Evening star., 1925-08-11

Coddling of criminals and in
efficiency of judicial and police Sys-
TENS are blamed for the serious in.
crease of lawlessness in the country
by a large section of public opinion
Discussion of the subject comes as a
result of the launching OF a national
crime commission. sponsored by Judge
Gary. Gov. Smith of New York and
former Amba ssador Child.
Legal processes are declared to be
'ruinously slack" by the New York
Herald Tribune. Judges have not
enough power. and are frequently tim
orous in the extreme in exercising the
power they have" adds the Herald.
Tribune; sharp lawyers twist stupid
juries at their will, sentences more
often than not are grossly inadequate,
and the parole system tends to become
a gift to all prisoners of shortened
terms" This paper believes that a
| national crime commission, made up
of men OF action, with full weight of
public pressure behind them, may pro-
duce something. besides talk in behalf
of American law and order" Better
! methods also are held indispensable BILE
by the Baltimore Sun, which advo-
Gates greater vigilance in detecting
perpetrators of crime, expedition in
prosecuting of it and severity Of pun
ishment." ="
4 =
Failure to punish is emphasized by
the Wall Street Journal. 1T is long
odds that the American criminal will
not be caught says the Journal 1t
is further odds that when he is caught
he will not be tried. 1t is still further
odds that when he is tried the evil
dence will not be sufficient to convict.
When he is convicted he has further
chances on appeal helped by techni-
calities not affecting the facts in the
case If he is finally sent to Jail 1t
is certain he will not serve all his
sentence" The same position is taken
by the Roanoke World-News, with the
| declaration that when courts revise
their procedure so that technicalities
will not be permitted to save orlml-
nails from punishment we shall get
somewhere and it will not be neces-
sary for private citizens to form as
sociations to stamp out crime.
X X
What is needed" asserts the Hart
ford Times, lis not so much more
severe punishments as more certain
punishments If bandits and killers
could bank with certainty upon pun
ishment of some sort, it would not
make much difference what the
punishment was. In many parts
of the United States the laws
DELAYS and technicalities make it
almost impossible to punish crime ex.
cept after the most exhausting and
, expensive legal gyrations.' Remaking
of court procedure is demanded by the
San Bernardino Sun, which holds that
"an the chances are now with the
, criminal; life and property are not 60
ing to be safe until the chances are
all against the criminal.
1t is not a question of the efficiency
of the police system" in the opinion
Of the Albany News; not question
"of apprehending the criminal so
much as question of the admlnl-
stration of justice" On the other
hand, the Lansing State Journal in.
sists that while crime Is using pretty
much every device known to modern
science and invention, we are still con-
| fining our police efforts to what they
| were at the beginning of the present
century, or even earlier"
Crime is not going to be checked
or stopped" asserts the Dayton News,
simply by deploring it's presence, or
conducting survey to give proof OF
| its existence. Relief will come only
| when there Is recognition that one
crime cannot be condoned and another
punished. II this requires repeal of
| laws defining as crimes those acts most
| people think are not ofenses, that