Vast profits have drawn
once out-
racketeering
nobility of purpose.
vork together
table traits of human nature.
But neither the repeal
laws will alt h
abolish
accus
1017
gether Crit
nore men,
easy business
2 = 1 ‘ - 4 3
converted inte
14 .
r Heoritsm -
ms of iegitima
turn to other {
activity. C
prived
seck new
Qur frontier
the criminal el
control, formed
1g committe
up criminals, and s 1g them up
on the tree
blooded man, when he reads of the
criminal activit
nearest Every red-
y through
the constituted authorities. Any
other course would lead
greater than those
rect.
The ability of the underworld to ter-
lies In the fact that It
organized, while soclety
o abuses
rorize soclety
is thorough
is not. At went it
against the individual than otherwise.
Why should neighbor.
hood and commur ittees, so
that the gang elf con-
fronted with an organized body of men
larger and stronger than itself? The
more his tion in the
the greater the obligation
is more the gang
we not form
important posi
Can Force Action.
Such
oa commi
stantial citizen
ship as a paramount
force action. Suppose a neighbor of
yours gets a kidnaping threat, or a
merchant is visited by a gangster who
tries to extort tribute from him, or a
section of the town experiences a
holdups., If individual
n goes to the police station or
city hall and fails to get satisfaction
possibly because of an alliance be-
tween officials and the underworld he
i8 powerless,
But if the
made up of sm
regard citizen
obligation, could
tees,
series of the
neighborhood committee
stands ready, at the very first threat
of gangster activity within its bor-
ders, to take common action against
the Invasion, the picture changes. The
threatened man immediately summons
tll his trusted friends, who advise with
the neighborhood committee. Repre-
senting the militant citizenship of its
*ommunity, it could demand positive
action by the police and by the city
authorities,
Committees of this kind would be
vigilance committees, not In the old
sense, but in the sense that they would
be ever vigilant in the protection of
rights and the performance of eivie
duties. I would consider it an honor
‘0 serve on such a committee myself.
These committees would serve many
sther purposes beyond the suppression
of racketeering. They would present
& united front against the grafting of
officials. They could hold weekly or
monthly meetings to discuss the prob.
lems of government. Such meetings
would serve to bring out and develop,
18 no institution we now possess does,
new leaders, especially among the
young citizens, in every community,
One great aid to erime in America
is the vell of anonymity which covers
the individual. In any army, every
man is accounted for. His name, rank,
regiment, and whereabouts are known,
ff he Is wanted, we know where to
find him. In America we have
oo identification. Men ean move from
city to city, changing their names as
they would their coats. They can reg-
ister ng they please at any hotel, with
no questions asked. It Is a pleasant.
easy-going custom, but it puts an in
superable barrier in the way of the
police in the detection of crime. The
time has come when we must abandon
the right to anonymity, as enlightened
European countries have done.
Every resident of our country should
have an identification ecard, a small
passport with photograph attached.
Change of permanent residence should
be reported to the police, The eard
should be shown, if necessary, upon
registration at any hotel, or on any
other occasion when demanded by the
police. The penalties for forging a
the prohibition
or
modification of
The estimated million
one
1 v
1awW,
ecard or disregarding regulations con-
cerning It should be heavy,
I realize that the inconvenlence of
card identification would
be burdensome. But it-would be con-
burdensome than the
our for appre-
criminals. The cards would
not be a cure-all, but they would be a
reat help, No honest man could
ject to a plan which would materially
aid In rounding up criminals.
Just as the
opened our eves to
system
siderably less
breakdown of
hending
sysiem
ob-
depression has finally
the magnitude of
our crime problem, so has it brought
us the very extravagant
tivities of unwise politicians dur
our prosperity While the citi.
zens have neglected their public du.
the politicians have quietly but
enormously Increased the cost of gov-
ernment, locally and nationally, Ex-
penditures of the national government
were approxims tely £700 000).
home to ac.
1
I
Td
ie
Orgy.
ties,
in 1913
000, exclusively of Interest payments
In 1931 they had
mately £2.000.000..
on the public debt
increased to approx!
interest payments on
public debt and expenses Incident
000), exclusive of
the
to the World war. The
ministration of loeal
’ 1
cost of ad-
governments
throughout the country increased from
$1.844.000,000 In 1013 to £7.128.000.000
in 1929. The one of
cities, New York. for 1032, is greater
than the expenditures of the en
national government for 10 Some
of these Increases.
have been necessary for expansion and
for coping with the more
problems of today. But an alarming
portion of them have been with an eve
for the politicians’ friends
Unnecessary offices, boards, commis-
sions, have been profligately multi
plied.
And now, national
enues shrink, is little
toward applying the logical remedy of
reducing expenses Instead, legisla.
tors resort to the vicions policy of in-
creasing taxes, both and indi
rect. Thus the citizen finds himsel?
burdened with the staggering load.
jut ean he, with clear conscience,
complain? He cannot, He elected
these legisiators, he saw them pile up
lavish appropriations, and he elected
them again. During the boom days
the citizen was too busy In specula-
tion himself to worry about the na-
tional debt or the local debt.
So with municipal affairs During
prosperity the citizens cheerfully
looked on while the politicians multi.
plied unnecessary offices, gave ex.
travagant contracts to their friends
for public improvements, passed laws
favoring special Interests, and loaded
the public with Invisible taxes in the
form of graft. Now many of our
great citles are threatened with in-
solvency. Their depreciating secur.
ties imperil the solvency of banks
where the citizen has his money. The
citizen again discovers that he is the
victim. But is he not the victim of
his own neglect of the plainest duties
of citizenship?
In the situation that now confronts
him, the citizen is groping. What can
he do now? What practical action can
he take?
He is told to go to the polis and
cast his vote, which is an old story to
him, but by itself it will not remedy
the situation, for too often the candi.
dates of each party are incompetent or
corrupt.
There 1s a great deal more to polit.
leal duty than going to the polls to
vote. A body of uninformed citizens
flocking to the polis, prompted only
by good intentions, is about as effec.
tive as an army made ap of untrained
men marching to battle,
Year after year, under universal
suffrage, there has grown a wider di-
vergence between theory and practice
in our political economy.
To perform his ecivie duties effoe
tively it 1s no longer enough for the
citizen to understand the theory of
politics. He must study its practice,
That means time, trouble, and hard
work, He must study the political forces
at work in his own neighborhood, his
own ward, his own district. He must
£0 to politieal meetings, associate with
politicians, find out who are the polit.
lcal leaders behind the scenes, drop in
budget of our
tire
unquestionably
complex
to jobs
when our
there
rev.
done
1 v
direct
Ea
EN
ities,
formance of civie duties.
mittee myself!”
AR
at the political clubs, look into the
records and alliances of candidates for
office, *
Even enough, unless
there is organization of non
political citizens to work with united
force. Here again the neighborhood
committees which | suggested earlier
would have their uses. Such com
mittees could compel the respect of the
political leader and hold him to an
accounting. They could hold meeting
and ask candidates to appear before
them, address them, and submit to
questioning. Moreover, they could
and should keep track of the political
and financial administration of local
and national affairs,
It might be Inferred from what 1
say here that I think there are no
good men in politics. On the con
trary, we all know many fine men,
honest men, able men in politics. But
there are not enough of them.
One of our problems is to attract
men of higher caliber into public life.
Certainly the profession of government
is as important as any calling In our
nation. Yet it is not even taught in
our schools and colleges. We teach
political science, yes, but that is a far
ery from practical politics. There ls
no alternative for the aspiring politi
clans but to learn thelr high art and
profession at the knee of the district
leader or ward eaptain—too often with
undesirable results.
Corporations for the conduct of bust.
ness, education, and charity have mul
tiplied In number and importance in
recent years, Service in hundreds of
corporations is affording a new dis
cipline for thousands in managing and
directing people, and this In turn
should be of the highest value toward
supporting progress and durability in
governmental affairs. But business
men too often forget that the govern.
ment Is the most important corpora
tion of all, They passively permit men
to ocenpy public offices to whom they
would deny jobs in their own com
panies. They fail to apply. on elec.
tion day, the elementary rules they
have learned in their business,
No Time for Shirking.
Business men say that politics 1s
“unpleasant.” So Is service in the
trenches unpleasant, but our citizens
do not shirk it when duty calls.
Carelessness, neglect, and Ignorance
in the conduct of the affairs of gov-
ernment have exactly the same results
this is
some
not
. Suppose a neighbor of
«+ Ba presenting
as they would have In any army facing
the enemy on the field of battle he
Indiv al citizen
government are
of each soldier
Thorough training
and a high sense of duty are as Im
portant in one case as in the
The preparation of an army for serv
ice with any hope of success demands
something more than writing out the
detalls of organization and the issn
ance of orders. It requires the train.
ing of each Individual of the army in
the particular part he is to play at
the front, It is the same in the suc.
cessful conduct of the government.
Each citizen must be trained In his
duties and be Inspired by a high sense
of obligation in carrying them out
Constitutions and
themselves guarantee either the off
ciency or the permanence of govern
ment. In a government by the people
the responsibility of the individual
must be conscientiously fulfilled, or
failure will be the result
Make no mistake about it: Our na
tion is confronted by a crisis as seri:
ous as the crisis of the war. We are
‘at war against depression and crime.
And, just as to that earlier crisis, we
come unprepared. Our unprepared
ness in the war cost us untold billions
in money and the lives of some of our
fivest men. Our unpreparedness for
thia battle of peace has also cost us
dear.
But in the war, once we were
aroused, we made effort which aston.
ished the world. Just so today the
American citizen, once he Is aroused
to the dangers that menace his coun
try, will, I devoutly hope and belleve
gloriously redeem his indifference of
the past,
©. 1922, Bell Byndicate —WNU Berviee
obligations of the
as a part of this
as binding
composing an army
qui
as those
other
wn sass
French Penal Code
France does not send all persons
who commit crimes to the French
penal colony on the Isle de Salut, off
the coast of French Guiana. The type
of prisoners sent is that, generally
speaking, of the undesirable habitual
criminal whom the French government
does pot want to return to France
In sentencing the criminal to the col
onies the type of criminal rather than
the type of crime committed Is
stressed, such as undesirable political
prisoners, as well ar vicious habitual
criminals,
Designers Are
NOT to be cape-conscious is n
i know fashion as isat this
ent and as it will be this coming fall
and winter. Everything from suits to
wns is being in one
If u
CVEeILDE Be or ped
way or another.
art of the
* cape Is not ar
dress, as it is In 80
ces, then it is sure to be
unning little sep:
velvel or silk
* for desig
thers
wn mecca to
which all eyes t
best
I™ to see fash
ions at their There is no doubt
’
an of
the re
style
fire apt to n
son,
about
center,
od
the }
who is waving such a joyous salute
ng on the
in her youthful looking three. piece cos
little
its
pre{ty
she of
emi
i
the nlieotiire stroll boul a rd
i phcitire, ®lroi oulievardad
and
belt
tume, with its jaunty
its printed
and tie
And there's Julia Hayden a bit fur
ther on, gowned as
lustration to the right reveals her,
cape
blouse, colorfu
the i)
all
tastefully
————————————— —
SMART HANDBAGS
By CHERIE NICHOLAS
Those very fine old fabrics tha!
used to be seen in custom-made Eng
lish riding habits are being presented
by important designers in coats and
suits, hats, handbags, and footwear
for summer. Ribcord, as it is called,
is a fine, softly luminous weave of
extreme sturdiness. It is proving an
ideal medium for pocketbooks and
handbags. Here also is a trio of town
and country handbags of zephyr and
durene which go equally well with
suits or sports clothes
Perforated Shoes
Perforated white buck Is going to
be one of the smart and comfortable
shoe materials Tor summer sports
ulder ;
and 1
oink taffeta
of the san
worked wi
white ern
Western Newspaper Union
FABRICS APPEAL
IN FALL STYLES
Fabrics are the things that make a
strong appeal in the fall styles. There
seems to have been 8 concerted effort
to give them a quality value. In ad
dition there is an entertaining topsy
turvydom about them-—even more ex-
aggerated than it was in spring. Wools
look like crepes, and cropes like wools,
while velvets have so changed their
complexion as to be barely recogniz
able. Bagheera velvet, rich and deep
in tone and having practically no pile,
is being widely used. By contrast
there is a new velvet with a heavy
pile that is pressed In such manner
that it looks like a bunny's fur. Not
80 long ago we began to hear the
word “croquignol” (a kind of small
curly cake) used in connection with
crepes. It described their crinkly sor.
face. This season sating are going
"croquignol.,” In fact, there are all
sorts of new crinkles and wrinkles In
crepes, satinge and velvets: erinkied
velvet is a luscious thing to behold.
Perfumed hosiery is the newest
thing offered milady. And those scent.
ed with narcissus are the favorites.
The Commerce department reported
that in a recent test four pairs of hose
were shown to 200 women-one just as
it came from the factory, and three
others scented very faintly.
The perfums was so faint that only
6 per cent consciously noticed ft. but
G0 per cent said they liked the nar
cissug pair best. Twenty-four per
cent chose the pair perfumed with a
fruit mixture; 18 per cent picked those
scented with sachet,
Coats With Scarfs
Some of the new coats are sold
with two scarfs—one in plain color
to match the coat, the other in dots
or figures. The idea is good.