THE FEAR CAMPAIGN

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increasing population into account, was up 15.3%. For murder, the increase has been 8.9%; for burglary, 14.6%. But one sympton of how haphazardly the U.S. has dealt with lawlessness is that, despite these seemingly precise figures, there is no certain knowledge of just how badly off the country is. Statistics have been kept only since 1930, and their basis—reports of known offenses submitted to the FBI by local authorities—is seriously flawed. In some categories, accurate comparisons between eras and areas are impossible because methods of collecting data have changed and local police departments vary in efficiency and candor.

There are other quirks as well. For decades, the FBI has used a $50 minimum in defining larcenies that make up an important part of its crime index. Obviously, the shrinking value of the dollar changes the meaning of those figures; partly as a result, larceny has been the fastest-growing category on the crime index recently. Another example: for as long as anyone has kept track, youths from the mid-teens to early 20s have committed the largest number of offenses in all categories. During the '60s, the post-World War II baby crop came of criminal age. The fact that there are proportionately more Negroes than whites in the age group 15 to 24 explains at least in small part the higher arrest rate among Negroes.

Negroes do, in fact, account for more violent crimes in the cities than do whites; the poor usually do. Although Negroes make up 11% of the U.S. population, black arrests for murder last yea"r numbered 4,883, compared with 3,200 for whites. The overwhelming majority of victims of violent crime are set upon by members of their own race. That is why Negroes suffer far more from lawlessness of almost every sort than do whites. It explains why 2,000 residents of Watts recently petitioned their council representatives for better police protection. James Jones, Negro owner of a Washington steak house, is not alone in lamenting: "There are a lot of black fools in this world. If they are the chief violators of the law, then they are the ones who ought to be punished."

The Negro's exposure to black criminals makes him all the more indignant over the racial connotations of law-and-order rhetoric. William V. Patrick, head of New Detroit, a peace-keeping committee formed after the riot, protests: "It's a horrible phrase, a euphemism for racial repression. First you had slavery. Then you had Jim Crow laws. Then it was called 'separate but equal.' Now it is called 'law and order.' "

Even on the basis of the FBI figures, the notion that a virus of violence has suddenly infected a peaceful society is simply not true. During the 1950s, when reporting of offenses was less comprehensive than in the computerized '60s, the FBI reported a 66% increase in crime, taking population growth into consideration. The comparable figure for the '60s so far is 71%. While Nixon and Wallace charge that Supreme Court decisions bearing on eliciting confessions and the suspect's right to counsel have hindered law enforcement, studies conducted by the Los Angeles district attorney's office, the Yale Law Review and the Georgetown University Law Center show that this is not so.

What the Candidates Say

For the moment, much of the campaign talk is only adding to public