University of South Carolina Libraries
NKB1) ENFORCEMENT ? inn ? immmu.h t? Hunter A. (*ibbett in Address to Columbia Club (Sunday's Columbia State) ??The Need lor. More Kffeetive I.aw nforcement" was the subject of an ddres* by Hunter A. ibbes, at a went meeting of the Forum club of olumbia. The material presented so impressed members of the club that 1r. (Jibbes.vvas requested to furnish digest for publication. The paper ?I lows; In commercial, mechanical, indus ial and agricultural enterprise, the Jnited States has outstripped all oth nations. In science, art and liter ture we have progressed in a satis .u-tory and creditable manner. The ale of living in America is higher Gained Ten Pounds Mrs. George S. Hunter, of Columbus, Ga., says she suf fered severely with female troubles. "I had to go to bed and stay sometimes two weeks at a time," says Mrs. Hunter. "I could not work. My . . . were irregular and I got very thin. I went from 126 pounds down to less tharf 100. My mother had been a user of * CARDUI The Wo man's Tonic and she knew what a good medicine it was for this troub le, so she told me to get some and take it. I sent to the store after it' and before I had taken the first bottle up I began to improve. My aide hurt less and I began to mend in health. I took four bottles in all during the last ten months. Cardui acted as a fine tonic... 1 am well now. I have gained ten pounds and am still gaining. My sides do not trouble me at all and my . . . are quite regular. I know that Cardui will help others suffering from the same trouble." Take Cardui. E-101 Begins His Sentence Columbia, Jan. 25.?Sentenced to spend the rest of his natural life behind the bars of the state peni tentiary, Asbury Wessinger, fourteen year old boy, convicted of the mur der of his aunt, Mrs. Lina Wessinger, with an axe, today spent his first full day of his term in the main building of the state prison. The boy was brought to the prison late yesterday by Sheriff T. Cromer Oswald. His last visit to the prison was made last September shortly af ter the murder in order to identify the negro, who he claimed, assaulted kis aunt with the axe and knocked her three children unconscious. This account he later admitted was a fab rication. Young Wessinger was found guilty last Friday, the jury recommending; mercy, and was sentenced by Judge J. H. Johnson to life imprisonment. GETTING UP NIGHTS Can be stopped often in 24 hours. To prove that you can be rid of this strength sapping ailment, have more pep, be free from burning sensation, pain in groins, backachre and weak ness I'll send you Walker's Prostate Specific free and postpaid under plain wrapper. No obligation. No cost. If it cures your prostate gland trou ble, you can repay the favor by tell ?ng your friends?if not, the loss is mine. Simply send me your name and prove that you can feel 10 years younger and be rid of prostate trou ble. I. B. Walker, 2488 Gateway Sta tion, Kansas City, Mo. FINAL DISCHARGE Notice is hereby given that one month from this date, on Monday, February 16th, 1925, I will make to the Probate Court of Kershaw County my final return as Administratrix of the estate of Samuel Page, deceased, and on the same date I will apply to the said Court for a final discharge ** ?aid Administratrix. WILMER BLANCH PACK, Administratrix. ? amden, S. C*, January 16th, 1926. ADMINISTRATOR'S SALE State of South Carolina, County of Kershaw. In The Probate Court Under and by virtue of an order granted by Probate Judge W. L. McDowell, dated January 16th, 1925, 1- as Administrator of the estate of J. E. Jeff era, deceased, will sell at public auction to the highest bidder, at 12 o'clock M. on Monday, Feb ruary 2nd, 1925, in the town of Blsney, S. C., the stock of merchan dise and store fixtures .belonging to tfco estate of the said J. E. Jeff erg. Terns of sals cash. "" T. JEFFERS, - than in any other country. We are spending far more money per capita on church and missionary work and religious and secular education than any other nation. In the general evolution and progress of the world in things material there is no doubt that we have contributed our share in intelligent and successful effort. In many respects our record is one for i pride and self-congratulatibn. On the other hand, however, Kur6-1 peans accuse uS of being sordid, ill j mannered, lacking .ih courtesy, diwre ' gardful of contractual obligations,! and altogether tho most lawless of civilized nations. The distressing fact is that there is some truth in this criticism. Our record in crime alqne is appalling. Here are some of the disagreeable facts which should receive Our intelligent consideration and study: - During the year 1923 in the United States with a population of 100,000, 000 there were 10,000 homicides. En gland and Wales have a combined population of approximately 50,000, Q0& During 1923 their homicides numbered only 200. There are more homicides annually in the cities of St, Louis, Chicago and New York than in the United Kingdom of t^eat Bri tain and Ireland. SroMiJBLhn a ! population of 5,000,000. in Scotland th<?re were only Up homi cides. South Carolina has a popula ! tion less than half that of Scotland. | Yet in South Carolina during 1922 , there were 281 homicides. It must be frankly admitted, however, that in 1923 we South Carolinians caught ourselves napping, waxed exceed ing - ly careless and closed the year with , the disgraceful and mortifying record I of killing unlawfully only 254 citi zens. It is interesting to note what became of these 254 cases. The re port of the attorney general shows that there were 66 convictions of 1 manslaughter, 65 convictions of mur der and sixty death sentences. During the ten years ending with the year 1921, the average homicidal mortality in the United States was 7.2 per 100,000 of population; in Quebec and Ontario 0.5; in England, Wales and Ireland it ranged from 0.4 to 0.9 per 100,000. In Australia and South Africa the average was 1.0. In South Carolina during the same pe riod we forced ourselves into the lime ligh't with the appalling record of killing unlawfully 16 citizens out of every 100,000 of population each year. Prior to alleged prohibition our aver age was well over 22 per 100,000 of population. Our present average is more than double that of continental United States and more than 30 times greater than that of England. If any one should offer an atiti-peace prize we would probably enjoy the unique distinction of winning it each year. Possibly in off years we would wax degenerate, sit supinely by and allow the palm of victory to go to the state of Georgia. Our record of crime against prop erty is equally bad. The official re ports show that in England and Wales during 1921 there were 95 robberies. In New York in 1922 there were 1,445 robberies and in Chicago 2,417. In South Carolina in 1923; the attorney general's report shows, there was an appalling num ber of prosecutions for crimes against property. However, figures do not 'tell the whole story, for the reason that there are many petty thefts and robberies which are not reported to the police. They are so common that no mention of them is made in the public prints. Thousands of cases remain unsolved mysteries and hundreds are settled out of court. It has become entirely too safe and altogether too respectable to commit murder, steal an automobile, perpe trate graft, commit a breach of trust or rob a bank. The weight of public opinion against crime is not suffi ciently great to be effective as a de terring influence. As a result there is no improvement in our record of, crime. The records show that crime | is on tho increase in America. In the matter of contractual obli-1 gations we are also wofully deficient. | There is vastly more litigation in the United States conccrning business contracts than in England and Euro- j pean countries. Even in the record of divorco we lead the world. The American people, generally spaking, | do- not seem to have caught the j spirit of the sacrednesfc of a business j obligation. Quite a large number of very respectable people have no hesi tation in employing a lawyer for the sole purpose of using every possible strategy to avoid the payment of a perfectly just obligation. The sacred observance of contract is often the exception and not the rule. It is important for us to learn the cause or causes of these weaknesses, in American life, and, if practicable, devise some remedy. Perhaps under a democratic form of government the tendency is to devote too much atten tion to oar rights, and become heed less of the obligations of good citi zenship. Certain H is that the parson " ftrn aifdr m getting what he conceives'to be his rights acquires a selfish point . of \ 11? w and loses sight of th?^ more im portant thin# in life, his obligation* as a man and a citizen.'Such a per son shows a gross deficiency in ethi-j $Bt and moral training. It may bo that the trend of both legislation and education tends to emphasize per sonal rights at the expense of per sonal obligations. It has often been stated with pride that the plane of living in America f". the masse* is higher than that of any other nation. It is quite truo insofar as creature comforts are con cerned. Hut is this condition a de sirable one? Certainly not if it be at the expense of character and the preservation of life and property. Plane of living is essentially a thing which abould be earned. It is never created except artificially. Many of the planes of living we see aroupd us are created artificially, and not earned. They are paid for by the grocer, the butcher, the bank, the ga rage, and sometimes by the unlaw- j ful use of trust funds. Such a plane of living, too high and beyond the means of the liver, only too often re-( suits in poverty, dishonor and crime.. Ignorance often leads to poverty,! thence onward to crime. The foolish or ignorant spendthrift who lives on ( a plane of living not actually earned , and beyond wliat he can honestly af ford,. is surely on the toboggan slide of poverty., He is not used to pov erty, knows not its language, and as a logical sequence dishonor and cringe result. In his wake there is a trail of unfulfilled contractual obligations. The American people are of a spectacular turn of mind in business, The gambling spirit is well develop ed. Perhaps this is born of a desire to live on an increasingly higher plane. Great risks are frequently taken in business and speculative pro jects. Perhaps too little thought is given to the fact that speculative risks ofen find an investor under sud den financial embarrassment, and he is tempted to do the improper "thing under financial pressure. Human na ture is weak. Therefore one should strive to avoid financial embarrass ment, and thus avoid the temptation to do a dishonest act. It is easy enough to act farly under favorable conditions, but is takes strength of character of a high quality to act honestly under the pressure of strong ?temptation. In a word, the important thing in life is not to allow oneself j to get desperately hard up. It is perhaps trite to say that crime i is due to the lack of proper home J training and home environment. No doubt home training is elemental and ( by far the most important factor in the development of character. The problem of home training is one of serious importance. It is elusive and difficult. It may be that in the gen eral devolpment of education an im provement in home influence can be accomplished in the future. The im provement of character through the home would doubtless improve our brime record. In the meantime it must be frankly admitted that the influence of homo and church has failed to stem the tide of the steady increase in crime in America. It may be unfair to emphasise the shortcomings of home ami church. Possibly our appalling crime record is due more largely to so?mv> of the vital economic ' and psychological | cause# herein enumerated, or not y<H discovered, too powerful for the coun teracting: influence of home and church. , While it is important to ascertain the causes of crime, it is equally im-. perative to provide an efficient sys tem of justke for the punishment of the criminal. The certainty of swift and adequate punishment is no doubt of large influence in the preservation of law and order. The early settlers of America came to this country on account of religious persecution and the gross infringement of personal rights. Therefore, when the federal constitution was adopted, religious liberty and the rights of the individ ual were of paramount concern. As a i t suit our systejn of justice is largely framed with the view of safeguarding the rights of the individual. In thus -preserving personal liberty we went too far by making it easy for the criminal to escape punishment. The processes of both the criminal and civil courts should be speeded up and simplified. Cumbersome technical procedure could be abolished with ad vantage. This has already been done in England with considerable advan tage to the prompt administration of justice. Our judges should be given mote power and the jury system re vised. Under our system in state courts in the trial of a criminal or civil case the judge is prohibited by the constitution from charging the jury on the facts. Would it not be well to change this so as to give the jury the benefit of the advice and the opinion of the judge on the facts of the case under trial ? . Surely the judge could aid many a perplexed jury. in arriving at a just verdict. This reform has been found to work satisfactorily in England. It is now the practice in the federal courts of America. As a result there is more wholesome respect for the cburse of justice in the federal courts than in the state courts. Such a reform in state courts, however, would be most difficult to accomplish. It would be opposed by the criminal classes and ?those in sympathy with them. The influence of the lawyers with crimi nal practice would also be against any change. During the summer of 1924 there were two celebrated cases of murder in England. In each case within 60 days after the commission of the crime the murderer was apprehended, tried, convicted, the appeal disposed of, and the defendant hanged. This remarkable speed and sureness in the administration of English justice is the rule and not the exception. The wheels of justice turn more slowly and less surely in South Carolina and in the states generally. Surely it is possible for us to learn some things worth while from the British. There is no doubt that the admin MEDICINES PRESCRIPTIONS TOILET ARTICLES ? * ? '? ' - ? '? ?ti- r" ?' ;? ?. \ W. Robin Zemp's Drug Store PHONE 30 PROMPT DELIVERY istration of justice by the state's is a failure so far as the suppression of crime is concerned. If this lack of efficiency on the part of th?? states continues it will not be long before some one will be proposing another amendment to the 'federal constitu tion. This proposed amendment will doubtless seek to provide for the trial of all criminal cases in federal courts. If crime continues to increase there will be ultimately a considerable pub lic sentiment in favoi%.of such an amendment, It will bo a sad day for the states of the union if they aru required to go completely out of the business of trying to keep order and trying to suppress crime. Would it not be well for the individual states to forestall any such movement for increasing the power of the federal government'by actually suppressing crime? The inefficiency of the states has already actually resulted in the humiliating loss of power bestowed on the federal government. Why not at least try to be efficient? At present the efforts of the states in this dire tion are practically negligible. It would really be a fine thing to do, and if the states be successful they would savo a lot of mOney by it. It has been estimated that the cost of crime in tho United States for was $10,000,000,000. This is two and one-half times the national receipts for 1023, and about 12 times the cost of our army and navy. If one-third ol' this hutfe sum could be saved an nually it would, be well worth while. In many other respects also the sup pression of crime would be of groat practical and economic value. We love to prate about liborty, but too often confound it with license. Instead of being the font of liberty, we are really the font of license. Daniel Webster once wisely said that "liberty exists in proportion to whole some restraint." We should Cultivate a wholesome restraint and insist up on it. The only way to insist upon it effectively is to provide an efficient system of justice which will command the wholesome rospect of all classes. There is no magic in the word "law." The Big Man # ? Some Day This bank is not only interested in big men, but it is even more interested in those who are go ing to be big men some day. Maybe this is you. Line up with us and let us help you. The First National Bank