Is The Police Force
in Wilson Asleep?
By J. Roy Wilkerson,
Assistant Welfare Officer
About six weeks ago it was my pleasure to become connected
with and hence interested in the Welfare Work of Wilson and Wilson county. One
of the first duties which confronted me in this work was that of boys from 8 to
14 years of age smoking cigarettes. The principals of the schools reported that
every day it was necessary to take away cigarettes from boys of these ages, and
with this as a background I began a campaign on the boy cigarette smokers of
this town. The first thing to do, of course, to help eradicate the evil was to
strike at the root of it; namely, get the persons who are selling cigarettes
contrary to law to these boys. This was done and as a result the school fund
was increased some by fines imposed by Mayor Hill.
But yet the evil of boys smoking goes on. So the next step
after getting the cigarette dealers informed as to the law is to get the boy in
person and see if there is not some way in which he can be helped. And here is
where our efficient police force of Wilson comes in.
The cigarette law as amended by the legislature of 1905
specifies that it shall be the duty of every police officer in the State of
North Carolina upon knowledge or information that any minor under the age of 17
years is or has been smoking any cigarette to inquire of any such minor the
names of the person or persons who sold and gave such cigarette or aided and
abetted any person or persons in giving or selling any cigarettes, or the
substance from which such cigarettes were made, to such minor as are forbidden
by this section and the fore-going section of the Revisal of 1905; upon
receiving this information from any such minor, the said officer shall
forthwith cause a warrant to be issued for any person or persons giving or
selling or aiding or abetting any person giving or selling any cigarette or
substance out of which such cigarettes were made, and have all such persons
dealt with as the law directs. Any such minor who shall refuse or fail to give
to any such officer, upon inquiring, the names of all persons selling or giving
him such cigarettes or substance out of which same was made, shall be guilty of
a misdemeanor.
And so about a week ago I furnished the police force of this
town with a list of veteran boy smokers, giving their exact name, residence,
age, and parent’s name, telling them at the same time I stood in readiness to
prove that all these boys used cigarettes. And up to the present time I have
not heard anything from them. Are they waiting for the spirit to move them
before they take some action, or until the weather becomes cooler? Did they
take it for granted that I turned in this list of names just for the fun of it,
or because there was nothing else to do?
No, I turned it in because I wanted action and they surely
have had time enough to act in some way instead of laying the list aside and
entirely forgetting and neglecting a duty which they are employed to do.
Something must be done and done quickly. Backed by the very
mothers of the boys who use cigarettes, we are going to reduce this evil to a much
lower standard than it now is. This may seem that we are going to impose a few
hardships upon the fathers and mothers of these boys, but if we do this cannot
be helped. And if the officers of the law are careless and negligent in their assistance,
it might be well to inform them that they are still working for the public and
that the public is going to demand just returns for their salaries.
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