Evening star., 1926-09-17

been taken in these States to deal
with the bank crime problem.
! The old-time vigilante system OF
| frontier days has been reincarnated.
In 1921 the Iowa Bankers Assocfa-
! ton adopted the vigilante system,
! organized armed posses or cftizens,
| trained them and set out to crush
/ the wholesale attacks on banks. Ine
banks of Illinois were experiencing
an increase Of $6 thousand on Gay
light hold-up insurance rates. The
| Iowa experiment saved this sum 10
the bankers Of that State.
Vigilante Plan Success.
! The success of the experiment LED
| to its adoption in Illinois, Indiana,
| Kansas. Minnesota, Oklahoma, WIS
consin and California, in all of which
there are now vigilantes combating
the bank criminal. In 1920 there
were Sc criminal attacks in Iowa. IN
| 1924 there were attacks; In l92o
! the loss by hold-ups was $25s,ooV. IN
| 1924 it had dropped to $2,60O.
Combined with the vigilantes ana
| the work of the association Is sys-
| tenn of rewards designed TO discour-
age criminals from bank attacks. IN
| cook County. which includes Chicago,
| the bankers have offered $1,0Oo re
ward for the arrest of bank Danult.
| IF the bandit is brought in dead the
| reward is $1,000. The same reward Is
| $4,000. The same reward is ol1ereo
| in other States in the Mississippi Val
| lev. The Buffalo Clearing House AS
sociation offers $4,000. ,
! Along with other business and legal
representatives interviewed by the
writer. Mr.. Baum urged various re-
forms of the legal system. all designed
to tighten the law against the crlm-
inal and make escape from punish
| ment less easy. The recommenda-
lions of the new criminal laws passed
by the last New York Legislature
were supported by the association.
Hotels Plan Protection.
Amy permanent solution of the
crime problem" said Mr.. Baum, de
| pends on reform OF the legal system.
! the removal of politics from the
courts and the police forces, and per
haps the mental treatment of Grim
| inals. But if all business interests 1oi-
lowed our lead, immediate improve
ments could be effected.
THE hotel owners are now con
templating national protective
movement similar to ours. II they,
along with the national .organ1Za-
tons of wholesalers, retailers, jewel
ers, furriers. manufacturers and oth-
| ers, would do so we would soon drive
| the criminal into a corner and restore
| a. normal condition in which the legal
system could easily handle such un-
avoidable crime as might persist
| Statistics Needed.
| Dr. Frederick Hoffman. rhoSe .c0n'rt-
| button TO the crime SYMPOSIUM 1oH2nMs'
re con$H!ti1g sta,sst'c'Gn az OF M tee h s'u
,ss'Smsdfsa ties and erine cond!tio@s 0e"sraliy.
1.-THE most urgent present need is
for the establishment of system OF
Federal judicial statistics under the
direction of the Director or the Cen
sus," said DR.. Hoffman in discussing
the crime situation with the Writer.
| DR.. Hoffman has been collecting
statistics on homicides, suicides and
other crimes of violence for the past
| ID years The material he has gath
| cred covers killings in this coun-
try and Europe for as far back
i as 1882. His analysis, published IN
an earlier article, showed that the
| homicide rate in this country last
wear was 10 per 100000 Inhabitants
as opposed to 81 for 1900, an increase
Of almost 100 per cent.
'The only way clearly TO eStApiisl'
the true state of facts regarding
crime" said DR.. Hoffman, lis by an
organized effort at gathering statls
tics On different occasions ! have
presented international data to EN-
phasize the fact that the American
| murder record is the worst among
modern civilized nations. The mrs.
step in improving the situation Is tf
find out what the situation really is
Detection More Difficult.
From such fragmentary inforna
ton as is available it seems to ADM
Of no question of doubt that hold-ups
burglaries and arson are all 1ncreas
ing and becoming more daring in thell
effrontery, with every evidence o
! skillful organization. Crimes are be
coming more subtle and in many case:
detection is becoming more difficult
Homicides are frequently obscured II
such a manner as to leave no alter
native but to classify them as e1the
accidents or suicides"
In discussing the matter of law en-
forcement, DR.. Hoffman suggested
that "the overemphasis which ha
been placed upon law enforcement II
prohibition has led to reduction OF ef
ficiency in the enforcement of Law