Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-06-14

pointed boy could 60 and sob out his troubles
and gain comfort, she could have Influenced
him more than any one Of these others.
But she did not stay. The tenement, the
street. the miserable life that circumstance
forced her to lead there-they were too much,
and she ran away. think she would have
come hack. She loved the boy, and missed
him. and she even had . certain affection for
the boys father; but the father was angry.
and he hurried to get the divorce, and she
never returned.
"And the boy, who cried himself to sleep
for many nights alone en- his cot, with the
glare from the steel mill throwing weird lights
on the 'sloping ceiling Of his room, had no one
TO stand between him and the influence Of
these others In his neighborhood"
The judge shook his head sadly and moved
on. Once again things seemed to dissolve, for
a moment, In o sort Of mist; then things be-
came clearer. and the judge was looking at q
red-faced thick-necked police cf1icer.
The officer looked him IN the eye and said:
"Iu plead guilty, too, judge. Y'see, I had the
beat down on his street for Is years, and he
figured al cops was like me-an cops, and
everybody else that was supposed to represent
the law. And I was q crock, and he knew
It. I collected, regular, from the joints on
his street. and the kid was wise to me- was
a dumbben and was yellow, and he knew
that, too, cause he was q smart kid.
And when any Of the kids got into scrapes,
always LIT into 'em heavy, and they hated me-
and as the kid grew up he kinda figured that
~ was UP to him to beat me any way he
could. .
"Y' know, coulda stood for something Cd
that kid. coulda stood for honesty, eOuIda
been Q friend to him. coulda helped him ]
but I never did. All he ever learned from
me was that the only crime rs setting caught. :"
\ low the cop disappeared, and the judge.
~ wondering, found himself standing IN the
dark-paneled chamber Of the City Council
facing the semi-circular seats in which sat
the two dozen men elected to rule the city;
and they speaking in one voice, added their
plea to the growing list:
Include Ms among the guilty, judge for we
did our part with the rest There came before
Us. years ago, . measure whereby the city
would have spent more than $500 900 On q
comprehensive system OF Fairgrounds. The
money could easily have been found: but 70
fnd 1t would have meant saving IN other de-
partments. anS we had our reasons, individual
~ and collectively, for objecting to any pairing
OF the city budget. Besides we couldn't see
just where we'd get cur cut on q proposition
like this, and we couldn't see any glory IN &c
for ourselves anyway; so we turned 1t down.
IT we had passed that bill, there would
have been . fine playground, with trained
instructor In charge, q block from this boys
home. He would not have had to play IN the
street. He would not have had to make petty
thievery and gang fights do for his boyhoOd
diversions.
HE might. in fact, have escaped from the
influence Of his environment enough to become
o decent citizen. Because were selfish and
petty and small Of vision he did not get that
chance; viii you let us plead guilty, too?"
The judges eyes were clouded with unhappt-
ness and perplexity. He had not dreamed that
IL would be so complicated. But he did not
have time TO muse over it, for again the scene
changed and he found himself sitting in an
once, facing & well dressed, capable looking
man who sat behind mahogany desk, smoking
an expensive cigar and looking dreamily out
of his open window toward the cleaning peaks
Of the surrounding skyscrapeiS.
IT viii plead guilty, too" said this man, "I
am the political boss Of this city. What say
goes. I permitted the conditions to exist on
that back street that helped turn this boy into
q criminal.
81 stood for the dishonest cop. I stood for
the speakeasies for the gamblers and racket
GERS and race track touts and painted women
who made up such influential part Of his
environment. Because of what did he came
10 believe that every man has his price, that
every venture Is racket, that every form of
business or industry differs only in degree and
surface appearance from the business of the
crook.
II could have provided Fairgrounds for him.
could have given him an honest police force
I could have made his neighborhood little
more decent. I didn't do any Of these things"
Then the judge turned away and before he
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