Judge — September 13, 1924 — page 17: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

fA its. Sener ne Editor, Norman Anthony Brother Charlie Officer, what's the name of the gentleman with the Dlack skullcap and the soup mustache? Sh! your Honor. That's Charlie Bryan, the feller the Democrats are runing for Vice-president. What's he here for? I picked him up on suspicion, if your Honor please. It was his queer get-up, first of all, and then I heard him talkin’ at some mecting about the poor man and the int're You know, kind er like Mayor Hylan. He said it wasn’t his fault and he’s brought along an expert to prove it. An alienist, ch? Doctor, what ails Mr. Bryan? Well, JupGe, maybe I explain it best by saying that his mental machinery is just the opposite of young Nathan Leopold's. The Chicago murderer? Yes. You know that a man has two brains—the upper, or cortex, which is the seat of the intellect, and the lower, or basal ganglia, which is the seat of the emotions. Leopold's upper brain is a marvel. His lower is defectiv Men like Mr. Bryan, his brother Bill and Mayor Hylan are just the other way about. Is that why Mr. Bryan is so wedded to his skulleap? Yes. T should say that his habit of wearing this little covering for the top of his head might easily arise from the natural human instinct to hide or protect a weak member. But he’s harmless, you think? Absolutely! A Darrow View of It The murder of little Robert Franks in Chicago is undoubtedly one of the most atrocious crimes on record. Yet Clarence Darrow, in his final plea for Leopold and Loeb, put. most of the blame for their plight on “unrestrained wealth and foolish luxury.” “Had they been poor and trained in poverty,” said he, “with the restraints of the poor confronting them, they would have been two brilliant boys, without mania, without f: that lead to crime. . . . Great wealth curses everybody it touches.” itasies This is sentimental drivel. Of all the incorrigible criminals confined in the jails of the country how many come from wealthy homes? A much more acceptable explanation both of the Leopold and Loeb crime and of all crimes (except such as we like to manufacture by statutory law) is contained in a recent article in’ the World’s Work by French Strother. Mr. Strother points Associate Editors, William Morris Houghton, William ar Fisher. Dramutic Editor, George Jean Nathan to the discovery by Chicago criminologists that crime is caused by a physical defect of the brain. lower or emotional This defect renders its victims incapable of th feelings that guide and restrain the rest of us. tary and incurable. It is heredi- Human beings capable of murdering a little boy as a prank would have been criminals whatever their environ- ment, and idiotic mush about the curse of wealth simply beclouds the issue. But Mr. Darrow is a socialist. Me for Ma! It took a woman to show up the politicians of this country for the abject cowards they are. Before Ma Ferguson's campaign in Texas had been heard from and the prospect of her victory had become apparent, how many national platforms and candidates, among those y count, had denounced the Ku Klux Klan by Not one. And now that Ma Ferguson shown our brave statesmen the vote-getting value of such a course, how many have hastened to follow her example? Practically all. tered (where the Klan is not quite as strong as it was in ‘Texas) is hardly to be compared with Ma’s strong rights to the But, then, a soldier who expends so much steam cursing can hardly be expected to put as much has To be sure, the slap on the wrist adminis- the hooded order by General Dawes in) Maine solar plexus. into his blows as a quiet little woman whose specialty is knitting. Ma Ferguson deserves the country’s thanks gratulations, and so does Texas. And not o ing the Klan. If and when she becomes Governor she will disabuse us of the fallacy that government is solely a man’s job. dl con- y for smear. Women have made excellent queens, good business executives, splendid houschold managers. Why shouldn't they mak Those who say that if Ma Ferguson becomes Governor of Texas the real Governor will be her husband must all be bachelors. good governors? Hope Deferred Let’s not forget that the forces arrayed against Ma Ferguson in Texas included both the Ku Klux Klan and the Anti-Saloon League—the Holy Alliance. And yet she triumphed. Does this suggest anything to the pusil- nimous male off ‘cker who drinks wet and shouts Probably not. We can hope for some attempt at sry from the incubus of prohibition only when many more of our public men wear skirts. W. iM. H. comicbooks.com