The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1934-11-09
TREND OF WORLD AFFAIRS
By Lucy Meacham Thruston

Is the United States the most UNI
safe place in the world in which to
live? Ex-President Herbert Hoover
is declared to have said So This
refers, of course, to our present era.
And this leads into discussion of the
crime wave and from that point
links up with crime waves in other
lands There is the terrorist gang
of Central Europe, now in the lime
light, since to it is attributed the
assassination of King Alexander of
Jugoslavia. There is the disregard
for law and order leading to the
bootlegging, the kidnapping, the
racketeering generally in the United
States-to take only these two focal
points. Most of all we are concern
ed about the United States. AS for
instances,-theya are spread on every
newspaper pages. AS for causes
one authority says one thing, another
points GU. a differet cause If in
clined historically the authority
points to the conditions following all
great wars, the terrorism of Europe
after the Thirty Years War, for in
stance, conditions in the United
States after the Civil War for an
other. The educator digs down into
the roots of child guidance. While
an editor coming to defense OF news
paper playing up of crime and crln1-
mails states: at is statistically dem
onstrable that the bulk of serious
misbehaviour in this country has its
roots in poverty and concomitant
ignorance"
A staff writer of te Christian Sci
ence Monitor differs from this opin-
ion and states: Unnecessary details
about crime spread glamourously be-
fore all types of readers in newspap-
ers are proved by case histories to
have melted impressionable youths
and subnormal adults to the COM
mission of kidnapping, extortion,
robbery, murder and similar Of
lenses. Witness a recently report
ed crime Here three boys were &C
countable. Two of these were four
years old and one seven. The two
smaller boys bound up and trussed
the older one, he himself submitting
as part of the game. When the
seven-year-olde was almost dead he
was tumbled into an old trunk in the
shack in which the game was played,
the lid of the trunk was snapped
down and there, when search was
made, the boy was found dead. And
the tots sucked lollipops when
questioned in court.
Where had the children seen any
such play as this? Where had they
heard it? The screen must bear the
burden of the dissemination of such
knowledge, newspaper stories, care
less talk and reading before young
sters, careless selection of films by
pdi OAIo anu AiiOAuo, dAu WOA00
carelessness by film makers
But both newspapers and film
makers declare that they MUST
publish or present what the public
wants, else no patronage, else no
money. Which brings the whole
subject back to public desire. And
if the public desires criminal records
and crime pictures, why the deprav-
ed taste? Back comes the war
psychology. Taken from university,
business, even school, where high
ideals are presented, thrown into
teaching and experience which deny
every such ideal, into life too hor-
rible to state; add sorrow and loss;
financial ruin; chaos of business;
sum up r-conditions-and
the authority inclined historically
has it. The brutality of war, he
says, let's loose all the worst in HUI
man nature. And progress de-
mands better conditions. Building
fer better conditions. Securing
them.