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Show ' A Feather at a Time " J. Edgar Hoover, director of the Federal Bureai '"of investigation, has issued a message to all law en ''forcomont officials and agencies throughout the na-' na-' , tion with a look toward the new year. " His analysis of the growth of crime and what wc ,"must do about it should be of interest to all citizen? '.'and is herewith reprinted in the interest of our read-.crs. read-.crs. f.: IS THE AMERICAN EAGLE in danger of becom-ing becom-ing "bald"? "' In an old fable, a bird meets a fisherman with a -can of worms and asks him for one. Sure," says the fisherman. "All I ask in return is "..one of your feathers." A feather for a worm seems reasonable to the ,'M eagle, so the exchange is made. The next day the .'bird is hungry again. He weighs the inconvenience of ..searching for food against the expediency of trad-v. trad-v. ing with the fisherman and decides in favor of the I expediency. After a few days, the bird has traded off so many feathers that he cannot fly. He continues contin-ues to make his daily trip to the fisherman on foot J until all of his feathers are gone. At this point the y i fisherman picks up the fat, naked bird and cooks i,.him for dinner. r As we enter the New Year, leaving behind a year v marked with crime and violence, we might ask our-y our-y selves if the American eagle has a full plummage or ': is he missing feathers because of our expediency in r bartering with criminals. (" A persuasive argument can be made that the lavv-'..'abiding lavv-'..'abiding citizen's freedoms diminish in direct pro-v pro-v portion to the increase of criminal activity in our (, country. His risk of becoming the victim of a ser- ious crime increased 15f;'c in 1967, and a similar rise is indicated for 1968. In many areas, fear forces the .citizen to remain off the streets at night, and anxie-. anxie-. ty makes him suspicious of strangers. Some mer-i mer-i chants are intimidated by thugs who walk away I "with merchandise. JMore and more businesses are yadopting policies not to accommodate the public but to protect their property and thwart criminal assaults as-saults on their employees. The list of abuses keep ..growing, and society's scope of rights and freedoms J;; keeps shrinking. Sl Certainly, under the rule of law those who abide by the law should have protection equal to that of (I those who break the law. Many Americans feel that : they do not have equal protection. " As we look to the; future, we must bring the mat-ter mat-ter of crime and the criminal back into balance with the safety and welfare of the public. Concern and pity for the lawbreaker cannot be permitted to de-j- price the peaceful citizens of his rights and freedoms. .Palliative policies and appeasement are producing soaring crime rates and fill our streets with crimin-j crimin-j als who should be in jail. Yr , In 1969, let us resolve to have fair but vigorous ' law enforcement, prompt and decisive prosecution, and realistic punishment of criminals. In dealing with crime, expediency is a shortcut to disaster. Let "us trade not our freedoms for a can of worms. .. |