Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-07-25

The modern superdetective does not
wear false whiskers, have f1ashy
badge inside his coat lapel. talk in
whispers, nor shadow his victims. He
uses very few of the tricks of the
trade attributed to supersleuths by
earlier detective fiction. His first re-
quirement, according to the Bureau
Of Investigation Of the United States
Department of Justice, Is education
in the law, which in turn must be
based on q thorough all-around edu-
cation. The third degree Is some
thing he knows not of, and would be
ashamed to use II he did. And he
gets a great deal better results than
his predecessors, but he does not
say much about them.
The United States Government en-
ploys exactly 306 such detectives in
the Bureau of Investigation, but does
not call them detectives. 1t also en-
ploys similarly quiet and capable In
vestigators in the Secret Service Of
the United States Treasury. The
Post Office Department has some In
spectors who are in effect super
detectives, although they are more
likely to be certified accountants than
strong-arm men. The prohibition
force has a large number of agents
and the narcotic force a smaller num-
of Investigation men are inclined to
look down on prohibition agents as
mere amateurs.
An Air Of Mystery.
Not many facts come to light about
the higher grade operatives of the
Federal Government, and the depart
ments for which they work encour-
age an air of mystery as a suitable
setting for their operations. Crimi-
nails are more afraid of a force they
know little about, and the psychology
of fear Is one of the elements which
always tend to betray a crook. Any
person operating outside the law fears
G. detective more than he does q po-
liceman, and fears a government
operative more than detective Of the
local force. He knows less about
such to start with, and that alone
breeds fear of their power.
The Bureau of Investigation does
not often talk about itself. Recently
It's operatives who gathered the EVIL
dence which convicted the murderers
of several rich Usage Indians in Okla
homa were accused of using third de-
gree methods and being common,
brutal policemen The Department
Of Justice issued a flat denial of this
charge, and then when the accused
slayer whose friends made the charges
was brought into court he pleaded
guilty and withdrew his statements
about the Government detectives His
only complaint about them was that
they had traced his crimes home to
him and assembled overwhelming evil
dence OF his guilt.
The Bureau of Investigation seldom
bothers to deny anything, but there
Is a pride in the Government service
which resents accusation Of crude or
brutal strong-arm methods. The De
partment Of Justice men are picked
for brains rather than Drawn, and
trained to get their results by out
thinking the crooks. The morale and
esprit de corps Of the service are very
high, and the men are both proud of
what they do and the way they do 1t.
In the Usage cases. local authorities
had failed completely to detect and
punish a series Of murders. The Fed
eral agents worked quietly for few
weeks and collected a complete chain
of evidence convicted one slayer, Sc
cured the plea of guilty from another,
and have accomplices yet to try.
Not Political Jobs. :.
During the World War the Bureau
Of Investigation added many people
to its forces and was busy hunting
down spies, and later In running down
reds and communists The whole
country was aroused over these mat
tiers and the bureau had to have Its
work more or less in the public eye.
This is not the most satisfactory way
to perform investigating work, and in
recent years the bureau has returned
to it's secret methods and Is seldom
heard of In the public prints. In the
past two years its branch offices have
been reduced from Sd to SO and its
staff from 579 to sos, but 1t is getting
better results than ever. 1t has been
freed of any political tasks, and its
men are selected without regard to
politics. More than half of the force
are qualified lawyers, and only men
with legal training are now being &C
cepted, except in special instances.
That these methods get results has
been proved. More than $4,000, 900 in
money and goods have been recovered
by this force in g year. More than
3 900 stolen automobiles have been re-
covered in the past year, under the
comparatively new Federal auto theft
law. While State authorities have
IA NJ