Show W e A re ca r by GENERAL JOHN J PERSHING article II 11 into complacency by prosperity our citizens passively accepted this poisonous growth with small concern now that our complacency is gone we begin to study this foul phenomenon more carefully we see it eating more and more deeply into our national life infecting politics extorting tribute from business threatening our very homes from my own study as an individual I 1 am convinced that prohibition has largely financed this new postwar underworld of ours vast profits have drawn multitudes into the bootlegging business and once outside the pale of the law they do not hesitate to turn to racketeering and other forms of crime thus a criminal army has been built up which defies the very government itself I 1 do not question 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 I 1 believe the time 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 one million or more men accustomed to the easy money of the bootleg and speakeasy 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 aci activity vity corrupt officials deprived of bootleg tribute will seek new sources of graft our frontier ancestors when the criminal element got ou out t of control formed themselves into vigilance committees rounded up criminals and strung them up on the nearest tree every red blooded man when lie he reads of 11 the 1 ile criminal activities of our modern racketeers and of their apparent immunity from capture and prosecution ec ution 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 the ability of the underworld to terrorize society lies in the fact that it Is thoroughly organized while society Is not at present it Is more the gana gan against the individual than otherwise why should we not torm form neighborhood and community committees so BO that the gang wl find itself i con fronted fr 0 cited with an organized body of tren men larger and stronger than itself the more important his position in the community the greater the obligation of the citizen to join the committee can force action such committees made up of substantial stant lal citizens who regard citizenship as a paramount obligation could force action suppose a neighbor of yours gets a threat or a merchant Is visited by a gangster who tries to extort tribute from him or a section of the town experiences a series of holdups it if the individual citizen goes to the police station or city hall and falls to get satisfaction possibly ito aebly because of an alliance between officials and the underworld he Is powerless but if the neighborhood committee stands ready at the very first threat of gangster activity within its borders to take common action against the invasion the picture changes the threatened man immediately summons all his trusted friends lendi fr who advise with the neighborhood committee representing the militant citizenship of its c community mm unity it could demand positive action by the police and by the city authorities committees of this kind would bp be vigilance vi committees not in tile the old sense but in the sense that they would be ever vigilant in the protection of rights and the performance of civic du duties tl es I 1 would consider it an honor to serve on such a committee myself these committees would serve ninny other purposes beyond the suppression of racketeering they would present a united front against the gr grafting arting of officials cinis they could hold weekly or monthly meetings to discuss the lems of government such meetings meet ings would serve to bring out and develop dev c lop as no institution we now possess 1009 new lenders leaders especially among the young citizens in every aery community one great aid to crime in america Is the vell veil of anonymity which covers the individual IP in tiny army every to man n Is accounted for ills his name rank regiment and whereabouts are known it if he Is wanted we know where to find him in america we have no identification men can move moe from city to city changing their names as they would their coats they enn can register as they please sit nt any hotel hote 1 with no questions asked it Is a pleasant easygoing easy going custom but it puts an in eup erable barrier in the way of the police in the detection of crime the time has come when we must abandon the right to anonymity as enlightened european countries have hae done r every very resident of our country should have an identification card a small passport willi photograph attached change of permanent residence should be reported to the police the card should be shown if necessary emary upon re I nt at any hotel or on any other occasion when demanded demart led by the police the penalties tor for for forging ing a card or disregarding arding regulations concerning c it should be heavy I 1 realize that the inconvenience entente of the card identification system would be burdensome but it would be considerably sider ably less burdensome than the breakdown of our system for apprehending criminals the cards would not be a cure all but they would be a great help no honest man could object to a plan which would materially aid in rounding up er criminals finals just as the depression has finally opened our eyes to the magnitude of our crime problem so BO has it brought home to us the very extravagant activities tivi ties of unwise politicians during our prosperity orgy while the citizens have haie neglected their public duties the politicians have quietly but enormously increased the cost of ern eminent ment locally and nationally tures of the national govern in 1913 were approximately exclusively of interest on the public debt in 1031 they increased to approximately 2000 exclusive of interest daymen the public debt and expenses inc to the world war the cost 0 ministration of local governa throughout the country increased in 1013 1913 to in 1029 1929 the budget of one oi of cities new york for 1032 Is gr than the expenditures of the c u national government for 1903 of these increases have been necessary for for coping with the more cor problems of today but an alar portion of them have heen been with ti a to jobs for the politicians arl unnecessary offices boards cor alons have been profligately r plied piled and now when our national denues shrink there Is little toward applying the logical reme reducing expenses instead le ie tors resort to the vicious policy t creasing taxes both direct and reel thus the citizen finds hl burdened with the staggering but can he with clear consel complain ile he cannot lie ile elu el these legislators lie he saw them pal alli lavish appropriations and lie he ele them again agilia during the boo boom n ays tays the citizen was too busy in spee ila tion to worry about tile the ana national debt or the local debt so with municipal affairs during prosperity the citizens cheerfully looked on while the politicians multiplied unnecessary offices oll lies gave ex trava gant contracts con trails to their friends for public improvements passed laws favoring special interests and loaded the public with invisible taxes in the form of grift graft now many of our great cities are threatened ried with in solvency their depreciating ties imperil the solvency of banks where the citizen tins has hla his money the citizen again discovers that he Is the victim hut but Is he not the victim of his own neglect of the plainest duties of citizenship in ohp situation that now confronts him the citizen is groping alint can he be do now what practical action can he take tie ile is told to go to the polls and CA cast st his vote which Is an old story to him but by itself it will not remedy the situation for too often the bandl dates dales of each party are incompetent or corrupt time it Is a great deal more to political ical duty than going to the polls to vote A body of uninformed citizens locking flocking to the polls prompted only by good intentions Is about as effect alve as an army made up of untrained men marching to battle year after year under universal suffrage there has grown a wider dl di between betge en theory and practice in our political economy to perform his civic duties effect lively it Is no longer enough for foi the citizen to understand the theory of politics ile ele must study its practice that means time trot trouble ihie and hard bard work lie ile must study the vol political bitica I 1 forces at work to in his own neighborhood his own ward his own district ile he must go to political meetings associate with politicians find out who are the teal leal leaders behind the scenes drop in V 11 N un isn 7 0 V e V aa f 14 t woe 4 I 1 4 0 o v t ai 2 J 1 1 HY should we not lot form neighborhood and co comet comes T so 0 o that the gang will find it an n organized body of men itself suppose a neighbor of libent or a merchant is i visited by extort tribute from him or a see ice ices ice a series crie of holdups holdup if the in he police station or city hall and lie ie is ii powerless but if the neigh Is ii ready it at the very first threat of is t borders to take common action p picture changes change representing of this thi community it could dehe debe police and by the city author ind would be vigilance commit but in the sense that they would protection of rights right and the per in honor to serve on such a corn com the for ess on led iler om could compel the respect t w or we tile political leader and hold him to tin nn accounting they could hold meetings and ask ash candidates to appear before them address them and submit to questioning moreover they could and should keep track of 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 are no good men in ID polities politics on the contrary we all know many line fine men honest men able men to politics but bill there are not enough of them one of our problems Is to attract men inen of higher caliber into public life certainly the profession of government goern ment Is as important as any calling in our nation yet it Is not even in our schools and colleges we teach political science yes hut but that Is a far cry from practical politics there Is no for the aspiring aspirin clans but to learn their high art and pro procession fit at the knee of the district leader or ward captain too offen with undesirable results corporations for the conduct of 0 list busl ness education and charity have mul in number and importance in recent years service in hundreds of cf corporations la Is affording a new discipline for thousands in managing and directing people and this in turn should be of the highest value toward supporting progress and durability in governmental affairs but Iiii business siness men too often forget that the govern anent la Is the most important corpora lien alon of all they passively vely permit penult men to occupy public offices to whom they would deny jobs in their own torn com panics va n les they fall to apply on elec don alon day the elementary rules they have learned in their business no time for shirking business men say that politics Is unpleasant so Is service in the trenches unpleasant hilt but our citizens do not shirk it when duty calls call carelessness neglect and ignorance in the conduct of the affairs of government have exactly the samo same results as they the would have bare in any army facing the enemy on the field of battle the obligations of the individual citizen as a part of this government goern ment are quite as binding as those of each soldier composing an army thorough training and a high sense of duty are as im in one case ns as in the other the preparation of an army tor for service with any hope of 0 success demands something more than writing out the details of organization and the bissu ance of orders it requires the training of each individual of the army in the particular part he Is to play at tile the front it Is the same in the successful conduct of the government each citizen must be trained in his bis duties and be inspired by a high sense of obligation in carrying them out constitutions and laws do not of themselves guarantee either the efficiency or the permanence of govern ment in a government by the people the responsibility of the individual must be conscientiously fulfilled or failure will be the result make blake no mistake about it our na en tion 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 u unprepared ness in the war cost us untold billions in binney find and the lives of some of our finest men our for this Ms battle of peace has also cost us dear benr but in the war once we were aroused we made blade effort which astonished the world just so today the american citizen once he Is aroused to the dangers that menace his coun try will I 1 devoutly hope and believe gloriously redeem hla his indifference of the past C wt 1933 dell bell syndicate Gr arvia VIa |