Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-03-30
BACKGROUND OF EVENTS
BY PAUL Y. COLLINS.

"The King (of Washington is dead:
long live the Kingl" The new King"
of the Capital City, Mai. Henry G.
Pratt, has come up from the ranks in
the city police force. just as he did in
the Army, from private to major. He
wins his place as chief of police on
merit, not influence" and he takes
up the responsibilities of Office with
the good will and confidence Of all law
abiding classes Of the city, and with
due respect from the other classes.
4 \
From the first indication of a pend
ing change of administration the
American Legion went on record in
dorsing Mai. Pratt for chief of police.
Legion backing can never be partisan.
but Is in accord with the principles
of the Legion, pledged by the preamble
Of its constitution to s'inculcate sense
of individual obligation to the COM
munity, State and Nation"
So the American Legion feels spe-
cial interest in the new Legiennaire
chief of police. and the George Wash
ington Post, No. /. of which he is
charter member-along with Gen. Per-
shing and more generals and colonies
and shavetails than one could shake a
billy at-proposes to celebrate this ap-
pointment by rendering Legion recep-
ton to him, at the George Washington
Post Building, 1441 Rhode Island ave-
nue. northwest, next Tuesday evening.
"Legionnaires! Attention! The chiefp'
Every Legionnaire in the District Of
Columbia is invited and absentees will
be counted as falling to realize what a
whale of a situation the new chief
faces. with all the lawleSSneSs of the
present generation.
It Is generally conceded that 1--WE. the
people," of this generation are giving
more work to the police than did our
ancestors. We scott at law and park
in wrong places and race the traffic
cop, or we (if members Of Congress)
carry the wrong kind of baggage when
we come back from Cuba or Canada.
Was there ever time when youth
was so rash and unruly? Youth goes
to movies, and school boys and girls
smoke cigarettes and do other terrible
things It will be the duty of Chief
Pratt to stop all this. so far as Wash
ington goes-if and when he finds that
the present generation is going to the
bowwows faster than did that Of their
parents.
4 \ 4
OF course, our forefathers-and even
some of us when we were sowing wild
oats-used to read yellow-backed dime
novels, the awful predecessors of to-
days colored supplements Of certain
bad newspapers. Some dissolute young
sters used to go to the 10-cent variety
show" where damsels danced some
thing outrageous. That was before the
demoralizing age of the "talkies" and
even back In the geologic age preceding
the silent movies.
4 r X 4
A careful research of the conditions
of scofflaw confronting the new chief
of police and the notorious increase OF
crime in the last one or two decades
brings us to study Of statistics.
Now nothing is so dry as hgures-
except when they refer to the vets.
Nothing is so convincing as such ngures
as confirm previous CONVICTIONS OF
prejudices. From the Police Depart
ment the following statistics are oe-
rived, let them tell what they VIII:
y 4 4 ~
In 1924 there were 321 arrests for
Overriding; in 1923 there were 623 sucn
arrests. (But there were nearly ou,Ooo
more opportunities or temptations IN
the latter year,
In 1924 there we're 367 arrests for
assaults with dangerous weapons, put,
like Monsieur Coue, we have neen
"Qetting better and better every cay.
so in 1928 we assaulted only $50
victims. so.
and although the population mad IN
nY1IU Ok n1tlT0eTS