It is a simple matter to raise the cry of "crime wave!" A murder story on the front page of a morning paper becomes an especially desperate and cold-blooded affair. The private citizen, who knows little about the matter, is ready to swear that the country is suddenly engulfed in crime. As a matter of fact there has always been excessive crime in the United States; the wave in a thing of permanency. New York in 1915 had 838 robberies, enough to supply over two sensations a day under 1921 publicity. Chicago had twenty more murders in 1916, New York almost double the number of Burglaries, than occurred in all of England and Wales. These figures are typical of dozens of comparisons in Mr. Raymond Fosdick's book, "American Police Systems." The number of crimes taking place at present is certainly abnormal; but it is the normal that is so alarming.

The remarkable fact today is that the public has suddenly become curious. Unfortunately its curiosity has progressed no farther than the police systems, which in some cases have been so rotten as to prove subjects of absorbing interest. Yet it must be remembered that, among other world's records, America holds that for arrests. Our policy are active; but they are not active enough, and never will be, at the present rate of crime. The public curiosity should lead farther; where do all these criminals come from, and why would it not be possible to stop the course, as far more preferable, than increasing the police; why does America, of all nations, have so many undesirable law-breakers?

The answer is that Americans have little respect for the law; we are the world's greatest example of cheerful criminals. There is a grim seriousness in a cartoon which appears in "Collier's" over the caption: "If everybody is going to play on the other side, it's too much to expect anyone to be enthusiastic about being 'It'." We see a crowd of American citizens rushing madly over a lone policeman; the members of the assemblage can be identified by numerous placards: "tax dodgers," "home brew," "anything is legal if you can get by," "gentlemanly violators of contracts," "unlawful corporation price fixing," "bootlegger," "speed law violator," and in the distance a sign that reads "Most Every body." Most everybody--is the public, the same public that condemns the police and all law-breakers in one breath. While the public is on the subject of crime, it should examine the police, of course. After that why not examine other things, including itself? This would go far in determining the blame for America's permanent crime wave.