Broadalbin High School - Kennyetto Kronicle Yearbook (Broadalbin, NY)

Page 25 text:

The Immrgrant portIon of our populatlon con trlbutes a large percentage of the lawbreakers Frrst of all they are by nature very passIonate and excrt able They herd together In certaIn sectlons of our CIIICS and form communItIes wIth theIr own languages schools newspapers and churches They know nothmg of our laws customs or Ideals They are told that Amenca IS the land of lIberty whrch accordrng to thelr Interpretatron means that every one IS free to do as he pleases There are the dance halls the pool rooms and gamblmg places whIch are frequented at the same tIme by both ImpressIonable youths and experIenced crImIn als where much of the lawbreaker s techmque IS Im parted to the young hero worshrpper Heredrty seems to have lrttle to do wIth makmg a man cnmrnal or honest but sad to say many people are born feeble mrnded or Insane There are twenty two krnds or grades of Insanrty and many sub-dIvIsIons under them but that form known as dementra praecox has the largest toll and produces the most murders and suIcIdes Smce there seem to be no dehnrte symptoms of thIs drsease there are many manracs at large who are dangerous to theIr communItIes The percentage of InsanIty In the total populatlon IS Increasmg yearly qulte In proportlon to the Increase In Cflme ln recent years In several court cases the defendant has pleaded temporary Insanrty as an Incentrve to the crrme Another type whrch IS more to be pltlCd than censored IS the weak undecrded IndIvIdual If a man has not adopted a dCClSlVC attItude as to whether or not he wIll remarn wIthIn the bounds of the law he wIll sooner or later hnd that someone has decrcled for hIm and enmeshed hIm In a trap from whrch he cannot escape The Church forbrds both stealrng and man slaughter But relIgIon today seems to be out of-date and unrmportant Probably If we were more relIgIous we would have less crrme and yet many notorrous thIeves pray before dorng a Job because they clarm It brIngs them good luck More Important perhaps IS the wrdespread lack of respect for the law throughout the country There are so many some of whrch are qurte unfalr that a portron of them IS not even known to the publrc A a prrsoner once sard More law more crIme more rules more vIolatIons And It seems that unless a law drrectly concerns the welfare of the average CIIIZCD It IS very apt to be vrolated l 23 The World War IS very often presented as a cause of crIme When our men were released from servrce abroad they returned to Amerrca and trled to resume theIr normal lIves and actIvItIes Bu they had gone through hectrc months of actIon ad venture danger and suspense wIth the turmorl and excrtement always around them and the unknown facrng them just ahead They found lt hard to settle down to qulet routme For many there was no sort of employment Naturally they took to Cflme as the only way to keep from starvIng Also It could well furnrsh the excitement they craved Bootleggrng proved to be the most profitable pursuIt and so they turned to It whole heartedly PYOhlbltlOH the Noble Experlment Introduced Into the Amerrcan vocabulary many new expressions such as bootleggIng speakeasres roadhouses hI Jack ng and racketeerrng From the begrn nrng everyone seemed to resent lt and logrcally If no one approves of a law no one wIll enforce It People contmued to drmk as much as and more than prevrously ThlS In Itself was lawbreakmg But brrbmg publIc OHICIEIIS and usmg gunhre to escape the law presented a strll more senous aspect Bootleggmg was an Ideal occupahon as far as qulck and easy money was concerned and those Involved were wIll formed gangs for protectlon and were Swlfl to Cllmlnale any obstacle In therr way ln the wars be tween rIval gangs Innocent bystanders became the vIctIms of machme guns and Joy rrdes These great bootleggers and for that matter other vastly successful law breakers were wldely publIcIzed From coast to coast In screammg black headlrnes the newspapers proclarmed thelr latest feats ID luIId detarl They were grven more attentIon than famous celebrItIes and those who were bullders In stead of destroyers of socrety Thrs notorrety pleased ther sense of vanrty and Insprred them to strIve to reach greater herghts In the realm of yellow journal Ism Men llke Al Capone and Legs Dramond were ld0llZCd l-lNl'llS publrcrty of methods used by experxenced crImInals gave Ideas to the novrces Many crImInals have confessed that mo t of therr Ideas were taken from the movres and newspaper accounts of other crlmes Pumshmenl Under the old yall system the plan of actron was not to reform the Cflmlnal and Induce hIm to become law abrdmg but merely to pumsh hIm for the wrong Please lurn to Pa,.e Rr v l ' ' . . . I l Y - - , - I y 1 7 ' . . . , q ' - . . . U ' . ,, . If ' 'Y . - ll ' ,I if ' If if ,I ' ' . 1 s 1 - . .. - 1 , . - - - - Q i 1 v - I 5 Y 1 ' ' . .I . . . . . , ' ' - . . . ' . Ing to go great lengths to protect their interests. They o 1. . I I I 1 I - . . C 7 7 o 1 s 1 Qs- - , u E - E . , . . . ' . ' - vs ' u n u n ' ' ' 45' 7, ' I - . . . , . . . V . . S I I 6. p . o q n a 1 Q Y ' ' ' ' . . Q . .

Page 24 text:

SALUTATORY It was the rmmortal Shakespeare who wrote that the menace to SOClEly and enemy of all crvlllzatlon All the world s a stage And all the men and women merely players They have thexr exlts and thelr entrances And so tomght we make our tearful exrt from this seat of learnmg and our hopeful entrance into the school of lrfe And while we play our one allotted hour upon the stage to me has been glven the honor of welcoming you to share wlth us our last publrc appearance For we feel that you all belong here It rs through your encouragement and assistance that we have anved where we are you the Board of Educatlon the Faculty our parents friends and fellow students and we cannot find adequate expres sron of our appreclatlon God wove a web of lovelmess Of clouds and stars and brrds But made not anythmg at all So beautiful as words t s wlth these words that I shall have to at tempt to welcome you and to express our gratltude for your presence and kmd Interest This evenlng our drsturbmg that lt would be drffrcult to glve proper ut terance to our thoughts That rs why I should find lt almost lmPOSSlblC to greet you with half the fervor with which your attendance fllls us I hnd that I have no words which could be expresslve of our emotlons at havmg you wrth us on thus occasion S the only beauty rn the words whrch we address to you tonight must he rn our srmpllcrty and smcerlty of purpose Perhaps we shall make mlstakes and fall to speak as eloquently as we should wish but we shall stnve to do our very best and to wrtness these endeavors we bud you a most heartfelt welcome Mlss SONYA T SIROTICK CRIME AND CRIMINALS loday there rs a great problem which occupies the mmds of the Amerlcan people and demands to be solved a problem which IQ vltal momentous and very expensive lt IS a welghty matter which an nually costs us approxlmately thirteen brllron dollars and countless hundreds of lrves It IS concerned w1th I 22 crrme and crrmlnals Crime IS the name by which an offense agamst establrshed law rs called It may be an omlsslon of a duty commanded or the commlsslon of an act forbidden by publrc statute and rs punlshable by law lhe crrmmal rs the mdlvldual who rs gurlty of such an act Causes of Crrme Crlmmologrsts cannot seem to agree on any one factor as the cause of crrme Many clalm that there has been a great cnme wave ever slnce and because of the World War and Prohrbrtron But the law lessness which rs sweeping the country can hardly be considered a sudden wave lt rs on the contrary a trde of wrongdomg whlch has been rrslng steadily for years Scarcely anyone wlll deny that environment and heredity are decrsrve factors m determlnmg the lndl vxduals conduct and character Many traits are transmissible from one generatlon to another but cnm mal tendencres are very seldom lf ever hereditary Envrronment on the other hand seems to play a large part rn the makmg or breaklng of a man Bad home and commumty lrfe are ln a large measure responsrble for a man s deterroratlon Chll dren whose parents have been unable to correct hablts of defiance and drsobedlence at home seldom pay attentlon to any law Others have never been taught nght from wrong The slums rn the large crtles are one great source of crrme One of the problems we flnd here rs the large famllles Often the father does not support hrs dependents because of unemployment low wages or drmlung and gamblmg Driven by dare want and hunger the chrldren are prompted to steal Even rf they lack the courage to do this on thexr own lnltra trve they may fall an easy prey to the gangs where they become the tools of vlcrous mmds and soon flnd rt rmpos rble to abandon thelr llfe of crrme Here too because of the crowded condrtrons every man has easy access to his nelghbor s property lhe vnctrm of the robbery wxll not remain unavenged and funds taklnv matters m hrs own hands preferable to xsartmg for the slow moving and meffectrve wheels of Justrce to tum 1 . . . , . U ' ' U ' - , - . 2 a 1 . 3 . I U . .. . . . . .- ' . , . I 1 - . . . ' . . , . . . . . , , i feelings, are so intense and varied, so profound and , ' , , ' ' . , . . . o Q I l , . . . . . ' 0 , . I I . U Q ' ' ca v 1 ' . '

Page 26 text:

V LEDICTQRY THE STOCK EXCHANGE The Origin and Evolulron of the Stock Exchange The organization of the stock exchange has been accomplished rn comparatively recent trmes but they are rn reality an outffrowth of many centurres of con tant creation and expansron rn all types of markets lo establish markets rs one of the most ancrent and fundamental rnstmcts of crvrlrzatron The ruins of the temples of ancient Egypt show us the fisherman the weaver the farmer and the metal worker barter ing therr several products long before currency was mvented The Dark ages drd not permit any develop- ment along these lines but the succeeding Middle Ages brought the medieval fairs from whrch modern stock exchange practices rn many cases can be traced The earliest and srmplrst markets were formed by the congregation rn one place of buyers and sellers driven together by economic necessities of trade A first these markets dealt rn all kinds of goods but as communication became easier populatlon greater and the volume of tradrnv larger a process of specralrza tion began The markets whrch had been held rn the open streets gradually began to acquire buildings or exchanges rn which to carry on therr business Ais the volume of busrne s increased a method of transfering goods bv w rrtten agreements was devise to avoid the bringing into the market of every rndrvrd ual obyect to be sold lhrs system brought about the organization of stock exchanges for the effrcrent an economical transfer of goods There are over 200 stock exchanges rn the world today of varymg size and degrees of organization lhey have come to play an important part rn the business world and any further developments would doubtlessly be decidedly beneficial The Nen Yorlg Stoclg Exchange The New X ork Stock Exchange rs a wealthy as socratlon governed by a committee whrch consists of three officers and forty members Persons attam membership by electron or by transfer from a member who has dred or resigned A member who rs ad mrtted by transfer rs obliged to pay an rnrtratron I 24 fee of S2 000 ln addrtron to this he pays a sum to the transferor for his seat rn the house he amount of whrch rs a matter of private adjustment as much as S140 000 has been pard for a seat when business was active but when rt rs quret the price rs consrderably less lhe gratuity fund rs an interesting provrsron of Exchange It rs an arranvement for providing the families of deceased members Every mem on electron pays I0 to this fund When a mem dres all other members are assessed S10 and the e o er er Qtock Exchanve grves S10 000 to the family of the deceased In order to enable all members to feel secure that no business has been done except wrthrn an official period durrnv which they are prepared to watch the market no transactions are allowed before or after certain hours The Exchange burldrng rs situated rn Wall Street and the Exchange rtself rs sometimes known as Wall Street Thrs burldrng rs often the scene of grgantrc speculative movements and enormous sums are won and lost rn these transactions A huge investment busrness too or at any rate what rs rntended to be investment business rs done rn Wall Street Ere quently the purchaser finds that rnstead of an rnvest ment he has acquired a speculative artrcle but this rs unavoidable rn a country whose wealth must b exploited rn new methods the outcome of which rs usually uncertain Wlral Does tht Public Know About the Exchange J Probably few persons outside of the stock broker s offrce fully understand the detarls of the game of fortune making rn the stock market Some have suc ceded rn therr dealrn s Others have been less for tunate lqach one ha hrs own vrew of the Exchange lhere are many unhapprly who rgnorantly and fo lrhly abuse the facrlrtles provided by the Ex chanffe lhese are people who approach the market rn a ffamblmff sprrrt and who know nothing of its purpose and are incapable of understanding the mighty Influences which control It A few may be lucky but the majority are unsuccessful lhe latter say V ' h K . .. . ,., t 1 ' ' ' . i , l . .. .1 , i i , ,D ' - ' . Y Q . V . . . Q i ' i i ,. . . V . l - N Y th D . ' ,, ' ' - , - f r . - . . . 5 ' V s . s LJ no ' , I , . I . q . D . s ' R . - 9 ' s . s Q 1 s 9 . . . V H 5 s ' ,, . . . . . . CI YU ' A ' ' I 5. g - I - Sometimes restrictions of membership were imposed. , ' ' ' .' , , . ' S ' , t ' . ' . ' ' ' , ' ' g ' i d ' . . . .- i H ' .V . . I Y Q . . . C D I , I - . L s '. ' ' ' . ' y I 1 - A Q 7 ' . A S s - - , - ' ' :- f- 5 f W - t i I , ' I 'i D . T : ' . ' A ' ' ll' ' ' ' 1 A l r - '