The Washington herald., 1921-08-07

every citizen nlcd away
In line with the question Of uni
versaI nngerprinting. members of
the International Association for
Identification, which is composed
of fingerprint experts from all over
the country, plan to organize a
national bureau to be located in
Washington, which will contain the
hngerprints of every resident in the
United States
Working in conjunction with the
tnational bureau, state bureaus will
be organized in every State in the
country as well as the bureaus in
the large cities which are now in
operation. With the adoption of
Universal fingerprinting, such a
thing as a person being unidenti-
ned in case of accident or death
is held highly improbable.
DY way of illustration, scores of
X persons are taken suddenly i'll
daily on the streets in various
cities throughout the country and
die before medical attention can be
summoned. With the arrival Of the
police search is made of their cloth
ing, and IL such a search fails to
bring forth a card or other means
Of Identification. the body is taken
to the morgue, held for several
DAYS, and then when not claimed Is
inferred in an unmarked grave in
Potter's field.
Under the proposed system when
a person falls in the street and
search Of the clothing fails to
bring forth any means Of identifica-
ton, the hngerprints will imme-
diately be taken and classified If
the city Identification bureau fails
to have the print, copy will be
sent to the State bureau, and II
that bureau fails to have the print
in its files, it will be forwarded
to the national bureau where the
identification will be made.
Such a system, the fngerprint
experts point out, would also read
ily establish the identity Of the
aphasia victim, found wandering
aimIessIy. or the lost boy. whose
desire to see the world led him away
from home. With the adoption of
universal finger printing. the au-
thorities of the national bureau
would be notified as soon as the
boy disappeared. Every lad who
fell into the custody of the police
authorities along the road would be
fngerprinted and his prints sent
to the bureau. Within a few days,
the Identification men believe. the
boy would be restored to his family.
EMBERS OF the Identification
N Association declare that
there were 10000 unknown
dead in the United States last year.
This fact is one of their strongest
arguments for universal finger
printing.
At the last convention of the In
ternationaI Association for Iden-
tification held in Minneapolis, last
August. the association went on
record unanimously in favor OF uni
ver=sI iagsrprinting.
The aim of the Identification ex-
perts is clearly outlined in the res
olution, which reads in part:
.This association is In favor of
establishing n county bureau of
Identification Mt the Court House
I'm each county and n state bureau
IL the capital Of each State and n
national bureau mt Washington.
ID. c.
sThese several and various bu-
reaus of identihcation shall I'm NO
nected with any criminal bureau OF
Identification now In existence or
which may come into existence at
any later date.
Inl8 4ssoCiaNton ~ ~ AaNOE OI
hngerprintinE each and every per
son OF 9 years of age and over
within these United states of Amer
lea, and that three copies OF each
Of these sets Of prints be mades
one to be deposited at the Court
House of each county wherein the
subject resides; one at the State
bureau In the capital OF that par
tIeuIar state and the third to be de-
posted I'm the National Bureau at
washington, ID. c."
Washington has already been Sc
lected as the city in which the ma
tional bureau is to be located. Tor
this city is regarded as the center
of fingerprint activities by reason
of the fact that two of the largest
bureaus are located
here, namely the Identification bu-
reaus OF the War Department and
Navy Department ,-
1t is probable that several Con-
sressmen win be asked to attend
the sessions Of the identiaeation
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