which moves mountains and transforms character.

Religious faith does not depend upon the kind of evidence that one gets either in the laboratory or séances; it is a matter of experience that is open to the child as well as the adult, the ignorant as well as the learned. The faith of a child in his father or mother is not something that you can implant by a process of reason or argument, or the production of testimony and evidence. The attorney who argues before a jury may bring the minds of that jury to a state of certainty concerning a fact, but he cannot by that same process implant in the minds and souls of the jury his own faith in a friend or a parent or a God. Evidence may convince a jury, but it cannot of itself change them from bad men to good men, from selfish men to unselfish men, disloyal men to loyal men. It is only faith that can do that— sometimes faith in a fellow-man, some

times faith in a country, but supremely faith in a Power not themselves that makes for righteousness.

All around us in this world there are forces conspiring to develop and fortify faith. They are to be found in the records of the race, in the institutions of religion, and in the influence and power of those who have themselves grown through faith. If any man finds these forces unavailing, he will find no support for true faith in any mere evidence that the spirit of man survives the death of his body.

In the future, as in the past, men will seek some easier way to faith than the rugged path of adherence to the law of self-restraint and service, or what in the much misunderstood language of Scripture is called virtue and love. Those who believe that the universe is ruled by a Power that would supplant chaos with order, self-indulgence with selfcontrol, and greed with love have in

themselves at least the elements of faith. For that faith they do not depend upon the witness of their eyes, or their ears, or the mere report of facts concerning the past or present, or the possible future. They can derive it only from those who have that faith and prove it by their lives.

Those who seek for faith in signs or wonders or in spirits called from the vasty deep will seek it in vain. Not even Jesus, who brought immortality to light, turned the thoughts of men to the search for evidence of life after death. On the contrary, he warned his disciples against such search and enforced his teachings by the parable in which he represents Abraham as answering the rich man in torment, who besought that one might be sent from the dead to cause his brothers to repent, and saying: "If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead."

PAPER MADNESS

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F the Genoa Conference considers countries in alphabetical order, Austria will be first; there is, however, much pre-Conference help being arranged.

Lloyd George recently dressed a window showing Austria in a stabilized Loan Gown. It attracted attention; the fashion was established. Now France and Italy are also making "Loan Gowns" for Austria. Czechoslovakia is making a loan to take the place of an old coal loan. The latest news is that Holland is contemplating a loan to Austria.

There is some psychology in all this, but more business. The Bank of England owns the Anglo-Austrian Bank. Englishmen own the principal Danube navigation companies. They have large commercial relations with Czechoslovakia, which sells to Austria. Why should not England loan nine million dollars to Austria under such circumstances, especially as she has a mortgage on a lot of Gobelin tapestries as security?

France recently bought the Laenderbank, one of the large Vienna financial institutions. She has industrial interests in Austria and since before the war has held a controlling interest in the Southern Railroad Company, the only large Austrian system not Government owned.

Italy, by the Versailles Treaty, ex

tended her northern boundary into Austria, including the great port city of Trieste. The Italians very properly supported this new acquisition by a friendly and expanding policy in Austria. They have acquired mine properties, as well as Austrian banking and commercial interests.

Surely these three Allies have business in Austria which must be looked after. They would not be the clearheaded, practical people we know them to be if they failed to try at least to improve bad conditions. There is, however, another side of business, called politics. Business and politics are always Siamese twins. Many think that they should be separated, but the operation is not performed, because a vital circulation involves them both.

Politically, France wants to be the big sister to the little entente composed of Czechoslovakia, Rumania, and Jugoslavia. They can prevent Austria from joining Germany, and together with Poland they present a solid barrier against Soviet Russia. France is interested in the development of trade routes east and west.

The political interests of Italy differ enough from those of France to make the two nations rivals in southern European society. Italy wants trade routes north and south, so that she can resume her very extensive pre-war business

with Germany. She also bids for business with the little entente by playing the rôle of big sister number two. She has recently presided over three conferences in Italy in which the little entente, Austria, and Hungary came together and improved their mutual relations. One conference was held in Rome, one in Portorose, and one in Venice. In the last the dispute between Austria and Hungary over west Hungary was settled by giving it to Austria. If you add the Genoa Conference, you may call Italy the Convention Country of Europe.

Political rivalry makes it hard to work out the purely business part of loans to Austria to re-establish her credit. I can see all kinds of lions in the way of a good solution. The danger is that England will be content with a temporary business advantage resulting from her loan. She may also foreclose on the tapestries later.

France and Italy may be opportunists. All the world is being financed in a happy-go-lucky manner. England, France, and Italy are not holding their own expenditures within their Government incomes, so we can hardly expect them to plan and impose on Austria such a financial reform as they themselves are not able to adopt, but only to talk about.

So we can prophesy that the credits

to Austria will be given by England, France, and Italy with many hopes of benefits to themselves, with many warnings to Austria, and with some plans for supervision, but with no absolute grip on Austria's collar.

Austria reminds me of the Hawaiian natives; fine looking, friendly, and estimable, but they lack character. The Austrians have never before had selfgovernment. They are not capable of it at present, because they lack patriotism and self-control, two essentials in a republic. These qualities are at present all too scarce in any country, hence the world travail.

While staying in Vienna I have been buying some antiques. I have made large and small purchases in many stores. With one exception, they have urged me to accept a bill at a lower price than I paid, ostensibly to save me part of the Austrian export tax, but when I demurred they bluntly said that they couldn't afford to pay the 7 per cent sales tax. Of course this tax was included in the price. They collected the tax from me, but refused to pay it all to their Government. With exceptions noted later, the Austrian people appear well dressed and well fed. There is a much greater variety of food here than last year. Any one who has the money can get anything to eat or drink. There are over 250,000,000,000 paper kronen in circulation. There is very little unemployment, so every one has money, more or less. To be sure the money is worth little-seventy kronen to one United States cent-but the people have learned that it won't do to hold onto something that is falling in value, so they spend their money on themselves.

The theaters are crowded, so are the movies. One day we saw over one hundred thousand people at and around the race-course. A man may think it better to bet his money on a horse-race than to put it in a savings bank.

And this brings me to the reason for the degradation of the Austrian kronen. They were worth before the war 20 cents apiece, and at the time of the armistice 10 cents. Then people called themselves a democracy, but practiced Socialism. The Government gave every one a job, especially old soldiers. They bought food at high prices and sold at low prices. They imported coal to operate the railways and hauled people for as low as six cents per 100 miles. The first year the Government deficit was enormous; the kronen fell rapidly in value, prices started up, and the wages of state employees were increased. This increased the deficit. There was only one way to meet a deficit-with the printing-press-and vast quantities of paper money were issued.

Theoretically, inflation would work all right if all wages and prices could be increased as rapidly as the value of the money decreases, but it is not humanly possible. Theoretically, when money is falling in value, it is useless to save it. It should be spent for something sub

stantial, but it must not be held. Consequently there is great temptation to spend it for food, drink, and pleasure. It is a good time also to borrow money, if possible, and to go in debt. The chance is in favor of one paying his debt at half what it cost him. If I borrow a thousand kronen on a sixty-day note, and the krone loses one-half its value in sixty days, I am a big gainer, and the lender a big loser.

There is a case in Vienna where a man bought a house full of furniture before the war, on credit. The bill was not paid until recently. The courts decided that the man who bought the furniture need not pay more than the number of kronen called for in the original bill, so the debtor sold one chair for the needed amount and squared the account.

There are many strange phases of this financial spree. On the surface it does not seem criminal, but below one can find the old people neglected or dead; the middle class, who were not used to

work, are undernourished or living

scantily by selling their possessions. The proportion of unfortunate people is much larger under present Vienna conditions. Many stores are filled with jewelry, furniture, pictures, and curios that have been sold for what they would bring by people who had no choice. Much of this junk is of small value, and the owners realized little from its sale. Thousands of people are working for just enough to keep them fairly alive. I am not referring to skilled labor or common labor of a heavy type, but household servants, employees in hotels, clerks, and porters. Their appearance is semi-genteel or downright shabby. They are fairly used to the life now, and make the best of it.

I was in Vienna just a year ago. In referring to my notes at that time, I find that there were 90,000,000,000 paper kronen in circulation, with a total gold value of $128,000,000.

Now there are 250,000,000,000 kronen in circulation, with a gold value of only $35,000,000. Loss in total value of all paper money in one year, $83,000,000.

It is interesting to see that the more paper money they print, the less the total amount is worth. It is possible also to understand the Vienna complaint that there is not money enough in circulation. If, for instance, the total of next Saturday's factory pay-rolls in Austria amounted to $35,000,000 in gold, it would take the entire 250,000,000,000 kronen to pay them, leaving no money for other transactions and none in the banks.

It is also interesting to reflect that, theoretically, if Austria could raise $35,000,000 in gold, she could buy up and burn up all her 250,000,000,000 paper kronen.

To such a depth of depreciation have sunk the promises of Socialism masquerading in the costume of democracy. To such a depth has sunk a country which used freedom as a license; first,

to spend what they had, and then what they hadn't, until no one does them honor and they mock at themselves.

Yet Austria four years ago was in about as good shape as any other warweary nation. No country has been free from crimes against itself, including the United States, which has had a weak Congress that creates deficits to please the Socialistically inclined.

Which is the most dangerous step in the downward path-the first, the middle, or the last? America has made the first deficit step already, and seems about as complacent as the poor Austrians were when they started down.

The problem for England, France, and Italy is first to stop the Austrian deficits, then retire the present worthless paper currency, issuing a new currency with a safe amount of gold or gold equivalent behind it.

If all the credits were concentrated for this latter purpose, it would be possible of achievement, but there is not power enough inside and outside of Austria to make her reduce her expenditures to come within her income.

We have heard statements that the first decision of Genoa would be that budgets must be balanced before help could be expected. There will be no special need of help after budgets are balanced, for the whole deplorable disaster of depreciation has been caused by deficits. The exchange value has also been depressed by the same failure to balance the trade of a country by selfdenial.

Austria, for instance, has worlds of forests close to Vienna and elsewhere. She could swear a mighty oath that after next September she would not import another ton of coal until her financial health was restored. She would have to change her locomotives to wood-burners and use only wood in industry and the home, a perfectly possible thing for a courageous nation to do. But Austria is not courageous; she prefers credits and coal to chopping wood and developing a national spirit.

The Vienna papers recently reported that the Senate at Washington had appropriated $50,000,000 as a loan to Austria. On March 17 one paper, in commenting on the supposed good luck of Austria, estimated that they could live for a year on the $50,000,000. Twothirds of Austria think only of favor to come from outside. The other third realize their inability to make Austria stand alone and are sick at heart.

How many people in the United States are thinking about getting something from Congress, without realizing that A stands for Austria and America as well, and both can fall from the same cause lack of patriotism and lack of self-denial? Austria is making some effort toward reforms, but, to me, the only solution is strong outside control or the division of the remnant of the once proud Empire among the adjacent countries. Italy alone might take a mandate to govern her.

HERE is food for anxious thought

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in the crime wave sweeping over the United States, particularly when it is borne in mind that it comes on top of an appalling state of habitual lawlessness. In 1918 Cleveland had twenty times as many murders as London per one hundred thousand of population. In 1921 Chicago had fourteen times as many as Berlin. There is more crime among the two hundred thousand Sicilians in Chicago than there is among the four million in Sicily. We have much the same habits, institutions, and ideals as the Canadians. We are divided by only an imaginary line, and yet in 1913 there were eight times as many murders south of the border as north of it.

Burglary insurance in the United States has increased 543 per cent in the past five years, and so the story goes. Where will this end? What are the causes? Of course so great a problem is complex. One individual can see only a section of it. Nevertheless from the experience of four years as the official head of the Police Department in a typical cosmopolitan American city of half a million people it is possible to observe some of the forces that have brought us into our present path and continue to drive us along it.

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HE American people are of an obliging, accommodating nature. They have a way of passing laws to please those who want them, and those who seek new laws of a reform nature seem to have a kind of childlike faith in the power of a statute to better human conduct. Then when the act is passed and becomes law those communities which did not want it or those large elements in the population who are opposed to it look to the law-enforcing agencies to veto it by non-enforcement. The attitude of the lawmakers seems to be that a new law will leave everybody happythe reformers because they have what they want upon the statute-books, and the rest of the community because it will be relieved of agitation and everything can go on as it did before. Some of the political leaders, influential in controlling legislation, frankly approve of this method of procedure in private and confidential conversation, but would never publicly say so, and the course of events shows that they but reflect the usual attitude of the American people.

The attempt to deal with a situation in the method just described and how it works when brought in contact with the human machinery of a police department is well illustrated by an ordinance passed by the city of Buffalo some years ago which forbade the sale of liquor on the same floor on which dancing was going on. This ordinance sought to achieve a very laudable purpose. The drawback was that there were some high-grade, perfectly respectable res

BY GEORGE S. BUCK

taurants whose patrons drank so little liquor as to lead to no unseemly conduct, and who deeply resented this interference with their indulgence in the fad of dancing between courses. So the management of the Police Department let it be known that certain restaurants might have dancing, but the rest could not. Now the officer on the beat is a very suspicious and an extremely practical man. He at once argued with himself that if certain places were allowed to profit by violating the law some one higher up received pay for it, not necessarily in cash but in some way-in political support or friendship. Perhaps directly across the street from one of the restaurants favored with permission to have dancing was one to which that privilege was denied. The patrolman on that beat reasoned with himself somewhat like this: "Braun, on the north side of this street, is just as decent a fellow as Greuner, on the south. It is not fair to give this privilege to Greuner and to deny it to Braun. What is more, Braun has given me many a good cigar and hot coffee on a cold night, just out of the kindness of his heart. Now if Braun starts up dancing I am not going to see it. I shall just turn my back." After a time Braun found he could not stand the competition from Greuner's dancing attractions, so he started up. The same situation and the same reasoning applied elsewhere, and before long dancing and liquor selling were going on all over without any more regulation than if the ordinance were non-existent, except that, because the law was there and could be enforced at any time, the door was wide open for unscrupulous members of the police force to exact tribute on the threat of enforcement.

This incident illustrates perfectly the viciousness of laws which express excellent views of conduct but which run counter to the settled habits or fixed desires of a part of the community. These may not in themselves be criminal and are more a matter of morals or social customs than of governmental regulation. There arises first the resentment of those regulated, which brings pressure on the police to ignore the law; this is followed by "easing up" on some, which spreads to all, because of the human qualities inherent in those charged with the duty of law enforcement. By and by there is a gust of public indignation over non-enforcement and everything is shut up tight; as soon as the gust passes the old forces reassert themselves and the vicious circle starts over again, leaving in its wake a constantly increasing contempt for law. As Mayor I was able to cure this particular trouble. by insisting that the ordinance be amended to permit dancing and liquor selling on the same floor, provided the Mayor was first satisfied that the place was fit to be licensed, and

a fee for such permission was fixed at $100. The effect was magical. The respectable part of the community which was determined to have dancing with its meals was satisfied; and the ordinance almost enforced itself, because every restaurateur who had invested $100 in a license became a volunteer police officer to prevent unlawful poaching. Formerly, when a lawbreaker, he dared not start a prosecution against a fellow-lawbreaker, but when he had paid the fixed rate for his privilege he was entitled to protection, and he got it as a matter of right.

This is as simple and complete an illustration as can be found of the great advantage of laws which fit the ideas of the community. It is impossible to legislate successfully in advance of the prevailing standards of the people. Perhaps an autocrat may mark out a goal and force his people up to it, but certainly a democracy cannot do it.

It must always be borne in mind that the majority of men on a police force are honest, decent fellows. They want to command the respect and good will of the community. They cannot help reflecting the opinion of their neighbors. If the community regards a law as foolish, the officers will not have much heart for its enforcement. In addition to this, the average man wants to avoid trouble and to hold his job in peace. He does not need to be told to shut his eyes to breaches of the law. He will quickly take a hint. From the attitude of his superiors he decides what is expected of him, and if they are not keen for the punishment of all offenders, he is quite ready to be lax in the performance of his duties. In short, the police reflect very accurately the attitude of their employers on the subject of law enforcement.

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N almost every campaign involving the choice of a Mayor the question is fought out, "Shall the town be open or shut?" A multitude of our new voters do not even know what this means. If answered, "Yes," it brings in a time when gamblers can run openly, when prostitutes and pimps can ply their trades and advertise their business freely. It means that honest, faithful service by the police is discouraged. Men who have distinguished themselves by long and efficient work are passed by when promotions are made or are assigned to posts where their qualities are least effective. Every grafter on the force is busy and prosperous. The slime of falsehood and venality is everywhere. Almost every kind of crime can secure some degree of immunity, and the whole force is demoralized. The terrible thing about the whole business is that the question is submitted to the public so camouflaged that only the wise ones see the real issue. Imagine the roar of protest that would go up if a referendum

should be proposed on the naked issue, "Shall the laws be enforced? Answer by a cross under Yes or No." Of course such a question never should enter the political arena. The law is the shield of the poor and weak from exploitation and injustice and guards the security of all with few or many possessions, and its suspension in the ordering of our affairs should be unthinkable. To be a violator of it even secretly should be a burden of shame to be undertaken by no respecta ble person; and yet all of us are well aware of the pride which many otherwise excellent citizens take in breaking the Volstead Act.

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F course in a mayoralty campaign the question is never stated baldly as to whether the gamblers, prostitutes, and pimps shall be given free rein or have their activities restricted greatly as possible. A mayor must take an oath of office to support the laws, and there are none who want an open town who would care to declare frankly for an open season for the purveyors of vice.

There is generally some issue back of which the "open town" forces can gather. They particularly prize some catch phrase, such as "personal liberty," or some slogan which has a quality appealing to those who honestly regard themselves as liberals, or are for some reason dissatisfied, and want to register a pro. test. In this way the support is gained of many who would not deliberately abet lawlessness if they realized what they were doing.

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It is surprising how strong are the forces anxious for an "open town." In addition to the active participants there are, first of all, the owners of real estate, for which there is then far greater demand. Residential districts in that transition stage which precedes the advent of business are adapted to the activities of an "open town," and when so used pay larger rentals than could be secured for any legitimate purpose. Then there are the shopkeepers who sell to the underworld, the proprie. tors of restaurants, theaters, dance halls, and all kinds of places of amusement. Lastly, there is the great body of people whose patronage keeps business humming in that part of the town which is open.

HESE elements are powerful factors

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in any election. They know what they want and from whom they can most likely get it. Owing to the habitual indifference of the electorate, it requires only twenty-one per cent, or a trifle more, of the qualified voters to carry a municipal election. If any reader questions this statement, let him take the total population of his own town, subtract two-fifths of it from the total to allow for children and aliens, and then compare the difference with the total votes cast at a municipal election, and he will see that it is substantially correct. It is because of the indifference of the voters that the question "Shall the town be open?" is so often answered in

the affirmative. Then the police force, instead of doing its duty vigorously to the full of its ability, is committed to a policy of hands off to as great an extent as the sense of public decency will permit, but it cannot keep its hands off some kinds of crime without lessening its efficiency in all lines. With certain crime this consequence is easier to trace than in others.

Take, for example, the picking of pockets. There is good reason to believe that it is a well-organized industry. In fact, those who engage in it call their work a profession. Articles taken by experienced operators are not sold lo cally. They are shipped out of town and turned into cash at some far-distant point. When a high-class operator falls into the toils of the law, he is furnished with bail. Often this is wired from New York, and a skillful criminal lawyer appears to defend him and utilizes every possible technicality to protect his client. Some years ago a Buffalo police officer was in New York on his vacation. While talking to a New York patrolman a pickpocket joined the group and was introduced to the man from Buffalo. "What is your friend doing here?" he asked. "Oh, he has just come to get wised up," said the New York officer. "Well, then, stranger, if that is all," said the pickpocket, "come to my flat this evening on Blank Street and I will introduce you to some prominent members of the profession." So the Buffalonian accepted the invitation, thinking that a personal acquaintance with really leading members of the profession might prove of value later on. Now this Buffalo police officer had a reputation in the underworld as a man who was honest and fair, one who used every legal means to enforce the law, but who did not take any treacherous advantage. After some years he became Chief of the Buffalo Police and set out to give the city as clean an administration as possible. He had been in office only a few months when he received a message that there were three prisoners in the jail who were very anxious to see him. So he went over, and there were three of the professional pickpockets whom he had met some years before in New York. They said: "We want to apologize to you. We have made a mistake. We did not know you were Chief. We thought the town was open and that it was all right for us to operate. If we had known you were Chief, we would not have come here. Now please do not be hard on us. If you will not press the charges against us, we promise that we will get out of town at once, and, what is more, wherever we go we will peddle it through the profession that there is nothing doing in Buffalo." The Chief decided to take them at their word, and in eighteen months the picking of pockets declined from an annual rate of over six hundred to less than one hundred. Of course it is impossible to determine what amount of this reduction was due to these three pickpockets, how much to the general reputation of the administration

which must have spread abroad among the people of the underworld, and how much to better police work. What is significant is the relation between an open town and crime. It is the evident assumption on the part of the professional criminals that in an cpen town they can operate with comparative impunity, and that when a city has a police administration vigorously trying to enforce the law it is advisable to keep away.

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N a large cosmopolitan city the various foreign elements are a prolific source of lawlessness, not because they are naturally criminal, but because they have been uprooted from their own soil. At the best, only a few police officers can speak the most common foreign tongues, and with some languages it is necessary to depend upon interpreters. This is always an obstacle in the pursuit of criminals. The children of immigrants pick up English and frequently their parents do not, with the result that the youngsters feel their superiority. This helps to break down the discipline of the home and is reflected in time in the criminal records. The various nationalities present a great obstacle to the uniform enforcement of the laws. This is especially the case when the strictly American element is in the minority. Some races have customs of Sabbath observance utterly at variance with that of others. Some believe in Sunday baseball. Some do not. Some want dancing at public gatherings on Sunday or theatricals or bowling, others do not. And so it goes.

Since this is so and we have in our midst large masses of population with social ideas and customs foreign to our own, rather than try to force them through our mold by legal processes it would be better for the respect for law either to legalize or license what is not inherently wrong and trust to time, education, and social influence to weld us into a homogeneous whole with common ideals and customs. • Mr. Taft pointed out a step vital to the reduction of lawlessness when he declared in 1908: "The administration of criminal law in this country is a disgrace to our civilization. The prevalence of crime and fraud, which here are greatly in excess of that in European countries, is due largely to the failure of the law and its administration to bring criminals to justice." He added: "Felonies are bound to increase unless the criminal laws are enforced with more certainty, more uniformity, and more severity than they are now." Mr. Taft proved himself a prophet, for in the fourteen years since he uttered those words major crimes have increased by leaps and bounds.

The real cure for our lawlessness rests with the hearts and consciences of the American people. When they are convinced that disrespect for law has become such a disease in the body politic that it must be cured, the battle will be won, but until that day dawns we are doomed to present to the world a worse and worse spectacle of lawlessness.