Seward daily gateway., 1925-09-25
CRIME STATISTICS
 INDICATE A RISE
 DUEPROHIBITION
TENDENCY YOUNG PEOPLE TO DEPART FROM cONvENTloN-
 AL RULES FOOD FOR THoT
Law Respect On Decline
Alarming Conditions Have Arisen In Coleges-Student Earns Way
 Thru Bootlegging.

WASHINGTON, U. C., Sept 70. P)-An exhaustive discussion of the effect of prohibition on crime, con- ditions in settlement neighborhoods, drug addiction, the morals of the young, and respect for law in gen. eral was made. public tonight by the Research and Education Department of the Federal Council of Churches as a third section of it's special re- port on the social consequences of prohibition laws.
 While pointing out that a lack of complete data makes definite con- clusions impossible, the report made these assertions:
 The tendency of young people of the present day to depart from con- ventional rules of behavior cannot be laid entirely at the door of pro- hibition but "the fact that prohibi- tion has made no more decisive eff feet in heightening their moral tone gives food for earnest thought"
 Crime statistics indicate a rapid increase in violations of law, chiefly of the misdemeanor class, but it is "gratuitous" to blame prohibition, and "all that can be asserted is that prohibition has thus far not prevent ed an increase in such offenses."
 Available information indicates that in settlement neighborhoods there is less drinking and family life has improved under prohibition but that the law nevertheless is widely violated and "the bootlegger is get ting rich.''
 Assertions that prohibition has tended to increase the use of drugs lack definite proof and would appear to be untrue.
 ''The general impression that re- spect for law is declining leads many ardent supporters of prohibition to believe that it's foes are undermining all citizenship, while the latter as- sert very positively that prohibition has destroyed respect for all law. Fortunately, neither contention is full ly supported by facts. The best au- thorities is psychology and education agree that a persons attitude toward law and government is not determin- ed wiht reference to a single law Every one takes some laws more se- riously than others, and necessarily so. All laws have not the same inn portance and some have greater so- cial sanction than othres. For this reason it would seem to be a mis- take to rest the appeal for observ ance of prohibition laws merely upon the gneral duty to obey the law Rather, an attitude of intelligent sympathy toward the law itself must be built up if it is to be generally observed.
 Reports of school administration officials and of teachers who have extensive studies of moral problems in the schools give little support to the treory that prohibition is in it. self a couse of moral breakdown, |" it continued. Tt may perhaps just as truly be said that it does not ap- pear to be great asset. Certainly, the non-observance of the law by parents has rather tragic effect on boys and girls.
 Tn the colleges, undoubtedly, some alarming conditions have developed. Even in a conservative denornination- al college a student mas been known to earn his way thru school bv boot logging The evidence, however, seems to indicate favorable trend at the present time; at least this is he opinion of nearly all the col. !ege deans consulted, and it receives some measure of support from oth- CT sources.'a