Evening star., 1932-03-06
The Country Cries for Security.

1ue U1SbaOb b1u 1uUc1lSC OutCEy %
the American people against the kid
naping Of the Lindbergh baby was in
spired In part by sympathy for the
parents Of the child, and in perhaps
even greater degree by a sense Of out
rage at the crime as the latest mani
festation Of the spirit Of lawlessness
that has prevailed in this country so
fiagrantly for several years. In viz
tually every city of the United States
organized crime Is rampant. Gang
sters work rackets, with murder as
compulsory accompaniment, with little
hindrance from the law. Kidnapping
has become lucrative occupation, with
only rare instances Of punishment.
Hold3ups and burglaries, often with
killings. have been multiplied until
their news value" has diminished to
the rate Of ordinary accidents.
A demand has been voiced through
out the country for the adoption and
application Of more rigorous penalties.
Bills have been introduced in State
Legislatures now In session to stiffen
the laws, and measure Is proposed in
Congress to make kidnapping with in
terstate transport punishable by death.
But the adoption Of these proposals
would not effect much, If anything, in
the way Of deterring the baby stealers,
even as the Baumes laws in New York,
with their life penalties for fourth Of
tenders, have not appreciably lowered
the percentage of crime In that State.
The remedy is not to be found In sitter
punishments, but in surer punishments.
The most grievous fault Of the Amer
ican law-enforcement system lies in its
slowness, It's uncertainty. The Grim
inal, even when caught "red-handed,"
has, as q rule, the advantage. He Is
protected by the very machinery of the
judicial process. He Is admitted to bail
pending trial. which is usually long
delayed. He has an excellent chance
to break down the indictment through
some technicality. He can protract the
proceedings by pleas for extension,
which the congested courts are prone
to grant. He has a fair chance for
acquittal through lack of evidence and
an almost even chance Of q hung jury,
possibly through the fixing" Of o
member Of the panel. He has rights
of appeal on trthtng grounds of error,
and each appeal consumes months. and
many Of these appeals are granted by
absurd hair-splitting reasoning by ap-
pellate courts. When retired, after dis
agreement or grant Of appeal following
conviction, the case against him is no
stronger In the strictly judicial sense
than on the first occasion, and Is often,
indeed usually. weaker through the
loss Of the witnesses for the prosecu-
ton. The burden Of proof" being on
the State, the accused Is in position
Of advantage throughout, however evil
dent his guilt may be.
Reform Of the court processes has
been repeatedly urged and from time
to time has been undertaken. Results,
however. have been few. Meanwhile
the percentage Of crime has increased
and today the wilds Of the remote coun-
tries, the frontiers of civilization. the
1ungles and the 5oulest slums Of the
old world are safer than are the cities
of this country for the average person
With all the police protection afforded
by civic organization even the brightly
lighted streets are dangerous to all but
the criminal
1t Is no wonder that the country is
crying out furiously for the punishment
Of those who stole the Lindbergh baby
in New Jersey and those who took the
little boy In Niles, Ohio. This uproar
is the voice Of an outraged people, i'm
patient Of the ineffectiveness of the
legal machinery to make crime too
dangerous to be prosecuted as a means
Of livelihood. The pity Of the matter
10 that these outbursts Of public pas
sion usually lapse after a few days.
The hope is that this present Nation
wide protest may cause the immediate
reformation Of the trial and punish
mert system Of the country to the end
that American civilization will not
lapse into barbarism.
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