LAND OF CRIME

Evening Post, Volume CXII, Issue 11, 13 July 1931, Page 8

LAND OF CRIME

LAX .U)MINISTIUTI(LY

JUDICIARY BY VOTE

(From "Tho Post's" Representative) NIJW YOHK, 27th Ma>. 'Ihi, btianglthold fume his on tho United Sl.itcs is biought home to tlic peoplo with the events ot the past low dajs; sin: poisons nimdoied jn nine shootings in Washington, the l^cdcial Capital. Some ot tho nimdcis ocuiucd almost nndci tho dome oi tho Capitol. Accoiding to lecoids of the Department of Justice, 9400 niajoi known tunics weio committed in Washington 1 it,t yoai, or a ratio of 193 per 10,000 ot population, computed with a lato ot 100 in Chicago. Theie aio CC7 speak ea&ics, 158 gambling houses, and i 0 disoidcily xesoits. - Duung last jcar A2oi revolvers weie sold, which, added to tho numbor brought in fiom other States, is said to make a. total «t 10,000. Yet only thicc pcisons 111 Wellington hiivc poimits to cairy ,11mb The e\tiaoidmdiy teatuic ot the cip itil's dime wave is that gangsttib aid professional killcis do not iigme m it Machine guns hiivo not yet been used m murdois thue. Tho gunman goncialiy goes whcic supeiviiiou ot the law is slack. Ho liny be expected at any time to in ike Washington one of his bases What ib the ciuhe ot it .ill' Is it postwar leattion? Jf so, why bhould not tho same reaction affect .England? Does business depicssion, with tonse qucufc idleness and lack of income, cause <vi lticieasc in ciiuic? If so, again, what ot England? Has Piohibition any beai ing on crime? If tho saloon roturncd, what guarantee is there that crimo would doercaso'f Does tho vastness of tho American continent make it easy for the criminal to cvado justice? If so, what of Canada, whoso territory is just as extensive'? Aro American Courts lax?' Is police administration inefficient? , Can... Americans learn anything 'from England in judicial fitness? Does politics inspire crime? Havo,Amorcans less respect for law and order than Britishers? These questions aro all being asked in Washington just now, as well as elsewhere. Take the question mark out of each and make it an,affirmation, and,3'oU havo the answer. The root 0/ tho evil.lies in-tho fact that tho Judiciary atiil magistracy have to court the suffrage of tho electors. Every individual that comes before a Judge or Magistrate is a possibles' voter, not ji possiblo' felon. Tho remedy would involve uprooting tradition and precedent that jias spread its tentacles so deep into.tho national structuro that it is doubtful,if tho task would, ever Ijo undertaken! It is too vast. ' , • '