Jasper County Democrat, Volume 14, Number 59, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 October 1911 — Increased Number of Homicides Is Worst Evil In Country Today [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Increased Number of Homicides Is Worst Evil In Country Today

By ANDREW D. WHITE,

American Scholar and Diplomat

CHE most disgraceful evil in America today is the terrible increase in the number of murders and the immunity from punishment of the guilty men. The United States today has the HIGHEST PERCENTAGE of murders of any country in the world. Ten years ago , there were only one hundred and seventeen to the million; today there are one hundred and twenty-six. Ten years ago one in every seventyfour cases wds punished; today only one in eighty-six meets the penalty prescribed by law. That this condition is due largely to the LAX MANNER in which our criminal laws are enforced there is no doubt. As long as this condition holds true our Declaration of Independence is a JOKE. In that great document it is stated that all men are endowed by the Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Yet without life liberty and the pursuit of happiness are, of course, impossible. BB' M THE ONLY WAY FOR US TO PUT AN END TO THIS bISGRACEFUL EVIL IS TO REFORM AND ADMINISTER OUR CRIMINAL LAWS AS THEY ARE ADMINISTERED IN ENGLAND. MB* The conduct of most of our murder trials is a disgrace to our manhood, and the ABUSE OF THE APPEAL is even more disgraceful. In New York there are convicted murderers who were sentenced to death more than a year ago still awaiting final action on their appeals. And conditions in New York state are typical of the entire country. I don’t hesitate to say that the solution of this problem is the most important work before us.