Annual Address of the President of the Institute of Criminal Law and Criminology

Abstract

Last year saw the ending of the war. From England, from France, and in our own country, statistics have been gathered which show that serious crime which had been on the decrease during the period of the war was again stalking in the foreground. No longer did the activity of the war serve as a release of those elementary passions and pent-up energies which in the case of many men, unless directed into proper channels, lead to the commission of acts either criminal or of such violence and force that unless curbed and restrained lead to acts of crime. In many sections of our country the form of violence was in the nature of race riots; in others, industrial disturbances. All engaged therein were not criminals, but these occasions were taken advantage of by the worst elements of society to give vent to its inclination to lawlessness and disregard of the rights of the community. The newspapers are filled with accounts of crimes of such daring and boldness as to make the average citizen stand aghast at the manner in which the security of life and rights of property are ruthlessly disregarded and imperiled. A forceful element in the character of crime has been the advent of the automobile. Formerly, in the days following the Civil War, and up to the nineties, the horse was the quickest means of getting to and away from the scene of a crime. Today, the automobile changes this-makes possible a quick advance and a quick getaway. Before an alarm can be sounded, all trace of the culprits usually has disappeared and their escape practically assured. While in many instances criminals have been apprehended, there are many others where no capture was effected. The boldness of the crime and the apparent helplessness of the law to apprehend the perpetrators have embittered the public to the extent that any advance in the treatment of the criminal or any suggestion save one of punishment of the criminal is looked upon with disfavor. In addition, those having charge of prosecutions, namely, the state's attorneys and the officers, have re-