New Britain herald., 1922-12-07
Atty. Gen. in Annual Re- port, Comments on Rum Running-Other Phases
 of Dept. of Justice Work.

Washington. Dec. "A new basit
 judicial organization. to meet tho augmented work which has resulted
 from "the ever-increasing complexit,
 of government" was suggested by At.
 torney General Daugherty in his an.
 nual report. made public here today
 on the operations of the Department
 of Justice. Nothing that 6o,722 crim
 inal cases were begun in the last
 fiscal year. the report declared the
 point was being approached where a
 revamping of the machinery used in this work is inevitable"
 Adoption of somA Amethod by which the government could retain attorneys who have special knowledge of gov ernment matters in additio to legal training was one of the several slig- sestions advanced by Mr. Daugherty. The recently enacted legislation pro- yiding additional judges should help the situation. he said, but probably will not entirely remedy it.
 The failure of local self-govern- ment in parts Of the country" the re- port said, results in the insistence of the citizens of those communities that the Federal government perform that Junction in which the local govern ment has failed, and frequently in matters where there is concurrent between the state ana federal government it is difficult to establish policy as to the extent to which the federal government should take Jurisdiction. This is peculiarly true offenses arising under the fed eral reserve act, the narcotic act, the Volstead Act, and the postal frauds act. There has been an effort on the part of this division during this fiscal year to have the United States at- torneys and the state prosecuting at torneys meet from time to time for the purpose of cooperation. Evi- dence of the benefits of these meetings is overwhelming.
 The existing procedure for the re- moval of a defendant to the iurisdic- tion where the crime was committed is unduly cumbersome and results in lnjustified delay and injustice. Under such procedure the trial is frequently delayed from one to two years
 Return of Seized Property
 Announcement was made in the re- port of the desire of the department o return or to recommend for return" Ill property seized under the Trading with the Enemy Act in cases where ! he owners come within 'the enabling section Paragraph 9" of the act.
 The question in almost all of these :ases." Mir. Daugherty reported, "is ,ither of title or of citizenship. For instance, the Alien Property Custo- Han has seized and now holds the l of estates, which are quite | by reason of the rights if United States citizens, alleged to lave been acquired subsequent to the | var. Oftentimes the question becomes me of the validity of an assignment IT the acquisition of title prior to the var, and in this connection it is ex- eedingly difficult at times to. dis inguish between the pre-war owner- hip of a claimant and simple claim f indebtedness, and it is then neces- ary to have the question submitted ) the courts.
 Tt has also been necessary to send representatives, of the department to urope to secure evidence from thos lmiliar with certain cases. This evil ence was material in the considera- on and trial of these cases and in the etermination of certain claims, so lat fair and impartial hearing ,uld be given to litigants and claim nts. Tn fact. it was usually at the quest of litigarts and claimants that { ese representatives were sent abroad