The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1925-09-17
SEEKING A REMEDY FOR CRIME.

points with the sentiment expressed at the
meeting of the Kenosha Optimist club here on
Monday at which the prevalence of crime in
the nation at large was discussed That there
is a well-defned crime wave is not disputed
That there is more crime than there should
be in a reasonably enlightened, Well-organized
constituency is granted Also that there are
many ways-some good and some not so good
--oF discouraging criminal tendencies we are
easily convinced 81. s~
gfhe action which the Optimist club took in
supporting a. resolution which asks congress
for an enactment of another statute which
should empower the courts to revoke citizen
ship and grant power to deport persistent and
notorious offenders repeatedly convicted of
feSones as well as demeanors, can merit, it
seems to us, serious consideration. Such &C
zion assumes a radical departure in the admin
isTration of justice in such cases when it
places grip upon the violator and threatens
to force him from this country because he has
not shown willingness to play the game
squarely according to the rules of the game
as set down in the law books. A man
coming, to this country from his homeland"
vAlues-or should value-his citizenship more
highly than anything in his possession-next
in fact to life itself. And when this valuable
thing-this citizenship is placed under fire in
the discretionary powers of the district at
torney~ and the courts there comes up before
his mind warning signal Ito stop, look, and
listen
1t is true that in the mind Of the persistent
law breaker he may not always feel that he is
deliberately Haunting the dignity of the ma
tons conception of law and order. He may
conscientiously feel that the law is an unjust
one But there is no justification because of
that fact which allows him to break the law
because it displeases him. There are other
means than breaking law to show ones dis
approved
Theviolator may feel that his liberty is be-
ing interfered with. But what should his con-
ception of liberty be? The Supreme Court of
the United States has recently defined the
"denoting not merely freedom from bodily re-
straints but also the right of the individual to
contract, to engage in any of the common occu-
pations of life, to acquire useful knowledge, to
marry, to establish home and bring up chill
dren, to worship God according to the dictates
of his own conscience, and generally to enjoy
those privileges long recognized at common
law as essential to the orderly pursuit of hap
piness by free man"
But note that this definition does not in
clude acts which bring about a menace to So
ciety, does not include bootlegging, nor oper-
atlng gambling house, nor STILL nor does it
sanction any fraudulent act which is perpe-
trated to the extreme disadvantage Of fellow
man. One mans liberty stops when another
mans liberty is interfered with Liberty as
defined. here is what the citizen enjoys if he
plays the game.
With that conception of the Individual cit
liens responsibility to his fellow man, to his
community, to his state and nation, the law
violator comes in head-on collision If he can
not submit in such manner as to be no danger
20 anyone, even himself, he is not fit for the
privilege of American citizenship. Then he
comes into the province of punitive law And
rather than encourage that group of men with
in the confines of the nation, law which would
revoke mans citizenship upon sufficient pro-
vocation might tend in time to cleanse the ma
ton of a certain class of undesirables And if
the crime wave can be cut down by eliminating
these people who prolong it and take part in
it, that ought to be done
But in the meantime there is no law which
does that Something must be done without
waiting any such enactment The laxty of
public sentiment in the enforcement of the law
needs attention now. The come-to-the-rescue-
-the-condemned-c criminal type of man and
woman needs attention. There is no single
remedy that will suffice to influence these
1here is much along these lines that can be
done at the bar and on the bench to secure the
dignity, the promptness and the efficiency
which the administration of justice demands
One of the contributing causes for this delin-
quency lies in the type of lawyer who reads
every letter of the law and seeks out loop
hole through which they can get through for
their client, who they admit has violated the
spirit of the law
We quote Charles Evan Hughes, president
of the American Bar association, who urges
let s4not talk simply of rules of procedure
in the desire to obtain the appropriate punish