Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1943-02-12

Il SIutI dDlt at
tention. This
- - year. hardly
Mk. PICKERING an BIO d y
seems TO pay attention 10 the
primary election that will be
held Monday
Among the issues are the
questions of whether judges who
have gone to war should retain
their offices, and whether courts
should be held at night for the
benefit Of people who work five,
six or seven days a week. The
candidates. however. seem con-
siderably disturbed because no
body seems TO pay much atten-
ton.
As far rs. that goes. the law
yers and the courts haven't had
az much 20 do since the war
Y started. There IL less crime,
although there IL n tendency for
violent crime to increase, and
for Juvenile delinquency 20 rise.
Other types Of crime decline.
Siler Freeman is another law
yer who has nonlegal vocation,
TOO. He is the automobile edi-
tor Of this paper He adds that
civil law Suits are not as numer-
Gus since the war. One reason.
he says. is that people have a
little more money and are more
apt 10 settle a dispute rather
than fight IL out in court.
Lawyers are doing other types
Of war work too. For instance,
agencies like the OPA need large
numbers Of lawyers George
johnson Is one man / know--an
attorney now working in the
rent control division.
Rent control seems simple
enough on the surface, but any
thing Of that sort always brings
problems that nobody saw ahead
Of time. (For example. the day
after shoe ratiOning took effect,
officials were peppered with
questions like, How does this
affect a man with one leg, who
wants To buy only one shoe :"
As long as rent control has
been in effect officials still have
steady procession OF people
who can't decide what 10 do
II isn't always the tenant who
calls for help, Johnson says.
Sometimes the landlord gets
raw deal.
Many times. he says. a tenant
miStrcats the house he lives in
When the landlord protests. the
tenant says. Il can do anything
] want 10, and YOU can't put me
out.
They will discover. however.
that the landlord CAN kick
them out.
Oddly enough. Johnson has
learned. many tenants seemed
10 get mad at the landlord after
rent control started. He doesn't
know why.
There are cases." he said. "of
tenants who used To he on good
terms with their landlords
friends. In fact. But now In
stead of being friendly, they 20
around and sling the rent check
at the landlord and call him
names"
II the landlords were raising
the rent. you could understand
this attitude. but since the land
lord is prohibited by law from
doing so. il is hard 10 see what
the tenants are sore about.
The human race is just plain
goofy. Texas Guinan proved
this when she found that people
would pay good money 10 60 70
her night club and be called
suckers.
wan - NhpIpNfu W Nv ~ ltd-
Sonable creature. but dogs AL
ways display more good sense
than people do. So do children.
Even cats sometimes do.
But not adult human beings.
Prohibition was n fine example
Of this. People became chummy
with bootleggers. and made
bosom pals out Of thugs who
were strictly disreputable. And
Dragged about II.
The same thing is true OF
black markets. Everybody knows
that rationing is done for the
good Of everybody. But still
people are proud of knowing
somebody who sells them meat
at an outrageous price. and has
no conjunction at all about
selling uninspected meat that
may be diseased or spoiled for
all he knows-or cares.