Evening star., 1934-04-06
SCHOOL CUTSSEEN
PROMOTING CRIME
Senator Copeland and ILL.,
nois Judge Plead for Pre-.
vention Work.
BY the Associated Press.

BY the Associated Press.
COLUMBUS, Ohio. April ga Fed
eral judge and a United States Sem
ator today told the Citizens Confer
ence on the Crisis In Education that
dollars saved now through irrational
school retrenchment would be only a
part of the dollars spent in the future
battle against resultant crime.
Juvenile delinquency is a million
times more dangerous to our Nation
than the combined efforts of all the
rowing criminals sought by the police. "
said Senator Royal s. Copeland, who
headed Senate investigation of
racketeering.
Judge Walter c. Lindley of the
United States District Court, Danville.
ILL.,. pointed to the inverse relation
ship of proper education to crime.
Crime Touches Pocketbook.
He added the war on crime touches
directly upon the pocketbooks of those
of US who. by payment of taxes, con-
tribute annually to the vast sum ex-
pended for men and supplies in this
vast nationwide activity"
Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt and
Newton d. Baker were on the program
Tor addresses later today.
Every time a Dillinger is CAPTURED
or killed" Senator Copeland said. sit
has cost society thousands of dollars
and days Of fear. While we are striv-
ing to deal with one gangster a thou
sand criminals are in the making. We
pluck the leaves from the tree of
crime when we should put an axe to
the root.
Schools May Help.
AS see it, one of the most vital
means of combating this growing evil
Is through the organized effort of the
public schools and the united CO.
operation Of the citizens of our Nation
by giving our educational agencies
whole-hearted support"
Judge Lindley, who presided at to-
days first session of the conference,
said 1--WE are advised from authorita-
tive sources that the average annual
cost of crime in America is in excess
Of $4,000, 900 000-more than the
total of S11 1,000,000,00O loaned to for
eign governments during the war, and
more than the value of the average
annual total agricultural products of
the Nation.
Statistics demonstrate that almost
entirely from the ranks of 100000
youths out of school and out of work
come the young recruits to the forces
of crime.
American citizens, then, may not
receive with complacence the news
that within the past l8 months almost
10000 schools will have closed, in
creasing by more than a million the
number of children who have no op-
portunity for schooling; that the
average American school year in
normal times is 172 days, as con-
trasted with 246 in Denmark and
Germany, 210 in England and Sweden
and 200 in France and that during
the last two years the American aver
age has been still further reduced
America as Pictured.
America has for the past few years
been pictured throughout Europe as a
nation of kidnapers. gun-toting
bandits and bootleggers, jazz-mad
idlers, immoral divorces and blood
thirsty lynchers.
Let us not. however, cry as we
have been wont to do. Let's pass .
law to cure all this ILL., Let US re-
mark that 10000 laws upon the
statute books have not produced law
observance or efficient citizenship and
there is no new remedy for old ills,
,, as Mr.. Baker recently said, but only
educat ton"
Then the Senator, using America S
estimated $4,000, 100000 annual
crime bill (25 cents from every dollar
of national income), did some long
division
"One year of crime" he stated,
would pay the salary of the Presi-
dent Of the United States for 1900
years. One year Of crime would pay
the total expense of our national
Government and the cost of public
education throughout the country.
"A cut of 6 per cent in our annual
tribute to crime would equal the
amount required to give every teacher
in this country an increase in salary
of 81 900 a year.
| Cut crime 20 per cent and teach
ers can be paid decent salaries
3,500,000 children can 90 back tc
school and 100000 families can move
out of depressing novels into sanitary
sun-lit homes"
A.