Evening star., 1925-12-09
b|GGERPENA[T|ES
IN DRY LAW ASKED
Justice Department Report
Would Change Rules on
MarShaPs Fees.

Attorney General Sargent and his
assistants in the annual report of the
Department of Justice to Congress
make numerous recommendations for
improvement in the administration of
law, including one pertaining to mar
Shal'S fees in the District of Columbia.
AS a result hundreds of refund
checks for small amounts must be
drawn each quarter. the required
amount of additional bookkeeping
must be done and the Government
is put TO the expense of paying for
the time and transportation OF
deputies i'll their unsuccessful efforts
to obtain service
Declines to Amend Rule.
I'm view of the provision OF the
District code which stipulates that the
fee charged by the marshal shall be
for the service of any warrant etc.
the court declines to amend it's rule
above referred to unless the law shall
be amended. 1t is, therefore. recon-
mended that the law tsection l112,
code of the District OF Columbia) be
so amended as to allow the marshal
fee for making return on process
rather than for service Of same"
Mrs. Mabel Walker Wiliehra ndt. the
Assistant Attorney General in charge
Of prohibition enforcement, asked for
heavier penalties for prohibition law
violators.
The small penalties provided by
the national prohibition act" wrote
Mrs. Wilebran ndt, are increa Singly
deplored by United States attorneys,
judges and other officials charged with
duties and conversant with conditions
relating to law enforcement. They
are disprupOrtionate to the penalties
imposed for violation Of other Fed
eral laws"
She declared that. despite an in
Sistent effort to expedite action in
prohibition cases, the number of such
cases pending increased from 22.3S0
On June 80, 1924. to 25,33i on the
same date in 1925.
1T is quite apparent that the Fed
eral judicial machinery has reached
its peak in the disposition of cases"
said Mrs. Willehrandt's report.
Havana Rum Source
In her discussion Of rum smuggling
the Assistant Attorney General declar
ed that Havana, Cuba, is probably
now the main supply point on the At
iantic side for internationals liquor
smugglers. The practical result of
the new rum treaties, she said had
been to move rum row further out
from American shores.
During the fiscal year (ending with
last June) and for a reasonable period
of time prior thereto" she continued.
lit may he conservati lively stated that
over 900 foreign vessels have been en-
gagged from time TO time in the liquor
smuggling trade and the great ma
jority Of these vessels have been
British
Of the 80 foreign vessels seized dur
ing the year. % were British. 4
French, Honduran, , Norwegian,
Italian, l Cuban and I Costa Rican.
Seizures of American craft totaled
753.
Mrs. Willebrandt asked for legisla
ton giving more explicit authority to
seize small boats operating in viola
ton of the law. and defining more
accurately the boundary lines be-
tween judicial circuits along shore, so
as to settle troublesome jurisdictional
questions.
Salary Increases.
Mr.. Sargent renewed the recon-
mendation of his predecessor for sub
stantial increases in the salaries of
United States attorneys and their as
.,
law be amended to make concealment
Of assets more difficult and to remove
the present stipulation that criminal
proceedings under the bankruptcy act
must be brought within a year; pro-
posed that Congress authorize re-
moval to the Federal courts of actions
begun in State courts against Federal
agents; advocated authorization for
grand juries to sit during three sue
ceeding terms of court and to have
stenographers present; and renewed
the plea of previous administrations
that Congress correct an anomaly of
law which now makes it no Federal
criminal offense to kill a Federal
agent.
The antitrust section Of the de-
partment, under William J. Donovan,
assistant to the Attorney General. re-
ported that during the fiscal year end
ing last June Is antitrust cases were
disposed of and Is instituted. OF the
Is that passed into history II We're
dropped or resulted in decisions ad-
verse to the Government, were set
tied by consent DEGREES and in l the
courts denied a motion to dismiss and
entered a final decree. Out Of S.577
criminal cases of six outsta nding
slassifications there We're 8.254 con-
.ictions and only 323 acquittals.
Federal prisoners at the end of last
June numbered S,51S, compared to
1867 a year previous. The prison sec
tions pointed out the Federal peniten-
tiaries still were very badly over
crowded.