Evening star., 1936-03-08
A MIGRATING POPULATION IS THE SOURCE OF CRIME
BY COURTNEY RYLEY COOPER,
Author Of Ten Thousand Public
Enemies" Etc.

A MIORAlINC POPULATION Is
BY COURTNEY RYLEY COOPER,
Author Of Ten Thousand Public
Enemies Etc.
"IME was when the police de-
partments of America worried
most about the old offender.
That type of uncertainty is
not over. of course. An old-timer, es-
pecially if he is favorite of Parole
Boards, is still something to keep po-
lice awake O. nights. Otherwise, how
ever, the big cause of anxiety often
relates to far different age group
A policeman friend told me the other
day he wished for the good old days
when crooks had hair on their chests
and boards on their chins
"A big fellow like me gets tired of
nothing of the danger. Arresting
babies ought to be a cinch-except for
the fact that they're the ones who
don't have any more sense than to
pull gun"
All of which brings forth statistics
of the effect that an average of 600
murders or more are committed an
nually by youths less than voting age.
For that matter, the age groups less
than 81 accoun. for 20 per cent of all
crime. The age of l9 is the high
point. At this time about per cent
of the murders, rapes, robberies. as
saults and other offenses are COM
mitted, with the exception of gam
bling, auto theft, the carrying of con-
cealed weapons, drunkenness and few
minor infractions which divide into
nearby ages. Eighteen, for instance. is
the apex for motor thieves; % for
carrying concealed weapons.
Crime Reaches Toward Cradle.
This does not mean that 10 merely
happens to be crime age. That be-
longs to youth in most of its phases.
There are STRINGS and indications as
early as the age of 10, and from there
it gradually increases. About 10 homi-
cides year are committed by persons
less than Is years of age, tc say MOTH
ing of four or five rapes, several hum
dred burglaries and even few cases
of forgery and counterfeiting.
Thus crime reaches more steadily
toward the cradle, With the result that
the slang term of punk" which origi-
nally came from the circus and was
used to designate anything young, now
is taking on a new usage. In law
enforcement circles it is coming to
denote any one young who has made
crime career Meanwhile. an amazed
country wonders how it all came
about. To this writer there is no
mystery whatever. We are merely
reaping the harvest of a lot of ILL.,
considered planting.
The easiest thing any one does is
to blame conditions" for a state of
affairs, forgetting entirely that, bar
ring acts of God, We create those con-
ditions. Thus. in fioundering about to
fix reason for the present-day aver
age in youthful crime, we find. for
instance, great tendency to blame
everything except what is responsible.
Rid Of Inhibitions.
Sums are coming in for terrific
mauling as a crime source. Yet there
have been slums always, and from
them have come far more good citizens
than bad. The depression takes it on
the chin from every direction. but
there have been depressions before
many of them-which did not breed
a new set-up in the crime picture. So
perhaps it might be well to stop trying
to pull rabbits out of hats and place
the blame where 1t belongs-upon our
selves.
For more than IS years now the
American people have been exceed
ingly busy with a number of things
that have to do with youth. One of
them has been the great desire to rid
little Willie of all his inhibitions. He
must not be crossed in anything lest
he have warts or bad dreams. He
must be given self-expression. He
must look upon elders as equals, if not
interiors. He must be taught all about
sex at a period of his life when his
every waking thought is consumed
with sexual STRINGS.
The theory, of course, is that If
children at puberty are taught a lot
about a subject they will think about
it very little, except in scientifically
detached way.
Homes Schools for Criminals.
Children these days also should be
taught all about possession and given
q freedom from dependence" Dis
cipline as such also is supposed to have
a highly detrimental effect upon their
later lives, such as making them hate
the boss when they finally go to work
for q living. p. S.-They still hate
the boss.
Beyond this, for IA years, many
American homes have been schools of
criminality. Where children once ran
past the doors of q saloon as place
Of iniquity, the world has progressed
to the point where, with repeal, it is
no longer an offense in many COM
munities to sell liquor to a minor.
The old laws were based upon the
theory that If no liquor were sold to
minors, drinking places could not be
accused Of being responsible for the
liquor habit in young people. That is
all gone. Youth now brings the liquor
habit with him when he orders q
cocktail, and II the vendor doesn't
know the ingredients Of his, the pur-
chaser's, favorite. the youth knows
how to mix it himself.
In other words, America voted for
prohibition mainly for the sake of the
children" and then turned the kids
into bartenders. I remember this
phase of things very we'll Having no
children, ] voted for prohibition myself