New Britain herald., 1926-10-22
PARENTAL NEGLECT ONE BIG CAUSE OF CRIME IN AMERICA New York Commissioner Ad- dresses Teachers Convention
 at Hartford
URGES INSISIENCE ON
 IMMIGRATION SELECTION

Give Is Worst When they Grow
 Up-Most Criminals Children of
 Foreign Born ,000,-
 100000 Yearly Spent on Crime.
 Hartford. Conn. Oct. 22 O9 - T believe that the great outstand- ing reason for crime in this coun- try today is parental neglect" said Commissioner Frederick A. Wallis of the department of correction in New York city, in an address this morning at the Capitol theater be- fore the eighth annual meeting ot the Connecticut State Teachers as- sociation, which was attended by nearly 5000 teachers. "A con- munity roves forward or backward on the yeet of its young" he con- tinued. Unless we give them the best in their youth they will give us their worst when they grow up"
 Immigration Policy
 Mir. Wallis emphatically declared that the only solution of the pres ont crime problem which. he said. arose in the over -congested sections of our cities, would be a change in immigration policy. Instead of ad- hitting immigrants to our shores and examining them on this side with the result that many are re- jected and sent back to their for mer homes. separated from their families, the United States should insist that would-be immigrants should undergo rigid tests before they are allowed to leave their homes. This stand was greeted with applause by the large audience.
 Even animals brought from for eign countries are thoroughly tested before they are accepted for ship ment, and the same holds true for some varieties of flowers" Mir. Wallis continued. But we permit human beings to come over here and then when they reach our shores we bar their entry"
 Criminals Parcntagc
 The criminals in this country are not the foreign born" MT. Wallis asserted. but they are most ly the children of the foreign born"
 We spend ten billion dollars year on crime. from arrest. trial. commitment and custody of the criminal. That sum is 12 times the cost of the uplleep of the army and navy. In 1928 thero were 10000 murders; in 1924, 1l,o25; in 1925, 12,000 and 14,000 are predicted for this year. Every time a man is murdered In London. 12 are slain in New York. MT. Wallis estimated that more than 1000 immigrants come into this country illegally from Canada every day. and that thousands Of seamen slip into the United States annually. Nothing eats more deeply into tho vitals of this nation than drugs" Mir. Wallis said. T believe the United States should take the attitude that If foreign countries persist in sending drugs to this country, it will sever business and diplomatic relations with the offender. We are coming to this day"
 Other Subjects Discussed
 The critical age in the careers of young men, the desirability of a more friendly attitude in the United States toward Europe. the necessity for studying the personal life of the individual child, adjustment of the school curriculum. and the cost of leadership were among the other matters discussed by various speak CTS before the 2,000 teachers gath cred here today.
 The critical age In the careers of young men, according to Howard C. Burdge. principal of the New York State Normal school, is between 16 and IS. MT. Burdge told the teach CTS of the fifth and sixth grades that the results of a survey he had recently completed showed the un- dcsirability of boys going to work at 16, since those who did usually became aimless shifters, rarely hold ing to one job for long. He places upon the teacher the duty of guid- ing tho boys under her and getting them started right.
 The American public Is surpris- ingly ignorant of the conditions abroad and the feeling that exists toward Americans" said Alden Gal ley, professor of history and social subjects.
 We have been unwilling to budge ton and on the world court Europe was willing to meet us 75 per cent, We must be willing to join in the discussion of international problems and show a friendliness or we will lose all our friends irretrievably," i" he concluded.
 The home life of his child. his in- fluences, and his physical intellectual and emotional responses must be studied, said Miss Mary Wentworth of Mt, Holyoke college. Intelligence tests, she said, are only partially suc- cessful in judging the capacity of the child.
 There should be no such thing as flunking In the fundamental sub jects," Phillip w. L. Cox, professor of secondary education at New York University told a gathering of high school teachers, urging that high school pupils be required to repeat