Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1928-02-21
Striking at the Root of Crime

Newton ID. Baker, acting chairman Of the National
Crime Commission. in a recent survey Of crime condi-
tions, urges the passage by congress Of a bill designed
to expedite the prosecution of receivers of stolen
goods.
The commissions survey shows that the losses to
merchants throughout the country from thefts amounts
TO ssoo.ooo 900 annually. and that the rate Of increase
has been so enormous that congress can no longer re-
fuse to take cognizance Of this condition.
The yeggman and solitary burglar Of the past Is
rapidly disappearing. the survey states, and his place
is being taken by fairly we'll educated young men Of
from seventeen to twenty-seven years Of age. This
type Of thief shows a constantly increasing tendency
to form what may be described as a business organi-
ration with q considerable number of his fellow Grim.
inals and to engage not in individual robberies Of
small amounts, but in the theft Of merchandise on a
large scale.
The commission has been assured that there are
criminal receivers who call up the leaders Of the gangs
and give them orders as TO the quantity and character
Of goods for which there is a national market, with
explicit instructions as to the storehouses and mills
where those goods may be obtained by robbery. Act
ing in this information the goods are stolen and the
fence trans-ships them all over the country.
Such organized robber gangs would disappear over
night II there was not an equally we'll organized asso.
citation Of men to receive and store their goods, pay
them a percentage of their value and distribute them
at bankrupt prices throughout the country to honest
merchants who have thus uRwittingly taken advantage
OF 11DnerS CRIME Z o cause IuEtHeT tuEousn rum
Gus competition with honest manufacturers and dis
~tributors.
The La Guardia bill, recently introduced in con-
gress, proposes to throw the burden Of proof upon the
receiver of stolen goods. and the commission takes the
view that this is the only method by which the evil can
be eliminated. The bill provides a fine of $4,000 or two
years in prison. or both. for persons found guilty o:
receiving stolen goods without having made diligent
inquiry.
Commenting on the salient features Of the bill. Rep
resentative La Guardia said: "All my bill does is to
prohibit the shipment Of stolen goods fro none state
to another and to provide a penalty. ! have embodied
in it the recommendations Of the National Crime Com
mission which puts the burden of inquiry upon the
buyer when he is acquiring goods under suspicious
circumstances. Surely, no honest, legitimate merchant
can object TO that. Operators Of fences do not have a
stenographer present when making the deal or a NOV
ing picture camera taking a photograph when the
goods are delivered. The method Of operation and
buying is 80 different from legal transactions that it
is only reasonable to have the law place the burden Of
inquiry on the receivers Of stolen goods. The law
should not protect the fence. but should make it pos
sible to place the fences in jail, where they belong. If
we remove the fences, s5 per cent Of the large profits
will be eliminated"