The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-09-10
Lonliness And Crime ., Rv DR. FRANgS CRANE

. 4 IL. TT would be interesting, if there were any
 way of getting at tha figures, to know E how many crimes could be traced to sheer lonesomeness Ns (
 The young man drifts into an evil current that wrecks his success just because he wants companionship. Too often integrity means isolation.
 The young woman spells her life not be- cause she is.wicked, but because she Is lonely Too often virtue locks her up alone, away from laughter and humaItide; and vice is so friendly ,Gzs
 How many wife has brought ruin to her self simply by breaking out of the prison of prudence!
 Think of the innumerable army of youth right now in the great city, held back to being good by the thin claims of moral sense or fear, drawn on toward folly by the strong cables of fellowship; the boy in his cheap boarding house, the girl in her hall bedroom young adventurers in life condemned to the third floor back, pathetic figures sitting on trunks, and, besides eating their hearts, hearing all around them the roar of the full waves of lush humanityl
 You feel you have a right to know these you do not feel 1t, the terrible lonesomeness that turks in multitudes. The physical mass smites you with spiritual Isolation.
 You feel you have righ ito know these people, all of them. They have treasures of friendship that belongs to you. Each one is hugging to himself a personality made to cheer you, as if you were dying of thirst and every passer-by had jug of water he refused to share. /
 People do not go to the theater to hear the play, to church to attend the sermon, noJ to the concert to listen to the players; theI go to tap tho reservoir of humanity, to drinA of the crowds soulI to feel in the applause or tears or laughter the electric touch of ths common life. ~
 The sharpest lack of our civilization is it's lack of free intercourse one with another and with all. We have all sorts of groups--we have lodges, clubs, sets and sects-but theiv effort is to segregate. can know my fellow member in anything only by virtue of agree. ing not to know outsiders FAa
 What has become of the old word "fellow citizen?' Alas! It has been gobbled by demagoguery.
 Would it not be great fun If we could have city sociable, where we could meet with no other right and tltieSt than that we are human beings; something like the old county fair or old settlers picnic?
 Bar traffic from Broadway and have thso street given over on Saturday afternoon te feasting, games of children and chat of wo men, and talk of men. Let millionaires anG smart sets, pushcart vendors and bootblackA barbers, actors, preachers, artists, engineers plasterers, typists, teachers newspaper mel. college professors and priests--'ail sorts ant conditions of men"-let them meet, without fear or hope of profit, and realize democracy,
 That we smile at this ps absurdly imprae ticaI shows how many million miles we hav' yet to travel to reach tile real sense of de mocracy.
 We are too much afraid of each other we should not want such a festival. As w, some one might pick our pocket; we should be spoken to by rude persons; thousand unpleasant things might happen; and, besides. we should nto want such a festival. As We are consuming our days and nights trying to become more exclusive, why should we turn around and become at once inclusive?
 The preachers would doubtless think it sinful, the police would think it dangerous the good would be afraid of it. and the bad would take advantage of it.
 So by all it's gains civilization is restrained from fellowship. The old-world carniyals are disappearing. The genial humanities are boxed up. We no more dine in the street We crawl into bedizened holes in the ell to drink.
 And yet the child of loneliness is vice
 We should be friendly enough and forget our castes and exclusions, if we were shi,,- wrecked together upon q small island.
 We are. The little island is the earth. It is a speek in the ocean of stars. We are here hut while. Why not be humanf