"When the local government unit evades its responsibility in one direction, it is started in the vicious way of disregard of law and laxity of living. The police force which is administered on the assumption that the violation of some laws may be ignored has started toward demoralization. The community which approves such administration is making dangerous concessions. There is no use disguising the fact that as a nation our attitude toward the prevention and punishment of crime needs more serious attention. I read the other day a survey which showed that in proportion to population we have eight times as many murders as Great Britain, and five times as many as France. Murder rarely goes unpunished in Britain or France; here the reverse is true. The same survey reports many times as many burglaries in parts of America as in all England; and, whereas a very high percent of burglars in England are caught and punished, in parts of our country only a very low percent are finally punished. The comparison can not fail to be disturbing. The conclusion is inescapable that laxity of administration reacts upon public opinion, causing cynicism and loss of confidence in both law and its enforcement and therefore in its observance. The failure of local government has a demoralizing effect in every direction."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Presidents of the United StatesPoliticians from MassachusettsAutobiographers from the United StatesPoliticians from VermontUnited States presidential candidates, 1932
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Imported from EN Wikiquote
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Calvin_Coolidge
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Calvin Coolidge
1872 – 1933
US-amerikanischer Politiker
402 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Calvin Coolidge →
Related Quotes
"I appeal to Amherst men to reiterate the Amherst doctrine that the man who builds a factory builds a temple, that the…"
"When a great many people are unable to find work, unemployment results."
"Our inhabitants are especially free to promote their own welfare. They are unburdened by militarism. They are not cal…"
"The history of government on this earth has been almost entirely a history of the rule of force held in the hands of …"
"The evidence of this is all about us, in our wealth, our educational facilities, our charities, our religious institu…"
"There are only two main theories of government in the world. One rests on righteousness, the other rests on force. On…"
"Yet Americans are not visionary, they are not sentimentalists. They want idealism, but they want it to be practical, …"
"This is the main thought which your presence here brings to my mind. Let us maintain all the high ideals which have b…"
"We Americans are idealists. We are willing to follow the truth solely because it is the truth. We put our main emphas…"
""Mr. Coolidge was a real conservative, probably the equal of Benjamin Harrison," said Herbert Hoover, who was frequen…"