Evening star., 1935-05-18
MRS. ROOSEVELT
SPEAKSON CRIME
Prevention Lies in Building
Up Good Community, So
CiaI ParIey Told.

Mrs. Roosevelt today opened the
Conference Of Social Education at the
White House with plea for action in
the prevention Of crime.
This action, she said, would in
clude building up a community so
that it would be difficult for young
people TO become criminals and elini-
mating such potential criminal causes
as bad housing, undernourishment
and a lack of vocational training
after school education is completed
Mrs. Roosevelt said she did not
minimize the Importance of restrain
ing existing criminals, but said she
felt it was vitality necessary to pre-
vent the future generation from
turning in that direction.
She advised the conference to spe-
cialize on co-ordinating all the
organizations within each individual
community and on using strong and
dramatic publicity to get the conf
dence of citizens in the drive against
crime.
Leaders Attending.
The conference was attended by
more than $50 leaders in so national
organizations of civic, religious, edu-
cational and business interests, whose
local units reach every city, town
and rural community in this country
President Roosevelt approved the
holding of the conference, the purpose
OF which is to bring home to COM
munities their responsibility.
DR.. George Kirchway, former war
den OF Sing Sing Prison, dean of
Columbia Law School and retired ex-
pert on crime and imprisonment. in a
speech on This Thing Called Crime, 4"
told the conference:
Recent studies at Sing Sing and
elsewhere have demonstrated that the
institution is only the finishing school
of a long educational process which
begins in childhood, in the streets
and alleys in which the unguarded
and undirected child finds the only
outlet for his energy. The cause of
crime is bad company. The cause of
habitual crime is bad habits kept
alive by bad company. The remedy
is good company"
Taft Presides.
Charles P. Taft of Cincinnati. son
Of the late President Taft, was chair
man of the conference and introduced
the speakers.
DR.. Miriam Van Waters, well known
for her work in juvenile delinquency,
was to speak on THE Community and
This National Problem" and DR.. John
w. Studebaker, United States COM
missioner of education, on THE Com
munity as a Unit in Social Education"
A definite program of social educa-
tion for communities was discussed
by DR.. George F. Zook, DR.. John A.
Ryan, Justice Florence E. Allen and
Judge Irving Lehman.
The conference was organized by
Paul w. Garrett of New York, who
explained the social need for the
plans discussed.
I'VE have studied statistics on
crime" Garrett said. 1--WE know its
extent, something of its cost, but we
have thought of it as q far-away,
national problem. We haven't faced
what we can do about it in our own
communities. Most communities have
factors which aggravate the problem.
Conditions which predispose to crime,
such as bad housing, lack of recrea-
tional facilities, false standards of
value, warp the lives of scores even
when they do not push them over
into crime"
Among the purposes of the confer
erce was the formation of a COM
mission to work with all the national
agencies present in setting up and
promoting common program of So
cial education.