Evening star., 1924-07-27

ments of death in the hands Of
slayers.
Education to be of salvation must
have penetrated to the instincts, to
the origin and handspring, Of action.
No one Is truly educated until he
| knows how to use his education. Not
until the word is made flesh and
dwells within us are we truly edu-
Gated persons.
Education in the hands of a Pas
| In the hands of Anatole France, who
too, was precocious. a delight.
Only An Instrument
Another of our automatic beliefs
| is that in regard to money. Are we,
| contemplating this case, to discard
the school and church taught ex-
amples of financial successes-the
Gle toward the accumulation of for
| tune? Henceforth are we not to heed
| the advice of those who counsel thrift
In order that eventual comfort may
be attained for ourselves and our
children?
IF wealth and the environment it
| creates is the direct cause of this
crime. then those men and women
who are now struggling to bring
leisure and culture and wealth to
| unsooial goals, and may be even the
unconscious accessories to future
crime
Wealth is only an instrument.
hsnas IKE education; nf blessing IN the
In hands like these boys"
Value OF Freedom.
And what of freedom, the new free.
dom youth has wrenched for itself
from its elders? Did that new free
dom. with It's expression in jazz and
speed and impatience at intellectual
restraint or self-impoSed inhibition
bring about this crime? Is that the
social significance that parents should
consider?
Education, wealth, self-expres-
sion, all seem to have failed to pre-
vent this crime. all the foundations
upon which we build future OF
happiness and normal living seem
tottering.
! asked DR.. Faris il these factors
having failed with these youths now
being tried for murder. should we
continue to trust in characterization
precocity, wealth, freedom.
OF Use as Tools.
ITO trust them as TOOLS" he said,
land not as ways OF salvation; sharp
ways, tools which may be used either
for or against society, depending
upon the instincts of the individual
| who possesses them. The important
asked the poet, Carl Sandburg. II
he thought this case had social sig
nificance, or was it Of dramatic In
terest only.
Its Significance is cultural" he
said. 1T has had a cultural effect
upon the more thinking portion of
the people. 1t is making men and
women pause in their judgments,
making them ask questions, putting
new words in their vocabularieS, new
thought
listen to scientific reasons, accustom-
ing them to the scientific method of
procedure in the analysis of crime.
Both prosecution and defense use
the findings of scientists to support
their claims The influence of this
case tried in this way will have tre-
mendous cultural value and no doubt
influence .profoundy our attitude
toward crime.
Rcd WITH Race Riots
"Chicago is city that has glowed
red with violent race riots It has
swarmed and lynched and burned. 1t
has frothed with hysteria over the
alleged crimes of anarchists and ex-
ecuted mob violence.
Yet here in our city was a hor-
rible and revolving crime. But the
challenge Of this case with its back
ground of wealth and opportunity
and ion-extraordinary condi-
tions-6afes our citizens. here.
people are taking stock Of their
beliefs. examining their formulas for
success. becoming a little less sure
These boys have sold their American
birthrfghts. How could they do it!
People are bewildered. Familiar
signs along the road to life are torn
down by this crime.
"AmerSca Is Healthy.
But 1t is in these moments of
bewilderment, in these moments of
examination and revaluation, that a
person or a people grow intellectu-
ally. Any act. even though it be a
crime, that makes a whole nation
think. withhold Judgment. read
evidence on both sides, listen to the
words of society's wise men. has
tremendous cultural value and hence
social Significance.
Egypt, Greece and Rome reached
that pinnacle of culture and civiliza-
tion when its rich and leisured and
perfumed youths became decadent;
racking satiated. blase brains for
new trills. resorting to orgy for
stimulation, practising strange rites"
Could 1t be, Carl Sandburg asked
himself, that this crime was socially
significant in that 1t marked the be-
ginning of a similar period Of decay
of our sturdy American civilization?
Did this crime foreshadow the de-
generation of American youth. rich
beyond all youths?
Interest Is Life.
NO, Americas healthy" he answer
ed himself. THE interest in this
Franks case shows that. Interest is
life. Interest is health. The case is
not so significant as Is the reaction
Of society to it. Why. this nation has
had mental energy enough to think
about this crime, to think about the
relationship Of crime to environment,
to heredity, to think about RESPONSE
bility. That's a long step for people
to take. 1t Is significant that with
people have been bewildered rather
than seen red"
And so came to the wise woman
Jane Addams.
The social significance Of this
case" she said. may be its contri-
button to our understanding Of the
workings of SUCH brains as these
boys. Equipped with such scientific
data. society may prevent the recur-
renee of another murder
The whole case Is exceptionally
weird and behind it must lie a back
ground Of shadows. The Scientific
explanation Of case such as this
may mean that we will have to re-
normalities. 1t may seem that we
will have to consider certain aspects
Of life, certain deviations from what
is called normal, from a scientific
and historic point Of view rather than
from the punitive one.
"It is a strange fact" she added,
that society itself is so often edu-
Gated by its abnormal members: di-
rectly through its geniuses and IDEAL
lists, and then sometimes indirectly
by those guilty of crime. who
through their very act cause a
deeper and profounder, understanding
of this mystery called life"
Copyright, 1924. in United States, Great
Britain and Canada by North American News
paper Alliance. All right reserved.
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