November 1924
TH E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
685
THE CHICAGO CRIMINALS Two sons of wealthy parents, whose boasted intel lectual attainments led them to commit one of the most dastardly and debasing crimes in the history of our country, have just been sentenced to life imprisonment, which verdict is a stain and a reproach upon our courts of justice. The boys confessed their crime and said they were ready to pay the penalty; that they were anxious to experience the emotions evoked by the commission of a
would never be safe anywhere except in solitary con finement. The cartoon by Sam Armstrong, originally appearing in the “ Tacoma News Tribune,” and which we are reprinting by permission of the Los Angeles “ Times,” conveys a timely and pertinent comment on the present-day travesty of justice so often enacted, especially where the wealthy are involved. As it is, they will go to the penitentiary, but how long will it be before these dear, elegant, refined, cultured, murderous criminals will be the objects of a petition for a pardon and back on the job of wasting their lives in
real mu r d e r , and that they would like to know the condi tions which prevail in t h e ’“’‘ o t h e r world.” P i c t u r e s of the p r i n c i p a l partici pants in the case, in abundance, adorned the pages of the daily papers, showing the scholarly young gen tlemen, whose high ideals, inculcated at the University of Chi cago, enabled them to afford such a long- drawn-out daily en tertainment for the public. One woman even cancelled her passage to E u r o p e that she might see and h e a r how the C h i c a g o “ play’ 5U went on. Mean while, Mr. Rockefel ler has the pleasure of knowing that his funds contributed to this world-wide en tertainment. Weary weeks were spent on the t r i a l .
riotous indifference to the laws of the land ? Had the judge sentenced them to be hung and then given them sixty days in which to prepare for the g a l l o w s they could have ma d e every preparation to meet God , and an e x a m p l e , w o u l d have, been given to other would-be crim inals which is great ly needed. In this connection,* we are glad to quote a stirring a r t i c l e f r o m .‘ ‘ The Better A m e r i c a Federa tion,” —a publication which is issued week ly by level-headed business men: Educational Danger “ It is no crime to use a human being in the interests of scien tific research. It is no more than impaling a beetle upon a pin.” This is the defense of the nineteen-year-old murderers of y o u n g Franks. They claim to be atheists and philo
(Sam Armstrong In Tacoma News Tribune)
sophical anarchists. As students of brilliant ability, they illustrate what may be the result of anarchistic teachings in perverting the morals of impressionable young people. If anything of so horrible a nature were needed to show the debasing danger of some of the radical teachings now being permitted in some of our colleges, it is afforded by this crime. It is folly, and a stupid blunder, ■for American parents to tolerate the demoralizing propaganda of atheism and anar chy being promoted under the specious pleas of “ self-deter mination,” “ freedom of expression,” the “ revolt of youth,” and other captions. Such activities have the power of making criminals of stu dents who are brought under their influence and innocently led by those with perverted vision. This unnatural crime may center public opinion upon a candid examination of the kind of “ education” American parents and teachers are endorsing, and be one of the means of calling for drastic remedies. Where are your young people being educated, and what are their studies? What kind of professors do they have, and what do they profess to teach? Would it not be wise to inculcate the teachings of God’s Word into the web and woof of their brain and heart and save them from the shipwreck of soul which confronts them in so many of our “ institutions of learning” ?
The court room was crowded with people who were feasting .upon and gloating over the dreadful details of the long-drawn-out effort upon the part of the State to convict and of the defence to acquit the criminals. Evi dence was introduced to show that not only was the little lad murdered but that his body was abused. The poor little victim of their cruelty had no warn ing, no opportunity to prepare for passing into the other world. There was no suggestion in any news paper report of sorrow upon the part of the perpetra tors of this devilish deed. They felt that they had back of them the necessary funds to secure a release. The cost to the City of Chicago will be tens of thou sands of dollars, and every citizen will have to help pay the bill. Two boys in Germany have already imi tated the crime, for the papers there were full of the details. Two little fellows in California had already planned to follow their example, but were discovered in time to prevent the consummation of their purpose. The attorney for the defence contended that these boys were not responsible for their deed because of certain mental conditions. If this was true then they
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