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Show j THE CITIZEN 4 be no longer challenged by Japanese sentries in Siberia has stirred Ambition has turned the mind of the aggressive Nipponese. lna are succumbing to the madness which caused the German ere. to sell his soul to the devil for mastery of the world. Freed sh 7! ambition the men of be would imperialistic Nippon probably congenial in their relations with other powers. But as they are se to place their power of dominion beyond cavil in the Far East forget, their native politeness in their mad rush to gain their end&rCU1 Morec slightest thing that interferes with their plans nettles them. serious protest infuriates them and they turn to squint savj livin at those who dare to question their actions. They are more concerned, by far, about their position in A than they are about the position of their countrymen in Califc; Their interest in California land laws and their protests against t probably are intended to draw our attention away from their As adventures. They are quite beside themselves with agitation anything arises to center our attention on their gradual advaiuThe amazi Siberia or China. v. many Nipponese to wrath. Resolutions have been adopted demanding the revocation of the order on the ground that it is subversive of army discipline. One editor expresses the opinion that the United States is giving undue importance to the incident. He sees no reason why such a trivial incident should be magnified into a grave international issue. In fact, when this particular editor is through with us, he- has' us - - pictured as the guilty party. Another editor alludes to the sentrys act as a mistake due to faithful observance of duty. It is patent that the Japanese sulkily refuse to take the blame for the Vladivostok slaying. Lieutenant Langdon, when challenged, stopped, explained that he was an American officer and passed on. The sentry then deliberately shot him in the back. Of course, the Japanese have no right in .Vladivostok. They are imperialistic intruders bent on crippling the Russians to strengthen the empire of Nippon. It is but one of many steps leading to control . 2 . , of all eastern Asia. -- That our state department should seize upon the Langdon lon to question their occupation of Vladivostok and other portiotlj, Siberia is something they cannot endure with patience. It is smp0r to open up the entire Far Eastern question insofar as it relatujntim Japans aggression that they are casting about desperately i),000. means of scaring us off or dodging the issue, n Agair Imperialism, especially the kind of imperialism with which the dominant faction in Japan is obsessed, is not often troubled with a sensitive conscience. Nor does it put much store by honor or decency in the attainment of its aims. The rape of Shantung or the theft of Vladivostock is a mere matter of imperialistic business and questions of morality of honor do not enter into it. gener JUDGE BLAMES PRISON REFORM FOR CRIME WAVE Prison reform is blamed by Judge L. B. Wight of Salt Lake for the crime wave sweeping the country. If his theory is correct the time is at hand to reform prison reform. Imposing sentence on a murderous thief, who is a veteran criminal, Judge Wight said. The court, like any other individual reading the daily newspapers, has become convinced that there is something radically wrong with the administration of the criminal laws of the country. Perhaps it is not entirely in the administration of the criminal laws, but a certain something has happened which has resulted in a wave of That may be due somewhat to the recent international disturbance, but in the opinion of this court it is due more to the prison reform, which is turning hardened criminals loose on the public, than to any other one thing. Such practice is notice to every criminal that it is an easy matter to get out of the state penitentiary, the only necessity being to reform during the time the criminals 'are confined and in the presence of the officers who are non-existe- nt great-grandfath- er old-fashion- ed laps v as w increa ous d The , c crime. ed guarding them. These are sensible words which will appeal to the average citizen while arousing the animosity of the theorist, for prison reform is founded on a theory as well as on the revolt of the public conscience against prison tyranny. And perhaps occasion serves as well here as anywhere in this article to remark that the solution of the problem can be found in the golden mean. Psuedo philanthropists seized upon the public abhorrence of prison atrocities to put their theory into practice. Their theory, in brief is, that it is not the man himself who commits the crime, but his grandmother or his grandfather, aided and abetted by his evil surroundings. In a word, the prison reformer lays an excessive stress upon heredity and environment. Moral reor too unimportant for considsponsibility is held either eration in fixing the term of imprisonment or administering punishment. bandit was not able to fix Time was when a murderous-minde- d responsibility for his crimes unerringly on his grandmother or his rule on his fathers side. Then the prevailed that crime was strictly personal and that a man was 100 only per cent guilty or innocent. It was not altogether a workable tl because it was an extreme and the time came when civilization the n ped its terrible punishments and gave the criminal a chance. Mani But all the time prisons were conducted as if they were intea they only for torture. In the gradual revulsion of public feelings agtic wa prisons so conducted the prison reformer found his opportunely ba made such good and constant use of it that today a criminal is a ge Were man of leisure detained for a time while he can be petted as a roankrt to his ancestors. st be It is always painful to condemn a method introduced in the r This of humanity. Prison reform is so much more acceptable than pfl- - W torture that the public will endure it rather than witness a reare u luded to methods that shock humanity. But there is arising a belief in the public mind that prison relied has gone too far and Judge Wight gives vigorous expression to We j -- so-call- e in belief. 1 Unable to impose a definite sentence because of the indeter the ate sentence law, he recommended that a prisoner be given tPP years, but not many pardon boards will have come and gone to the evangels of a mollycoddle humanity will be asking for the victs release. Meantime he will live at the expense of the while honest men fulfill the primal law of earning their livel: Appr by the sweat of their brows. And his poor old grandmotherthis c . : . bear the blame. test a In his address to the court District Attorney Rogers perfo? rea( a public service by pointing out that any deviation from a csiden of severe punishment would make Utah a gathering place for We laws and criminals fleeing from a stricter enforcement of lav'jks, p; order in other states. He cited statistics to show that more j SUSp eighty highway robberies and 450 burglaries had been committi. Salt Lake City within a year. The reputation gained for the state when Governor Spiy . in office is being lost. His firm attitude in the face of intimicklinst and actual violence gave notice to all the land that Utah wa- are c undesirable place of sojourn for murderers, anarchists and sanjent A criminals. It was a reputation that protected us n The crime waves. The prompt execution of a number of slayers s pro especially the execution of Hillstrom, despite the unwarranted vention of the president of the United States, served as a 'vaW'a3 - ary-mind- ed |