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Show THE CITIZEN I experiment we shall be unwise to allow the strange and startling panorama of increasing crime to pass before us without trying to ferret out its meaning. We must not be afraid to know the truth. We know now that drug addiction is more prevalent than it was before the days of prohibition; we know that drug addiction leads to crime and that' more crime can be traced to drugs now than in the time of the open saloon. We can argue that there should be some relaxation in the prohibitory laws or we can argue, per contra, that there ought to be a more rigid enforcement of the laws against intoxicants and drugs. Not long ago we called attention to the testimony of an addict before one of our grand juries. He said that when he was strong enough he worked, ordinarily receiving $2 a day. Asked how much money he had to have in a day with which to buy drugs, he said that lie did not feel right unless he had $8 worth of drugs in his system each day. Six dollars worth of drugs hardly made him feel comfortable and four dollars worth was insufficient to master his agonized cravings. As he was of the addict type of criminal the members of the jury readily formed an opinion as to the manner in which he obtained the difference between his wages and the amount needed to satisfy his drug hunger. When first we quoted this testimony we suggested that much of the petty crime, such as the stealing of automobile parts or of articles' left in automobiles, could be traced to this class of criminals. Evidently all kinds of crime can be traced to drug addicts. Dr. Simon believes that the fighting maniacs who use automobiles for robbery and atrocious murders are drug addicts. As a sidelight on the problem it may be stated in passing that one of the concoctions sold as whiskey in this city was analyzed and found to contain brown sugar, water, cayenne pepper and a trace of cocaine. The cocaine furnished the stimulating reaction. The user of the beverage did not dream but that he was imbibing alcohol with every drink and yet there was not a drop of alcohol in it. It may be that some such drink has been substituted for whiskey in the underworld resorts to which Dr. Simon alludes. But whether prohibition has approved itself to the judgment and conscience of the American people it is quite certain that lax enforcement of the law is condemned by the majority. Nothing is to be gained by permitting the manufacture and distribution of poisonous moonshine and concotions even more deadly. habit was a surprise to all of us. The growth of the home-bre- y In some measure it was anticipated, but few had any idea of the would be practiced. It may be that extent to which it will reach a peak and begin a gradual decline that will lead to its virtual extinction, but there are no signs of such a consummation. We would fall into grave error were we to seek for an explanation of crime waves only in prohibition. In point of fact, some who have been giving the crime waves intensive study do not mention prohibition as even one of the indirect causes. high-power- home-brewi- ed ng Raymond Fosdick, a trustworthy observer, thinks that the chief cause of murders is the mingling of races. He points out that the number of murders in industrial centers of the country, where many races arc represented, arc far in excess of those where there are no immigrants, and also far outnumber the violent deaths in European And he finds that most cities, where the population is not mixed. of the murders in the country are committed by foreigners. European critics who arc tempted to point the finger of scorn at us should not ignore this finding, which, we presume, is verified by statistics. A journalists investigation in Minneapolis sheds a curious light the problem. When he asked why crime had increased those competent to answer were almost unanimous in using the phrase, parental neglect, but some modified the charge by saying that our system of education, because it tends to give the child the first place in the family, is to blame. Perhaps the use of the word education is unfortunate, for custom and training have as much to do with this odd phase of our civilization as has education. At all events it was the opinion of some observers that young foreigners, using the independence of American life with less re on 5 straint than is customary among the native born, were swept swiftly into the of violence and crime. The independence of the American child is due somewhat to the spirit of our institutions and to1 the custom of beginning early to make ones way in the world. The young foreigner does not understand this. By him liberty of action is construed as a license to commit crime. For the American boy the privileges of a free counmid-curren- ts try mean an opportunity to achieve; for the foreigner they often mean an opportunity to do as he pleases . It is largely a question of assimilation. If our task were simply to assimilate the foreigners we have among us time and education would be sufficiently curative; but always a new stream of aliens is pouring into the ocean of the unassimilated. This makes the problem immeasurably more complex. It warns us that we must use every means in our power to hasten assimilation on the one hand and to stamp out crime on the other. True, we can bar the foreigners for a few years, but that would prove only a stop-gaIf there is to be a permanent remedy it must be not a mere preventive but a positive cure. Until we have found better methods we must rely on education, on what is known as Americanization, on moral training, and on a strict enforcement of the laws against alcohol and narcotics and the old laws against all manner of crime. p. HYPOCRISY OF DISARMAMENT DEBATE Two conspicuous declarations in favor of disarmament among the nations are attracting the attention of the world one takes the form of a resolution introduced in the. United States senate while the other is in the form. of an official report adopted by the assembly of the League of Nations. Senator Borahs resolution provides for a five-yenaval building truce to which the United States, Great Britain and Japan would subscribe. The assemblys report proposes that the powers limit armaments for the next two years. The report points out that the United States and other nations agreed to a convention for the control of traffic in arms and incorporated it in the Austrian peace treaty. If, therefore, we ratify the Austrian treaty we shall give our assent to this convention. The senate resolution undoubtedly represents the sincere wishes of many senators and it will receive strong support. On the other hand there is much insincerity about the assemblys ar report. George Nicoll Barnes, one of the British delegates in the assembly, said of it: regret that there is in the report no clear-cu- t declaration; that there is not less quibble and more pluck. The senate resolution shows both pluck and candor, but Secretary Daniels may be right in calling it a blunder. Whether a blunder or not the American people will be strongly tempted to test the sincerity of Great Britain and Japan because the representatives of these nations have tried to fix the blame for big armaments and for the traffic in arms on the United States. As long as the United States continues to build warships Japan cannot but keep pace in the construction of a big navy, Viscount Ishii I told the asscmblv. There are countries with the most powerful armament-buildin- g facilities outside the league. said Mr. Fisher, and disarmament can only begin when it is universal. Undoubtedly Mr. Fisher was pointing the linger of scorn at of the United States, which suggests that the armament-builder- s strange transformation have taken place in a few years. Five years ago it was the Germans who were pointing the finger of scorn at us for shipping arms and ammunition to the allies while the allies were imploring us to ship more and more up to the very peak of our capacity. Tt is not difficult to trace the hypocrisy in the assemblys report. It is to be found in the league covenant also. The convention to which the assembly report calls attention prohibits the export of arms and ammunition except under special |