Show W ar e c aki PC by GENERAL JOHN JOH N J article il II into complacency by prosperity our citizens pas accepted this poisonous growth with small concern now that our complacency is gone we begin to study this foul fold phenomenon more carefully we see it eating more and more deeply into our national life infect infecting ing politics extorting tribute from business threatening our ver very y lion homes Acs from my own study as an individual I 1 am convinced that prohibition has largely financed this new po postwar sawar underworld of ours vast profits have drawn n multitudes lu I 1 into the boot bootlegging bootlegs legg ing business and once out side the pate pale of the law they do not hesitate to tb turn to racketeering leering and other forms of crime thus a crimi criminal nhi army has been built up tip which defies the very government itself I 1 do not ilu question estion the sincerity of the prohibitionists nor their nobility of purpose yet the inability to enforce the law in this respect has resulted in such tragic consequences that eliat I 1 believe the time lime has come to face this question squarely and to work together toward some other solution which takes more account of the inevitable traits of human nature but neither the repeal nor the modification of the prohibition laws will altogether abolish crime the estimated on one e million or more men accustomed to the e easy money of the bootleg and speak easy busi business and with an utter contempt for law cannot be thus converted into virtuous law abiding citizens overnight many will turn to other forms of illegitimate activity corrupt officials deprived of bootleg tribute tribu tb will seek new sources of graft our frontier ancestors when the en criminal minal element clement got out of c control atrol formed themselves ves into to vigilance comm committees ittzes rounded up criminals and strung them up on the nearest tree every red blooded man when lie he reads of the criminal activities of our modern racketeers and of their apparent immunity from capture and prosecution ec feels a natural impulse to go out and organize a vigilance committee but action can be taken under the law only through the constituted authorities any other course would lead to abuses greater than those it might correct 1 tho the ability of the underworld to terrorize society ties in the fact that it Is thoroughly or organized iau liea white society Is not at present it Is 18 more the gana against tho individual than otherwise why should we hot form neighborhood and community committees so BO that tho the gang will find itself confronted naithan Nv with ithan an organized body of men larger large r and stronger than jim itself elf the more important ant hta his position in the coi community munley the greater the obligation of the cl citizen to join tho iad cap can bocce bocc action I 1 such sucic committees made up of sub cub citizens who regard citizen ship as a paramount obligation could force action suppose a nel neighbor abor of yours youra gets n d threat or a merchant Is visited by n gangster who tries to extort tribute from him or a section of the town experiences a series of holdups if the I 1 individual citizen goes to the police station or city hall and falls to got get satisfaction possibly because of an alliance be tween and tho the underworld ho he la is powerless hut but it if tho neighborhood committee stands ready at the very first threat of gangster activity within its bor tiers to take common action against the invasion tho the picture changes the threatened roan mun immediately summons nl all his trusted friends who advise with the beig neighborhood committee depre benting the militant citizenship of its ita community it dould could demand positive action by the police and by the city authorities committees of this kind would be vigilance committees committee s not in the old sense but in the sense that they tricy would be eyer eter vigilant t in the protection of rights and the performance of civic duties I 1 would consider it fin an honor to serve on such ft a committee myself these committee would serve many other purposes beyond the sup suppression pres slon of racketeering they would present it a united front froni against the grafting of officials they could uld hold weekly or monthly meetings to discuss the problems of government such meetings would serve to bring out and develop as ail no ho institution wandw possess does new leaders especially among the young citizens in every community one great aid to crime in Arn america erlea Is the vell veil of anonymity which covers tbt the individual in any array army ever every y anin man la Is accounted for ills 1119 named names rank regiment ment and whereabouts are arc L known iche if ho Is wanted we know where to find him in ameilia we have no identification men bien cna move from city to alty ty changing their names ns As they would their coats they can register as they please at any hotel hote 11 with aad no questions asked it Is a pleasant easygoing easy pasy going custom but it puts art an insuperable barrier in the way of the police in the e detection of crime erani the ma haa crima wi must the right to as su Euro european pein c countries have done dona every resident of our country should havo have in aa il card a small passport pase port with photograph attached change of permanent residence reside should be reported ito to the police theford Th the efard caal be shown if necessary nee essary uon u Y on reil registration at any hotel or on ll 11 alu other occasion when demanded by fh ta police the penalties for forging 4 card or disregarding regulations concerning it should bo be heavy I 1 realize that the inconvenience ot of tho the card identification system would ho be burdensome dut but it would bo be considerably sider ably less leea burdensome than tho the breakdown of our system for apar ap apprehending pr criminals the cards would not bo be a cure all but they would be a great help no honest man inan could object to n plan which would materially aid ald in rounding up crin linnIs just as the depression has opened our eyes to the of f our crime problem so BO has it brought brought home to us ua tho the very extravagant activities tivi tivit ties les of unwise politicians during our orgy while the citizens havo have neglected thel their r public duties the politicians have quietly but enormously increased tho the cost of government ern ment locally and nationally expenditures tures of tho the national government in 1013 were approximately exclusively of interest payments on the public debt in 1031 they had increased to approximately OW exclusive of interest payments on the public debt and expenses incident to the world war the cost 04 of administration of local governments throughout tho the country increased from in 1013 1913 to in 1029 tho the budget of ono one of our cities new york for 1032 Is greater than the expenditures of the entire national lintio nil government for 1003 some of these increases unquestionably have been necessary for expansion and for coping with the more complex problems of today put an alarming portion of them have been with an eye to jobs for the politicians friends unnecessary offices boards commissions have been profligately multiplied and now when our national revenues shrink there la is little idono toward applying the logical remedy of reducing expenses instead le legislators isla resort to the vicious policy of increasing taxes both direct and indirect thus tho the citizen ands himself burdened with the staggering joad but can lie he with clear conscience complain lie ile cannot lie ile elected these legislators he saw them pile up lavish appropriations and ho he elected them again during the boom days the citizen was too busy in speculation himself to worry about the national debt or the local debt so with municipal affairs during prosperity the citizens cheerfully looked on while the politicians multiplied unnecessary odices gave extravagant trava gant contracts to their friends for public improvements passed laws lawa favoring special interests find and loaded the public with invisible taxes in the form of graft now many of our great cities aro are threatened with insolvency their depreciating securities imperil tho solvency of banks where the citizen has tits his money the citizen again discovers that he Is the victim but la Is lie he not the victim of his own neglect of the plainest duties of citizenship in the situation that now confronts him the citizen la Is groping what can he bo do now what practical action can he take he is told to go to the polls and cost cast his vote which Is an old story to him but by bj itself it will not remedy the situation for too often the candidates of each party are incompetent or corrupt there Is a great reat deal more to political duty than going to the polls to vote A body of uninformed citizens locking flocking to the polls prompted only by good intentions la about as afree tivo as aa an army made up of untrained men war marching chIng to battle year after year under universal suffrage there has grown a wider divergence between theory and practice in our political economy to perform his civic duties effectively it to Is no longer enough for the citizen to understand the theory of politics no ile must study its practice that means time trouble troubie and hard work lie ile must study the political forces at work in his own neighborhood his own ward his own district ue ite must go to political meo meetings tIngs associate with pollia politicians clans fand out ou t wiio who are leal ical loaders leaders behind the scenes drop in f k jig Y 44 X 4 A A a 46 K ml X P 21 h AM r V T V t W tat at g 47 p k ak I 1 N pal ja i jf F KAA A fi I 1 P at X 4 SWI mort 1 I lk TR fic should wo we not form nel neighborhood 0 and corn com committees so ao that the gong gang will ifill find it self confronted with an organized body of men larger and stronger than itself suppose it 1 neighbor of yours gets a threat or a merchant is 1 8 visited by a gangster who tries to extort tribute from him or a sec tion lion of the town experiences a series of holdups if the dic 1 individual citizen goes to the police station or city hall and falls fails to got get satisfaction ho he is ia powerless but ii if the neighborhood committee stands ready at the very first threat of gangster activity within its ita borders to take common action against the invasion the picture changes representing the nii militant litant citizenship of this community it could demand positive action by the police and by the city authorities committees of this kind would bo be vigilance commit becs not in the old sense but in the sense that they would he be ever vigilant in the protection of rights and the performance format for mance of civic duties 1 I would consider it an honor to serve on such a cons maselli my selli at the political clubs look fook inta the records and alliances of candidates for or odlie even this Is not enough unless there la is some organization of nonpolitical citizens to work with united force hero again tho the neighborhood committees which I 1 suggested earlier would have their uses such committees could compel the respect of the political leader and hold him to an accounting they could hold meetings and ask candidates to appear bea before re them address them and submit to quest questioning loning moreover they could and should keep track of tho the political and financial administration of local and national affairs it might be inferred from what I 1 say here that I 1 think there then are no rood good men in politics on the contrary we all know many tine fine men honest men uble able men in politics but there tharo 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 us as any calling in our nation yet it la Is not oven even taught in our schools and colleges wo wn teach political science yes but that Is s a far cry from practical politics there la Is no alternative for the aspiring clans but to warn learn their high art and profession at the knee of the lender leader or warn ivard captain too often with undesirable results corporations for the conduct of busl busi ness education and charity have multiplied in number and importance in recent years service in hundreds of corporations la Is affording a new discipline for thousands thousand to in managing and directing people and this in turn should be of the highest value toward supporting progress bud and durability in governmental affairs but business men too often forget that the government Is the most important corpora tion of all they passively permit men to occupy public offices odices to whom they would deny jobs in their own corn coal panics they fall to apply on election day the elementary rules they have learned in IK their business no time for shirking business men say a that politics Is unpleasant t so to ta service in the trenches unpleasant but our citizens do not shirk it when duty calls carelessness neglect and ignorance in the conduct odthe of the affairs of gov have exactly the same results as they would have in any army facing the enemy on the field of battle the obligations of the individual citizen as a part 0 of this government are quite as binding as those of each soldier composing an army thorough training and a high sense of duty are as important im in one ease caso as in the other 1 the preparation of 0 an army for service I 1 with will any hope of success demands something more than writing out ithe details of organization and the issuance of orders it requires tho training of each individual of the army in the particular part he la Is to play at the front it Is the same in the successful conduct of the government each citizen must musi bo be trained in hta his duties find and bo be inspired by a high sense of obligation in carrying them out constitutions and laws lawa do not of themselves guarantee gia rantee either cither tho the efel clency or the permanence of government 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 nation Is confronted by a crisis as serious 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 nesa inthe in the war cost us untold billions in money and the lives of some of our finest men our for this battle of ponce peace has also cost us dear but in the wor war once we were aroused we made effort which astonished dished the world just so today the american citizen once he la Is aroused to the dangers that menace his country will I 1 devoutly de hope and believe gloriously redeem tits his indifference of the post past 0 service berries |