Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-07-24

De Autremont brothers had been
taken, and later, that they had con-
fessed to holding up the Southern Pa
cifc train in the fastness OF the SIS
kiyou Mountains Of southern oregon,
and killing three trainmen and the
mail clerk-a crime which netted not
a penny.
The case, unsolved, had been a con.
slant irritant; Postmaster General
New characterized it as 1.-The only
blot" on the record of the service.
Not in criticism had the Postmaster
General made this remark, for it SIM
plv reflected the attitude of the in
spectors themselves.
Now all that was over: there was an
addition to the closed files of the
chief inspectors office, and the usually
taciturn Miller. justly prideful in the
accomplishment. was drawn into
discussion of the department with
which he has long been associated,
and of the methods that are fol-
lowed by the little band that is forced
at times to turn, perhaps, from such
a prosaic task as measuring new
rural route to pitting their lives
against cruel. relentless foes to guar
antee the integrity Of Uncle Sam s
mail system. with it's daily burden OF
hundreds of millions of dollars.
Generally successful?' he re-
sponded to query. Yes, the inspec'
tors are"
"Why?"
First and foremost, because the In
spector always proceeds on the prem
Use that there is a weak link in every
crime that is committed. 1t is an old
and trite saying that there is no per-
feet crime and that is as true today
as when it was first said. | don't care
what pains are taken by the criminal
to hide his tracks, nor how smart he
is--or thinks he is--he is going to
make one mistake, and when you find
that, you're on the right trail. That is
the inspectors duty--to find that mis-
lakeland he goes on the assumption
that sooner or later that mistake is
going to make itself evident.
X X X X
HNEXT comes the question of
morale. There is no place /
know of where the spirit is better than
among the inspectors. There are two
main reasons for this See that man
out there as you came inland he
pointed toward the outer office, where
his assistant. Cyrus Zimmerman, sat
working-well, he's been around a
long time; no telling on how many
cases he's worked, but he's yet to see
the ugly form of influence permitted
to shield a criminal: nor have any of
the rest of us. You cannot build
morale in an establishment of this sort
if the men think that at any time they
may be forced to relax their efforts, or
even, perhaps, drop case cold, be-
cause some one has friend
This same thing holds good in the
courts. Very often, we are not forced
to carry a case into the court, strictly
speaking. l mean by that, that the
case is letter perfect-the prisoner
makes a confession, goes into court
and pleads guilty, and takes his sem
tence. But when an inspector does
have to fight for a conviction, he
knows that, in the Federal courts, he
is going to see justice administered;
that no crook is going to escape
through some technicality, or because
Of lax administration, and that knowl-
edge also tends greatly to strengthen
the morale of the service
This is not intended as a knock at
State courts, but is simply a plain
statement Of facts. Your confirmed
criminal will steer clear of Federal
crimes, because he fears the sureness
and severity of the punishment
Here's an example; A few months
ago young fellow held up a mail
truck, got more than $4,000 that
was en- route to a depot for shipment,
and kidnapped the messenger and made
him drive him away in a waiting
automobile.
"A screw in the clutch of his auto.
mobile worked loose. the car refused
to take a grade. and, after the bandit
had forced the mail messenger to help
him roll the car into a garage, the
latter, regaining his nerve, ran from
the place screaming. The bandit
hastily gathering up the sacked
money, also left hurriedly. He stole
another car to get out of town; killed