-12
MURDER INCREASES
At ALARMING RATE
IN UNITED STATES
BY FREDERIC j. HASKIN


country is a matter of grave con-
Germ to all good Americans. 1t is
impossible to pick up a newspaper
nowadays without encountering the
news Of at least a half dozen new
homicides that do not seem to be
disturbing the serenity of the police.
In one issue OF a Washington jour-
nal, noted for it's dignified and con-
sentative treatment of news. we find
these casual headlines: MANY men
slain during Christmas. -Four killed
and two wounded in one Kentucky
county," Woman of 70 beaten to
death in home" KILLED from am
bush after church service" Man
who killed five dug up
Any one Of these items would be
enough to keep conversation alive
in London for at least a month. but
over here the total number scarcely
causes a comment. Our attitude to-
ward crime reminds one of the ia
nous nonsense rhyme: Mary with
the nursery shears, cut off both the
baby's ears; at the baby so unslghtiy,
mother raised her eyebrows slight
w." We have become SO accustomed
to sensational crimes that a new
murder or two scarcely causes even
a tremor in our eyebrows.
In the last few years the murder
rate in this country has risen with
startling rapidly, far outstrlpplng
that of north European countries. 1t
needs no statistics to prove this as
sertion; nevertheless they are inter
esting as a means of comparison. A
recent investigation shows that IN
1918 there were twenty times as
manv murders per 100,0 900 of the
population in Cleveland as in Lon
don: that. in 1921 Chicago had pro-
portionately fourteen times as many
murders as Berlin; that in 1913 the
chances that one would be muir
dered were eight times as great IN
the United States as in Canada.
Since then, instead of improving,
conditions are growing worse. Ac
cording to figures recently made pup
lie by a big insurance company, for
whom an exhaustive study OF the
subject was made, no less than 1,9lt
murders occurred in the year 1921 IN
% American cities with total pop
ulation of 20,55S,770. The rate per
! 900 inhabitants was 9.S as compar'
ed with 81 for the same places in
100. In other words, murder mas
increased in our leading cities more
than 80 per cent.
Memphis Heads List
Curiously enough, Memphis stands
first on the list of cities having hlgh
murder rates. For years from 1911
to 1915 her murder rate was 69.G Tor
the wears from 1916 to 1920 it was
sos: in 1921 it fell to 56.8, but rose
again in 1922 to G7.4. In 1921 the
rate per 10000 for Baltimore was
11.3; for Chicago lis; for Louisville
lG.5; for Nashville 35.1; for New Or
leans 20, and for st. Louis 17.2. New
YorE City had the comparatively
low rate of 60. In 1922, New York
again remained low on the llSt, with
26O murders to it's some So0e,OoV
people. But compare this with Lon
don's average, which was -. and II
appear appalling high.
When we further compare this rec
ord with that of England and Wales
which average only so to 80 murders
year for a population OF about 40
OOO,OO0; when we realize tha- ChN a.
go alone has more murders thar. Eng
land. and that India naDoiis has more
than London, it is at once obvious
that drastic remedies are needed TO
reduce this crime in this country.
What are the rSAGCns for such an
abnormal percentage OF murders over
here? And why is it that crime is
more popular among native AneI-
cans than it is among the foreign
born?
Students Of the question declare
that one of the chief reasons is our
tolerant attitude toward crime, which
makes it easy for criminals TO eS-
cape conviction. In London the sew
enteen persons who committed muir
der in the year 1922 were all prompt
ly caught and convicted, whereas, in
New York, only a small number OF
the 260 guilty of murder were
caught, and only three received the
death sentence. Our legal procedure
is such that poor and petty criminals
are often punished more heavily
than is just, while important profess
sional criminals escape the penalties
of the law and prey at will upon
society.
This is largely because the impor.
tant professional criminal has mon.
ey enough to throw innumerable le-
=
cry. The man who is compelled to
steal an overcoat to pay for his dim
der is likely to receive speedy pun.
ishment, but the man who steals
$4,000 and knocks a bank clerk or
two on the head in the bargain.
stands a good chance of staying his
conviction for at least a year if not
indefinitely. 1t depends upon the eff
ficiency of his bondsman and law
yer.
Business OF BOndsmen
In theory bondsmen are persons
who furnish bonds. pending trial,
for the appearance of one who other
wise would be held in custody. But
in practice, under our modern sys.
tenn Of court procedure. certain
bondsmen have gone far beyond
their original function and have lost
all resemblance to the individual
who comes forward as surety for a
friend. They have become profess
sional suppliers of bail to all varie-
ties Of persons taken into custody Of
the police, and rely upon the prac-
tice as a means of earning a living.
These men regard the professional
criminal as valuable client. In
some Instances they appear as the
agents of we'll organized groups of
habltlal criminals, as, for example.
pickpockets. Often also they act not
only q bondsmen but as "fixers."
In other words, they not only secure
the liberty of the accused pending
trial, but they also pull all kinds
Of wires to insure his complete i'm
munity from punishment and his
final release.
There are criminal lawyers, it is
said whose work includes dealing
with the police, furnishing profes.
sional alibis and professional wit
nesses, jury-fixins. the spiriting
away OF witnesses, exhausting con.
tinuances and all the underground
antiN-itTT IF