The Waterbury Democrat., 1939-10-17

t Town and City boards of education were attacked by High Sheriff J Edward Slavin in an address giver yesterday afternoon at the Ameri- can Prison Congress at the Hote New Yorker.
 Speaking on the origins and source! of juvenile crime, Sheriff Slavin de clared that town and city boards ot education "think more of fine build ings than they do of making fint bodies to put into them"
 Right here," he said, "is where we find our not so mysterious cause! of crime. Here is where we can at tack our crime problem at the periot of incubation"
 Sheriff Slavin also pointed to tn; home as the source of juvenile delin' quency.
 His address follows:
 '"Thousands of years ago Moses laid down ten rules for the pre- vention of crime. They are known to everybody as the "Ten Com mandments." However, despite the power and force of that early formula, today we find ourselves faced with complicated theories evolved by criminologists, social workers, heads of penal and cor fectional institutions and law en- forcement officers.
 q am criticizing the apparent crack and breakdown in our social system which makes it necessary for the Federal Government to spend $l6.OOO,0OO in one year for the building of new correctional facilities.
 Cites Figures
 From the figures compiled by the American Prison Association, have roughly computed that there are in the neighborhood of 100000 inmates in our correction al institutions, not counting those in 5000 county jails =. We know that very small percentage of this vast number are really crim- inals in the real definition of that ugly word.
 We are tackling this crime prob- lem at the wrong end. We are fighting crime from the top. Ii we desire to clear out patch of weeds we can't do it by cutting off the tops of the plants.
 It isn't helping our country ! much if young man or woman sings the "Star Spangled Banner within the confines of prison cell. The place to begin our fight ] against crime is in the home anc | in the school. This country 1s extravagant in its boasts about the excellence of our educationa system Yet from 1929 unti 1882 the percentage of undernour. ished children in our schools wa: such that it seriously threatened breakdown of our whole educa' tional system in some sections.
 The county jail is a pretty gooc laboratory for the study of crime We get lot of young men ano women there - youngsters who haven't progressed far along the forbidden tran We find that in most instances the economic problem has played an important part in their downfall. Real Danger
 Physical damage can be re- paired. The real danger is to their mental and spiritual being. The answer, to my way of thinking, rests at the doors of our town and city boards of educa- ton, who think more of fine buildings than they do of making fine bodies to put into them. Right here is where we begin to find our not so mysterious causes of crime Here is where we can attack our crime problem at the period of in- cubation.
 It has been estimated that it costs the taxpayers around one hundred millions of dollars an- nually just to keep our wayward citizens out of circulation, not counting those in county jails This would provide an annual in- come of $25.00 per week for over 100000 families, and with the money spent on the 5000 county jails would not doubt take care of over million families in the United States, annually. Every parent should bear ir mind that the John Dillingers, the Pretty Boy" Floyds and the "Ba. by Face" Nelsons didn't become national public enemies overnight
 Children must be taught that it is just as important to have { clean record as to wash behind their ears or clean their teeth ;. nothing can handicap their future .. welfare like that first blacl mark in the police record.
 We here in the United State. have made great strides in th' treatment of the crime problem But when I read the peculiar re ception accorded the exploits o one "Dixie" Davis, I wonder i certain public agencies are no slipping back into the pit iron which we have so laboriousl | climbed.
 | UnhOly Alliance
 Here was a man whose cunnin and coniving brain was deliberate ly devoted to violating every la'
 that stood between him and tn success of his foul scheming. As
 sociate of murderers, thieves an
 as unholy an alliance of cut
 throats as has ever been parade
 before the American public in on
 single case.
 IN A man admittedly devoid of a
 ethics, a cheat and a perjurer,
 self confessed partner of the scur
 of the underworld. Almost or
 first introduction to him wa
 through peculiar manipulatio
 of justice whereby he was per mitted to visit his paramour ( |