Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About La Grande evening observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1904-1959 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 29, 1924)
Saturday, November 29, 1924. THE LA GRANDE EVENING OBSERVER PAGE SEVEN " Education and Crime" Topic of Address Principal Wilkerson Delves Deeply into Various Thases of Question ; Result of Probing , Given by Him to the Public. (KUucutiun week wua observed throughout tliu city with smit Micctws. The following aUdruns wan given at the Men's Forum of I ho Muthodtnt church lust Sunday by It. A. Wilkerson, lirlnclpui of Ureenwood school. Editor's note.) "I.ast summer I examined some very fine fields of augur beets. 1 uotieed that the crop wan very good, as a rule. Dut occasionally would find a beet . that was a failure us a sucar producing plant. It hud gone to seed prematurely ..ii.i w:ik wholk- unnrofllublc. "4 "Now an observer may ask why HUSO 1W1I.U'I Mt.a wrong? The seeds were apparent ly all alike. They hud all received tint same culture and the hoII und ulimale conditions wert! Hie suine and yet, In spile of that some were .v worimeBrt. "Now there "was one oilier very nolieeable thing about liie.se beet fields and that was the. great number of good beets and the small number of worthless 'ones. Hut what euused these beets to be worthless? Nuw It they had been young people Just finishing their schooling many peoplo would have had no trouble in locating Ihe cause of their failure. They would say had environment and a faulty educational system was the cause of all the trouble, but since thry are sugar beets and not boys and girls, the solution is not so simple, for wu have seen that the climate, soli, and cultivation, al IhoilBh not perfect, did produce a ... , .. iintwithKtundinir n few 4 beets went wrong as judged from ' our standpoint. "Now the pupils 111 our schools resemble these sugar heels in that a Bleat majority of them become fine people and a very few bo wrong. If we believe the stories told by many superficial observers, ,.1.1 Imvn in believe that the majority go wrong and a very few become worthy citizens. Now af ter having made a ralhcr extens ive investigation of the subject, 1 think I can say without fear of successful contradiction that the great mujorlty of our boys and girls ure all right. Not long ago 1 hcurd a gentleman In a public address say that 99 per cent of all the crimes committed in tho U. H. were committed by less than 2 per cent of the total population. My experience as a school teacher ..v....n o thit. not over 2 per cent of our pupils give us any troublo in school, but that 2 per cent generally keeps pretty busy us trouble makers. "Now why does these 2 per cent khecetne -criminals? Most peoplo would sav it was because they had not had the proper training when fir..mc narrow says they are mentally and morally sick and need special treatment and if taken in lime they may be cured. Ilerullly Idea Advanced. "Biologists would suy that the mi mo cuuse that made Ihe few sugar beets go wrong caused these criminals lo go wrong, that Is heredity. They do not claim that all people who commit crimes arc natural born criminal! but most of tthu regular offenders ore na tural criminals and cannot be cured und should be segregated frum the rest of population so that lliev cannot reproduce Ihelr kind. 'Vaiil 1'opcncc, and Uoscwell .. , i tiw.ir liiwtks. "Alinlied .luiiiinuii, il - Kugenics" say, 'It germlnally anti social persons ure kepi humanely lew years of Institutional life and allowed lo marry, they will leave no descendants, and the number of cungenital defect Ives in the ciinimunlly will be notably dimin ished. If the same peltry is fol- lowed through succeeding genera tions, the number of defectives, of those incapable of taking u useful part in society, will become small er and smaller. One who does not believe that theso peoplo hand on tlielr traits to tho descendants may profitably consider tho fa mous history of the so-called Juke family, whose history was publish ed us far back as 1877 and lutcly restudled by A. H. Kstabrook. "Prom one lazy vagabond, nick named Juke, born ill 1720, whose two sons married flvo degenerate slslcia, six generations numbering about 1200 persons of every grade of Idleness, vlciousncss, lewdness, pauperim, disease, idiocy, insanity, and criminality were traced. Of the total seven generations, 300 died In Infancy: 31U were profes sional paupers, kept in almshouses a total of 23"0 years: 440 were phsically wreckeil by their own diseased wickedness; more than half the women fell into prostitu tion; 130 were convlcled criminals; 7 were murderers; only 20 learned a trade, 10 of these In slate pri sons, and all at u stuto coat of over 11. 25(1, 0011. (I'owlli Nliuwu. Tho clan has now reached its ninth general Ion and Its present status has been exhaustively stu died by A. II. Kstalironk. lie enu merates 2X20 individuals or whom half are still living. In the early 80s they lert their original home and are now scattered all over the country. The chaiiBe in environ ment has enabled some of them lo rise to a higher level, but on tho whole, Bays U. H. Davenport in a preface to Kslabrook's book. Ihoy 'still show the same feeble mindedness, indolence, licentious ness, and dishonesty, even when not hnndicupped by the association of their bad family name und de spite the fact of being surrounded bv heller social conditions. Ksla- !hrook says tho .clan might have been exterminated by preventing the reproduction of its members, and that the nation would thereby have saved ubout J2.500.000. It is Interesting to note that 'out of approximately fiOll living and feeble-minded and epileptic Jukes, there are only three now in cus todial caro: I'riMU" Is Cilven. "How heredity works both ways is shown by the history of the Kal- llkuk family, published by ii. r.n.i.l.,.i n r..w vi.nrH iiL'o. 'At the beginning of the Revolutionary war a young man Known in me history as Martin Kullikak. had a -1... ii iiiiiiieleKs feetile-ininded girl, from whom there have des cended In the direct line four nun .t....,i ..ml nlc-lite individuals. One hundred und forty-three of these ure known lo have been leeuio- minded. und only forty-six are knows to have been normul. The rest ure unknown or uoiiimui. Thlrly-slx may have been lllcglti- ii ij,.vrtllvr ttnmnrul. mostly hum,', i - prostitutes, 24 alcoholic, a epilep tic, 82 died In infancy. 3 were crlm- lnnl. and 8 kept houses of ui-iame. Afler the war. Martin MlllKaK married a woman of good si oik. from this union hove come In ill net line 4911. among only two were alcoholic, und one known to be sexually Immoral. The legitimate children of .Martin Kullikak havo been doctors, lawyers, judges, edu cators, traders, luniltloiucr. short respectable citizens, men and ..-.,ilmn In everv imui.ic of social life. These Iwo families have lived on the same soil. In ii... ,,...., i,,i.,Hilicrc. and in short under the same general cnvlroiv- l vet Ihe bur sunsicr una marked' every generation "f "" at the age of fifty or even earlier. und soon reaches a level below solf-8upport. ' The figures show that mors? than sixty of every too untrained workers are dependent on others fun Kiii.nnrt nl ili.i n ini n f hIvIv lte- twecn fourteen, and eighteen, tho four years which might have been spent In high school, tho untraln- cu nvm usually earns not. more than 92000." Dr. Waller, assocluto professor of biology in Urown university. mrvm "ThtLt tin, iiectimiiluliim (if a lifetime ure heritable was gen erally believed throughout the cre- diilniw AtreM" Alinul n hundred years ago amark made this Idea the cornerstone of his meory or evolution. This is culled the in heritance of acquired characteris tics." That Is. if a man unci wom an who are both well educated should marry and raise o. family, it was supposed thut tholr chil dren would gain some mental ad jVanlago becauso their parents wore educated. This is not now believed by modern Scientists for u. ono armed man's son has two arms Just, like other hoys and the son of h wood en legged man has two legs or fl.Dl, nii.l l.lnn.1 "WnViilen letrs are not Inherited but wooden heads are." V often- see articles ill news papers which seem to Indli-ato that their authors believe In tho transmission or acquired charac teristics for they prophesy tile ..n.li.u- nl n Hiiiii-riiiiin which will lting iu 18", inr- 'It Is strange that ho as far ahead or us mentally us 4 Easy to Tune the HEACOCK Radiophone It is the easiest radio lo tunc on llio market to day. A slight turn of tho dial and the result is startling. Perhaps the second sketch in this advertisement might seem overdrawn butop- pttttnrs nf nnn of our radio sets have heard stations as far away as Ha vana, Cuba. Tho Ileacock Ka'diophoiic is as near perfection as they caa be niaae at the present time. O. M. Jleacock, who has over 15 years experimental ex perience, personally supervises their construction and many features that make it so perfect, arc his own design You must hear one to appreciate its value. Call us for a demonstration today. Wo also handle other standard makes of radio. Prices range from $30 to $300. Heacock's Radio Service Enterprise, Oregon. and has been unknown In tho oth er.1 , If It wero possible to improve or eradicate these derectlvo strains by giving them belter surround ings, the nation might easily get rid of tills burden. "Cretinism" David Ktarr Jordan of Lcland Stanford university cites tho in leresting case of Cretenlsm which occurs in the valley of Aosta In northern Italy, to prove the wis dom of the sexual segregation of defectives. Cretenlsm' is an here ditary delect connected with an abnormal development of tho thy roid gland which results In a pe culiar form of Idiocy usually as sociated with goitre. "In the city of Aosta the goi trous Cretin has for centuries been an object of charity. Tho Idiot has received generous support, while Ihe poor farmer or Inborer wllh brains and no goitre lias had tho severest of struggles. In the competition or life a premium has thus been placed on Imbecility and disease. The Cretin has mated with Cretin, the goitre with goitre, and churity und religion huvo pre sided over the union. The result is that Idiocy is multiplied and in tensified, the Cretin of Aosta has been developed as a new species of man. In lair weather the roods about Ihe city ure lined with these uwtul paupers human beings wllh less Intelligence than a goose, with Icmi decency than the pig." UBrrlninm I 4MmllZ4i. Whymper. writing iu 1880, fur ther observes: Ul is Strang" m e..trlnli.ri.il lines Hot lead tlC lla tlves or Aosta to place Ihelr Cre tins under such restrictions as would prevent their Illicit Inter course; and it is still moro sur prising to find the Catholic church actually legalizing their marriages. There is something horribly gro tesque iu the Idea of solemnizing the union of a brace of Idiots, and, in,., it is well known thut tho disease is hereditary and develops In successive generations I lie laci that such marriages are sanction ed is scandalous and Inramoiis.' Since 1890 tho Cretins have been sexually segregated, and in 1910 Jordan reported that "Ihey wcro nearly gone." 1 have here clipping rrom the. Pathfinder, a current events pa per of high standing, published In Washington City: "A high school education is worth $33,000 and a. college c'ducutlon is worth J72, 000 to its possessor, suys one ot n.nu t.'iili.iil llnslnn nrofessors. We wonder if ho didn't forget to take Into account those two Chi cago boys whose education, in stead of helping them and helping the world, merely mcreascu tneir power lo do wrong. As they are I Ihn Tw.nitoltlliin- it lR no consolation to them that a Huston professor, by considering one side or the case only, can iiguro i nou htghcr education as worth 105,- 000, more or less." - ' Classed As 1nfttlr. T Di.oniH In me that this IS Very .. -..(.. t ln.urvt Dr. .tnhn I. Tl- gert, United Slates commissioner of education, say last summer, that wherever he went ho met peo ple, who siild "look at those two. Chicugo boys." what ao you mum nf lili'her education now?" and mill lo think that they had asked a very wise question. Most ot the newspupess puiiiisiieu n tin. details of the horrible crime and Inlimutcd that- It was the education of these boys that en abled llicni to commit tho crime. I wonder Just how much educa tion one must have in order that he might knock another person in the head with a chisel and get caught und sentenced to the peni tentiary tor lire. mm... rnni Iu IIikhi. Iinvx hllil bedl gambling heavily and so hud con tracted large gamming ucuis ami tried Ibis scheme lu rulse the money lo pay I hem. It it required a great education to emiine inene boys to do what, they did and gel caught I lial person or persons who went up to Perry and killed Tom Moore In his own house and es caped must have been a wonder or Ihose who killed a liar tender in this town and escaped und al so u soft drink vender In lslund City was killed by unknown ....-lii.a 'I'lii.M.. erinies for t tie pur pose or rubbery nnd 1 buvo never heard It intimated thut' tli' V were committed by highly educated peo. nle. . i Now as to the value of a high school education. Ih 'fact that these boys ure In prison does nol change that. Their edmiMlon will probably In- of little value tu llieni it Ihey slay In prison bill neither would U billion dollar g"hl nugget I.... ,.i. imIiii. in ii oersnn It hi: had 16 remain In prison all Ills life anil could not us" 11. l ne goiu would still be valuable. The fact. that some supposedly educated people are Iu prison, does not pre vent an education from being Mail able lo oll or me. I have here a clipping rrom the l.llerary Di gest which explains juxl what ii kiiI, I In rcirard lo the cash value or an education and whose estimation has been so nu terly allocked by the pathfinder. "It Is J72.0OO, according to I'eun Lord of the Itoston I nlverslty Col lege or llusiness Administration, and the cash value or a high school education Is 33.0"0. The Itoston Institution bus been carrying out a curetul sludy of the earning ca- ii.. nr c.iiii.tm erudliutes. and 1 1 he report just issued contains a number or Interesting lacis. cording lo a New York Heruld Trtttune summary, ttie uveruge miixinuim income ot I !, untrained mall is I20 a eur: thut of a high school giu'liiulo 1.t'0. 'Ihe lul.il eurnlngs or the Hint l)l'' up lo Ihe age or slsty ure set at ll.'i.ooo. $7fc.u!0 and $14ri.iieo. It Is also estimated that Willi" the untrained man ut th- sge or rlfly ueglns to drop toward dependence, the college, mun reaches his maxi mum capacity at sixty.' As Hie report Is quoled further: The InlriUniil Man ' "The untrained man goes lo work us a boy of ronrlcen and reaches h'ls maximum Income at Ihe uge or thirty. This maximum Is. on ihe uverage, l-ss than $!!' h year. In view ot the fact that this Income Is earned through manual labor dependent on phs 1 leal .rcigth. it utgmi tv (all off w.. i,i.n iilm-1,1 nf the mollkev. They suy "mull is growing weaker und wiser." Scientists Dlsaurce. ' This Is not now thought to bo true by reputable modern scient ists. II Is beMeved by modern sci entists that man bus reached as high u degree ot perfection, both mentally and physically, us he ever will reach. Many claim thut unless our defectives ure segregat ed or otherwise prevented from re producing their kind, tho ruco vyill deteriorate. Ur. Kdwurd Carey Hayes, pro fessor or socioligy In the Univer sity of Illinois, says on tills sub- 'ject: "It was once thought that evolution proceeded b the iffic cuniulatlon of Infinitesimal vurlu ,innu iii In nnler for natural se lection to operate, there must bo ,i' ilitTercnce between the fitter n.,.i ii,,, 1i.mh rit irrcul enough to bo a decided advantage In tho struggle Tor survival. The change In order lo bo a contribution to evolution, must be nol only a dif ference In Ihe developed body but must be u significant chungo In ii... ,l..trmhiei-S Of irCllUS ill t lie ....iiu wi.i,.ii irlvi. rise to mu gei in nit- ........ n tactions. Mutations lined true but ..ii..i.. ....iiitintiR and snorts do Ollglll ....- not. Uut mutations are rare in mature species and when Ihey do arise In a highly developed specie they are fur more likely to iiiiiiin ish Ihe chances for survival limn lO IllViertn; liivi.n ..I I...- i n Miiu-irestrd thut -in man. the sensitiveness and coni- . . ..ii. . ..r ii.n nervous smiluim. PlCMiy ui which Is the biological specialty or the genus Homo, lias been curneo to'u point bcyoniT which itrcunnot go without excessive iiuuimj break down. , The notion that species uru con tinuullv accumulating Inrinltesimul , ....'. .iu lim allowed sollio lo dream thai the time will come when men will bo oorn samm angels. lint there now upp to he no sciomiiiu uui.. Ideu thut the run coiiipi- human endowment will ever be .....i,., h,l!v liiuirovod. Neither .is there uny reuson for supposing thut Hie Chinaman oi ioua ter born than was Confucius or the tireek of today belter nor.. I hull were Arlsloue un.i i e. or tho Jew of today l-Hler born . Mnses and Abraham, or the C.i rinuiis nnd Anierlcuns or to day belter born t nun .tcrnem. , . i.... Hi., ei'iierul nonu- antl AKi ici'ii " " latlon or half naked savages that at the dawn or liuropcun uis.o., roamed the northern fores! . w......... lim! Nil flumcc. Tin: savage who learned lo iniiUo fire by rrlrllon may have been lis Iilchlv endowed us Ihe Inventor of wireless telegraphy, only th" hit ler has been preceded by lb" dis coverer or llrrlzlun waves, and by thousands of other Investigator of electricity. rrl ...... ,...lv KllllCI'Ifiril V OVI'T savages Is our superior education and our great accumulation of knowledge in libraries and in the minds of the people. I blireli Praised The church ii: as much an "Iu iiitlonal Iiir.liltitlon us nre the sellouts and colleges. In ract. Ihe church was our first cdueuilonul lusliliition or Importance. These two gnul educalloniil InHliliilions idinuld alwas work In harmony. So rar we have I n speaking or the siibnoinial etui aluiurmul, but the great majority or our chil dren are normal. They wunl lo do what. Is right, and will do It, IT we can agree timniig ours'-ii n upon wlml Is rlchl nnd let them L.1...V tviiut we think Itiey aliould .i.. u- nmil leaeh them morals by nliiislng Iheni. und telling them that this generation is ihe worsi i l,.n lln.l has ever lived. Their conduct. Is only u reflection of ourselves and we can iiihkc oi Ihem wluilever. we wish. They are Just us anxious to be in fuslilon as we lire. Jf we condemn cer liiltl conduct and soy Ihfit the i.,-,.iil. if thin ifenrratlon are alt going to the don, and tiisl marly alt or them ore puny "i ohj'-et hilillhle tusitiees. we n I e sluiply lelllllg them that Ihe con duel. tO Whllh e Object. Is I.ISll- lonuhle und Ihev lire going to try to lie fashionable. Standard ur .Murals Ni-cilnl. When I h"ur s I'm her nay that all the pupils In her room ur" dis honest, and hard-boiled, 1 think llit iHt ' tttiiitlN should have a new leacher. If ou should go us a ti-Hcher Inlo a room full of the best chtldren In town and login telling tin in that they an: Ihe worst children thot oil ever saw. In less than a week Ihey wtU be Jusi what you suy ihey are. A fllaiidiil'l of ninruls should be agreed ujion nnd those who vio late this standard should be made to realize that their conduct does nol meet the upproval of society. Christmas Dinner and Electricity On Chiistmaa Day, in all cities in the country, between the hours of about ten to twelve o'clock, the Electric Service companies are called upon to deliver more electric heat for cooking purposes than in any other two hours of the year. This is so, notwithstanding that it is a holiday. 0n this day more than on any Sunday, most of the cooking in the' homes is done in these two hours. . The meals are more elaborate and the national roast of turkey or other fowl is the rule. v And yet when the oven switches of the many electric ranges on our system go on, there is no shortage of electric heat, for instantly the turbines pick up the added load and deliver quick, clean and perfectly controlled heat to hundreds of homes. An electrically prepared dinncav excels in flavor. Eastern Oregon Light & Power Company "Always At Your Service" f?i m Thosd abmirmul liullvldtmlrf. who do not earn fur tliu approval of so ciety, Hhutiltl bo HrKreKiilud from tho runt or tho peoplr, for ihelr coiukia tcmlif lo net tip a standard of morals that Is rlrlrl mental lo tho heal intcrcHt of tho country. If murder in morn prevalent today than over lii-foru In this country, it Ih probably bwausu mnrdcrors havo not btK-n properly punlKlu'd. It in bt'cotnlhg fRHhlonublo amonK certain uIuhhck. Dr. I'M ward ('ari-y II ay oh wi.yn on this Huliject: "('onst'li-nro coilea aru i xcet-iiinKly varloun. Compara tive study of I lm llfo of differotit. sotietb'H rrvralB Uf. fact that man Ih not born with a table of com ntan'ImentH Vtched on tho unit. On tho contrary, iho mor or cumUmh cat) iiiJt.ko anything ncin rilit. ( 'annlballHiii, to ono whoso group pprov'H it, may Ih hh proper a 'a illnner of herlm.' It mayi'ven be n. ridlKloun rite, or a murk of honor lo a pcrrnt whoso flesh '1 coMHiimt'd. Murder of choice youths may bo committed aa a devout Kacrificij to th Kodtt, and HliiyhiK the aged an nit ot'flco of affection. Though 'lovn your eneniieB' may ln the nolder In jilUClbtn, yet. the KOlemtl duty of venr'-.Torn hnn been eom m;i nded by tho conaciencc's of most men. I coniprclumHildo a violation of mor- ovei his head and dushod hlin onto No pooplo Hvo wilhonl a code for ailly, uh tho practices of avuvH Iho reBulalion of relation between nro lo us." thn wextjw, yot whtlo punlnhhiK with j nl most Hovwlly ads which Ihoy ItOBIIV lll;i:i) IS IHOI-'KATMI (liHapprovo. thny approvo poH'K-' It KK OH I 'OUT, Ore, Jimmy An amy, concublnaKO, uud corcmonlal do-son of tho l'ortland KyninuHium lice n He. won two out of three falls from nur nwn pihh-H of m-liierty Koldn lte.ed In a match at tho (a- rlKhtH which allow dives to roll In no hall hero. Anderson took tho wealth with an unruffled con- first fall with a hammerlock In 25 Hcienco, knowing that threo blocks minutes. After tho conteiit for the a-way, Lazarus and his offspring third fall had Kono :t fi niinutes, An- exist in Buualor nd bllKh'. urn in u onion lncaeu ueeo into miiiiitik the eyes of mom savaKes as in- ins neati, j-rnnoeii nun, spun nun X ? f r ? T f T t t ? Here Is a kidney nnd rhviina-' tic tablet that is guaranteed to, J Kive you satisfactory rpsuItA. If it does not your iIi ikkIhI will re-i$ fund your money. 1 Whirlwind Ktducy and Hheii mallo Tablets nn sold by every drujf stor iu l.n, Cirande. Adv. Vanishes Rheumatism tho mat with such vlolonco that ho was out. In tho preliminaries -Pave Blair knocked out. Younfr Whltoy In tho fourlh round. Htanloy lloda wres tled Kid Wilson to u draw. ArrunKcmcnts wero madn this aflernuon to put on tho samo con test iero a week from Halurday, I'Jxperlcnco iiin't a groat teacher of you spend altl your time study Inw the KHtim lesson. 18 Acres FOB SUE Wril improved. In Alfalfa, bet of soil; neur Island City on high way. This properly Is part 'A nn rut ate that must bo settled at onee, and wo -till sell It at a bargain price and on good teimd. It will ntahe a fine home or f pood lnveMtmnt. Como In snd Id us Ull you all about it. PYRAMID LAND CO. Mnln It F. If. Ford, O. It Berrr, W. If. Mpitf Buodca Realtors f y ? ? t y y f f t t ? f Select Gifts of Quality The joy of giving worthwhile gifts far overbalances any little difference in price CHRISTMAS shoppers can wisely make this store their gilt headquarters, safe in the knowledge that they will secure articles ot high integrity, combining beauty, usefulness and intrinsic value, at low prices. Th frifc of a watch forms a mott approprUw token of affection which trill carry its associations Inr rears to corns. Your personal preferences in K7I. design, and price can be hilly SJUttKd here. . 3 1 v m4.-zxtYfs.A. e"s J. H. PEARE & SON 0. W. Time Inspectors. Direct Wire Time Eslahlished 1391 T t f t T t t ' ? y t f f t ? f y f. y J y t t t J y y y t y 3 s f t t t f