Men-Beasts

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STRIKING tribute to the efficiency and certainty of fingerprints in the detection of criminals is afforded by the Hickman murder case. The police had a car the unknown murderer had used. They searched it almost with microscopic thoroughness for prints in vain, but at last found the clear print of a thumb on the little mirror for looking back. They identified it with a print formerly taken from Hickman. With the print was Hickman's photograph. In a few hours copies of the portrait were in the hands of police and in the newspapers, and the father of the murdered girl and others had recognized it as that of the man they had seen. The now confessed murderer had made his way from Los Angeles to Echo, Oregon, and his arrest there was due to the identification of this portrait in Seattle.

"Do you think I will get as much publicity as Leopold and Loeb?" Hickman is quoted as saying. What a comment on the way in which the criminally cruel instinct is aroused by the raw and yellow sensationalism with which the panders of publicity clothe the abnormal and the horrible!

Atrocity seems a mild word to use for the crime in which Hickman participated. The little girl who was the victim of the crime was lured from school on pretense that her father had been injured, was kept by the kidnapper, and then was killed. And in exchange for money her mutilated body was delivered to her parents. It will be of no great good to society simply to put the perpetrator or perpetrators of this crime out of the way and then forget them. Mental or moral defectives capable of such atrocious crimes ought to be discoverable before they do their irreparable damage. Society has a long way to go yet before it deals adequately and intelligently with those capable of such deeds.

As compared with the revolting Hickman case, that of Remus has almost comic aspects. This man killed his wife; was his own lawyer; pleaded insanity existing at the time of the crime, but not later; drove judge and lawyers wild by his refusal to follow legal methods;

January 4, 1928

and was acquitted by a jury who seemed to be influenced mainly by a desire to make this poor wife-killer a Christmas present of his liberty and were so ignorant that they were astonished when Remus was held for criminal insanity proceedings.

Neither of these slayers, the one of a little girl, the other of a wife, is entitled to arouse any emotion but horror and disgust.

Blue Ribbon Juries

is expected that Congress in its present session will consider the appointment of a Federal Commission to study and report as to desirable changes in the criminal law and procedure of Federal courts. Abuses specified relate to probation and parole, the management of prisons, and leniency to habitual criminals.

So far the legislation might be of the type of New York's Baumes Law. But in one other proposed method of making punishment for crime certain and soon New York has long been in advance. This is in what have been popularly called blue ribbon juries. A staff writer in the Brooklyn "Eagle," Mr. Thomas S. Rice, asserts that the recent mistrial in the Sinclair-Fall case would have been impossible if there were such a Federal jury law, as the juror whose loose talk started the trouble would never have been on the jury.

Briefly, New York's Special Jurors Law, adopted over twenty years ago, provides for a special jury in any county having a million or more population. If a United States statute is passed, probably the Federal district would serve as a unit. In New York the special jurors, selected under the direction of appellate judges, are exempt from other jury service, and they are chosen because of their being known as intelligent, substantial citizens.

Several hundred jurors are on the list. Legally they may be called for in either criminal or civil cases, but actually they are rarely called for except in important criminal cases. The law has been attacked, but has been sustained by the Court of Appeals.

Senator Norris, of Nebraska, who with Senator Walsh, of Montana, is re

ported to favor this and other Federal criminal law reforms, says, "It seems to me we should have improved methods of obtaining better jury material and better juries."

What has been going on in Washington lately confirms this mild statement; and so does the verdict of the jury in the Remus case.

S-4-What is the Lesson?

NEVITABLY, as the last hope of rescue for the victims of the S-4 disaster faded out, there followed questions whether their death might have been made avoidable, whether such tragedies are preventable in the future, whether all was done that could be done. As to the last there is no strong reason to doubt-sea and storm made the effort fruitless. As to the other two questions, the most searching inquiry and a study of the elicited facts in their widest aspects are demanded and will doubtless be made.

The scores of suggestions and criticisms published range in authorship from the lady who says that the Navy should use a magnet to raise sunken submarines to competent engineers. Among them, in addition to the two we named last week (iron loops outside submarines to which chains might be fastened to help in raising, and the making imperative of a surface convoy whenever possible), are that buoys attached outside and releasable from inside should be used; that oscillators, "the ears of a ship," should be in every submarine and naval ship to warn of other vessels— Professor Fessenden, inventor of devices used in war time, is quoted as saying that if the Paulding, with which the S-4 collided, had had this equipment, she Iwould have been warned of the S-4's presence.

Secretary Wilbur (according to a statement in the New York "Sun") remarks that submarines are "not built merely to be rescued; they are built for military purposes." This sounds flippant and has caused resentment. Secretary Wilbur cannot dissuade the country from believing that submarine sailors should be protected by every possible way not inconsistent with milita1 ends. The New York "Times" summarizes the

Secretary's view as being that "the submarine policy of the Navy had been concentrated on improvements in internal submarine construction intended to increase their safety, rather than on utilization of limited space in them for bulky safety equipment which might, or might not, be found available in an accident."

Admiral Rock's letter after the loss of the S-51 is given out by Secretary Wilbur. It argues against the efficacy and practicality of many safety devices, but thinks that new submarines built with more room might be better guarded. Of course, a submarine cannot be built in a day, but meanwhile every conceivable effort should be used to make the old ones safe. The Admiral does not seem to see this.

Here we have the same callousness that allowed the use of the airplanes called "Jennies" while better ones were being built. The death of Curtis Wheeler will not soon be forgotten.

The Dawn, Missing at Sea

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T is the irony of fate that the Dawn, chosen, it is stated, by Mrs. Grayson. as peculiarly fitted to prove that the Atlantic could be crossed in the safe and sane way, was turned back by misadventure three times once when five hundred miles at sea.

Not deterred by these failures nor by advice against undertaking a winter flight, Mrs. Grayson, with Omdal, an experienced Norwegian pilot, Goldsborough, navigator and relief pilot, and Koehler, engine expert, on December 23 left Roosevelt Field, bound, on the first leg of the flight, for Harbor Grace, Newfoundland, with strong hope of reaching England on Christmas Day.

What happened we shall probably never know. If a half-read radio message from the Dawn was rightly interpreted, the "amphibian" must have been forced down somewhere between Cape Cod and Sable Island. But for two days cruisers and other vessels scanned coast and waves in vain, while on Monday the great dirigible Los Angeles, with a much wider range of vision, had no better fortune.

Again the question is asked, Why prove what has already been proved? We know that the Atlantic can be crossed by airplane-it has been done. more than once; but we know also that the feat is not merely dangerous, but that, unless it is undertaken with the best possible combination of excellence in engine, type of plane, pilot, and at

least fairly satisfactory weather, it is extra-hazardous. The temptation to overload is strong, and may have been the underlying source of disaster. Public opinion now favors distance flying that directly leads to continuous air intercourse between countries and development thereby of commerce and friendly relations.

Mrs. Grayson, impelled by the desire to be the first woman to make a complete transatlantic voyage, had courage and persistence, and, with her crew, deserves honor.

It is now to be hoped that hereafter aspirants for transocean victories may be induced to secure in advance inspection and approval from adequate ceronautical authorities.

Mr. Hoover's Qualifications

OLITICIANS have openly recognized

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that Secretary Hoover's candidacy for the Presidential nomination is already formidable. Of course those who want to keep on the safe side of certainty by not committing themselves have not acknowledged Mr. Hoover's strength specifically; that is not the way of politicians. What they have done is to question Mr. Hoover's eligibility.

What are the Constitutional qualifications that a man must have to be eligible for the Presidency? Most Americans would say that any native American thirty-five years old is eligible. There is, however, a clause in the Constitution which most Americans, we think, ignore. It is that which says that no person shall be eligible to the office who shall not have been "fourteen years a resident within the United States." How did that clause happen to get into the Constitution, and what does it mean?

The provision regarding eligibility as it now stands in the Constitution reads:

No person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty-five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.

As Thomas James Norton points out in his compact book "The Constitution of the United States: Its Sources and Its Application," "many of foreign birth who had helped to create the United States would have been rendered ineligible had not the provision been inserted making eligible those of foreign birth

who at the time of the adoption of the Constitution were citizens of the United States." Of these, as Mr. Norton notes, seven were signers of the Constitution. Among them the foremost was Alexander Hamilton. No record, so far as we know, explains why the requirement as to residence was added; but it is plain that without such a provision a newcomer who had had no part in the Revolution or in the framing of the Government might have been eligible. With the lapse of time that has rendered obsolete the eligibility of foreign-born citizens, the provision as to residence seems to have lost significance. It remains, however, as a valid part of the Constitution.

There is no possible doubt that Mr. Hoover has been a resident in the United States for fourteen years. He was born here (in Iowa), grew up here, was educated here (taking his bachelor's degree at Stanford University).

The question concerning Mr. Hoover is possible only if the provision is interpreted as requiring of an American citizen residence for fourteen years immediately preceding the term for which he is otherwise eligible. That is stretching both language and the facts. The New York "World," whose party affiliations are opposed to Mr. Hoover's, declares the attack on Mr. Hoover is for the purpose of making him appear “a kind of expatriated person," and adds that "nothing could be further from the truth." Mr. Hoover's activities abroad both as an engineer and as a humanitarian have been the activities of an American and have redounded not merely to his own honor but to the honor of his country.

This incident is significant solely as a tribute from Mr. Hoover's political foes within and without his party to the formidable character of his candidacy.

Senator Jones, of New Mexico
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N the death of Senator A. A. Jones, of New Mexico, the Senate of the United States has lost one of the least spectacular and one of the most serviceable of its members. Senator Jones was rarely heard from the floor, but when he did speak it was with deliberation and thorough knowledge of his subject. The record of his years in the Senate is mainly the record of efficient committee work. He had been extremely active in the work of the Committee on Appropriations and the Committee on Finance, and only a little less active, if at all so, in the work of the Committee on

Education and the Committee on Public Lands and Surveys. He had made himself an authority on questions relating to alien property, veterans' problems, and internal revenue.

The son of a West Tennessee preacher, Mr. Jones began his active life as a West Tennessee school-teacher. He went to New Mexico as a teacher, but soon identified himself completely with the affairs of that State. Though he gave the greater part of his life to the practice of law, he served New Mexico in many capacities. Except as Senator, the only position that he ever held in Washington was that of First Assistant Secretary of the Interior for about a year at the beginning of the Wilson Administration.

Since Governor Dillon, of New Mexico, is a Republican, the death of Senator Jones will probably have the effect of giving the Republicans, for this session at least, the majority which, up to this time, they have lacked in the Seventieth Congress.

But his opponents, the Republicans, hardly less than his colleagues, the Democrats, will miss Jones of New Mexico in the Senate.

Airports for New York

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INCE Colonel Lindbergh called the flying-field at Mexico one of the most beautiful he had ever seen and superior to any that New York had, the metropolis and chief seaport of the United States can certainly be said to be behind the times in aviation. Indeed, New York City is much less aware of the progress made in air transportation than many an American city of moderate size. Of course, it suffers under the disadvantage of lack of open spaces near its business heart. Nevertheless it has been laggard in providing itself with adequate flying facilities.

Now a fact-finding committee, selected at the request of Secretary Hoover by the two States of New York and New Jersey, has reported recommendations for six airports in the New YorkNew Jersey metropolitan area. For this purpose it has divided this general area into six subsidiary areas. For one of the areas, what might be called the Wall Street-Brooklyn district, the committee recommends unanimously the use of Governor's Island. As those living at a distance from New York may not know, this island is a Federal military reservation lying in the upper bay close to Brooklyn and not far from the southern end of Manhattan. It has the advan

tage of being available for seaplanes as well as landplanes; but has the disadvantage of being situated so that those who land there can reach the business district of New York only by ferry. There is, however, no other place which the committee suggests for this district as even second choice.

There are two alternative sites suggested in the Jamaica Bay district, two alternative sites in Queens, two alternative sites in the Bronx, and in New Jersey two alternative sites on the Hackensack Meadows and one site near Newark Bay. Unfortunately, with respect to one of these subsidiary areas the choice of the committee is not unanimous. The Mayor of New York, Mr. Walker, apparently unwilling to assume any responsibility in the matter, has said that when the committee can agree on recommendations they can "be assured of speedy action on the part of the city of New York." When a committee of twenty-five is virtually unanimous with regard to the sites of five out of six areas, what more can the city authorities expect?

If Governor's Island is to be used for airport purposes, the United States will have to take some action; for at present Governor's Island is under the authority of the War Department and can be used in the way the committee proposes only with the consent either of the War Department or of Congress.

Dawes ought to be a competent reviewer. He was the first Director of the Budget.

The review took, largely, the form of what many will agree was a deserved attack upon Government bookkeeping and upon Comptroller-General McCarl for his failure to reform it. Bookkeeping methods in use in the Government, he said, "furnish little aid to the Executive or his agent, the Director of the Budget, in determining the relative operating efficiency and cost of the Departments. They operate also to keep Congress uninformed. The present system of Governmental bookkeeping would not be tolerated for a day in a properly conducted business enterprise."

Responsibility for this is placed squarely on the shoulders of the Comptroller-General. With the powers now in his hands, says Vice-President Dawes, "he could inaugurate a reform in the Governmental bookkeeping of the United States which would at once make it a model for the world. The changes thus far have been minor and comparatively inconsequential."

The Vice-President is not alone in believing that real efficiency in Washington would do more to save money than all of the pinching of appropriations, without efficiency, that can be done. Yale Goes Over the Top

passed the hope of completing the $20,000,000 asked for; it is already over-subscribed by $200,000, and the last word has not been said. Congratulations are due to the subscribing alumni and undergraduates, and to the finely organized body of men who carried on the drive, as well as to the University.

New York will have to make up for lost time if it is to be a great port of the air, as it is of the sea.

Uncle Sam, Bookkeeper

ICE-PRESIDENT DAWES has turned book reviewer. But, even in that capacity, his zeal flames for abolition of the cumbersome in Governmental affairs.

The book is "The National Budget System,” by W. F. Willoughby, Director of the Institute of Government Research. Of that kind of writing General

From the class of 1853 on to the class of 1927 and from students now on the rolls have come 20,000 responses to the request for $20,000,000. It is gratifying to note also that non-Yale men have contributed a tenth of the total.

Already, says President Angell, a marked improvement is seen in the morale of the teaching force, in the recognition of the facts that hereafter there will be adequate compensation, that enlarged plans for instruction are now under way, and that the future is definitely brighter and wider.

From the beginning the purpose of the Yale Fund has been for a finer, not a bigger Yale, for brains rather than for buildings. Dr. Angell restates this more formally when he says: "We can begin