Evening star., 1925-09-13

the United States we are paying
the penalty for a quarter of a
Il century of wallowing in maudlin
sentiment.
1t is notable that many of the most
startling crimes of today are COM
mitted by very young men. These
are the boys who 10 years ago were
being put on probation, paroled, given
suspended sentences, and the like,
under the urgings of a group of soft
hearted and soft-headed visionaries
twenty-five years ago the amount of
serious crime among the young was
so small as to be negligible. Then
came the moral suasionists. The
black death or any of the other
plaques that have fallen upon man
KIND at one time or another, would
not have left any such frightful con-
sequences in their wake as their doc
trine has left.
Parental Control Was Hit.
According TO these folks, Solomon,
while reasonably wise in most things,
had slipped a cog with respect to the
dfscfplining of children. The parent
who believed that firm discipline In
a child's formative years would be
more than compensated for by the in
culcation in the mind of the child of
reasonable consideration for the
rights and feelings of other people,
was gently but firmly rebuked. He
was told that only persuasion should
be used IN the control of the child,
and as for corporal punishment, that
was absolute avagery-nothing less.
That preachment was the beginning
or the breaking down of parental con-
troll of the child. Parents, quick to
sieze upon this good excuse for avoid
Ing the disagreeable duty of control
ing and disciplining their children.
fell into line, hoping that perhaps the
new scheme would work out all wight.
From the family, the moral s~asion-
lists marched on to the courts and
legislatures, with the result that
saturnalia of crime exists among the
young, today, where it was practically
non-existent 25 years ago.
The proof of the pudding is in the
eating. Any theory must give way
to the conditions that develop when
the, theory is tested From all sides
comes testimony OF the frightful In
crease in crime and the end is not yet.
Time for Tests Past.
There might have been a time in
the history of this Nation when we
could have afforded to view the ques-
ton of the advisab bility of drastic
handling of the criminal element "a
a
when society had such a margin of
safety with respect to the criminal
class that 1t could afford to resolve
some of the doubts in favor of the
criminal in the name of humanity
and to try out doctrines that sound
ed we'll. That time has passed We
have reached a point where we must
have either two-fisted enforcement
of law and order, or else have the
vi M Otylsa oil
organized resistance to the law,
which can be eradicated only at an
untold cost in both lives and money,
II at all. 1t has been shown that
organized gangs of criminals are
operating on a Nation wide scale
Some of these devote their energies
to violations of the prohibition law
upon a huge scale. Others have stolen
and marketed automobiles of a value
running into the millions of dollars.
Pay roll and bank robberies are re-
ported in every days news. Is 1t
a wild stretch of the imagination to
foresee like conditions with respect
to other forms of organized banditry?
Aside from the impairment of the ma
tional Self-respect, this condition rep
resents an enormouse economic drain
upon the people. Add to the actual
sums stolen, the cost of police and
SuDSlOldTleS,
large sums spent for auto theft, burg
larry and like insurance and the sums
spent for mechanical protection de-
vices such as burglar alarms, locks,
safes, safe deposit vaults, watchmen
and the like, and it will be seen that
the total will compare with the whole
cost of running the national Govern
ment.
Criminals Being Bred,
No more complete system for the
creation, breeding and protection of
criminals than that now in force in
the United States of America could
possibly have been devised If we had
deliberately and painstakingly set to
work to accomplish that result. The
criminal is only one cog in the vicious
machine which constitutes so grave a
menace to our country. The next cog
Is the type of lawyer. who, some
times for the fee involved and some
times to feed his own vanity by the
notoriety attending the successful
handling of a notorious criminal case,
moves heaven and earth to free crimi-
nails OF the most depraved and vicious
type, even though he knows them to
be guilty. There is a lawyer in the
city of Washington who openly states
that his $40, 900 home was built with
sorry after the fact" in their wrong
doing because he has helped them
evade the law. The next cog is the
professional bondSman, who for por-
ton OF the ill-gotten gains of the thief
or murderer will keep him free to walk
the streets and prey upon society,
while the lawyer plays for delay upon
delay, until material witnesses are
scattered, or dead, and conviction is
n I'LL
Add to the foregoing combination the
propaganda of a lot of sentimentalists
TO discourage judges and juries from
imposing adequate sentences in the
low percentage of cases in which con-
viction is had, and it becomes high
time for justice to get that blindfold
off.
Criminals Satisfied.
II the slick criminal can be assured
of the services of a lawyer of the type
indicated and such court congestion as
will delay his trial for a number of
months, he is not likely to waste any
time on honest work when he can live
in af1iuence upon no more capital than
sandbag or a foot of lead pipe
In the State of Virginia the penalty
for highway robbery is death, and
properly so.
For offenders in crimes involving
unprovoked personal violence for the
purpose of robbery. there should be
no clemency, no mercy, no probation
and no suspended or commuted SEN
tences either for the first offense or
otherwise. The man who for the
sake of unearned money sets upon
and strikes down his fellowman is the
rattlesnake of society, and should be
treated as such.
One of the most serious mistakes
that community, a state or a nation
can make is to hold that the mere