Evening star., 1928-04-08
CURB ON FENCES" HELD
VITAL ISSUE IN CONGRESS
Half-Billion.Dollar Annual Traffic i'm
Stolen Goods Said to Demand
Drastic Federal Law.


ganisation arranges his bond by tele'
graph from Chicago. or wherever elst
/ the headquarters may be, and organizes
his defense and employs counsel fol-
! him out of the common treasury"
| Lewis Hahn of New York, managing
] director of the National Retail Dry
Goods Association, in this connection
| told of one gang of three or four mem
bers who procured approximately $780,
600 worth of merchandise on the Pa
/ cific Coast and shipped much of 1t al
+ the way into Brooklyn. N. Y. for dis
+ poSal. The coast gang was arrested ir
! Kansas City. but, living up 10 past per.
/ formances got bail through their as
+ sociatcS elsewhere, and promptly shook
/ the dust of the Middle West from theil
! feet. They are still at liberty.
Theft Of Securities.
/ NJ o. Garner, general counsel of tbs
! National Surety Co, related one in
stance of the theft of $S00.000 in Sc
curitiSS--for these. too, are a lure fol
institute prosecutions in three States tc
reach the conspirators. 1t so happened
that in each instance, however, the
prosecution was brought TO a success
ful conclusion. but. as Garner eX-
planned. Ii was with difficulty that would
not have been experienced had it been
possible 10 link all together In one pro-
ceeding,
Mai. Richard sylvester, honorary
president of the International ASSocia-
ton of Police Chiefs. and former head
of the Metropolitan Police Department
here. told of two cases of theft in
volving several thousand dollars, In
which the participants operated only in
the adjoining States OF New York and
New Jersey-but the fences" escaped
prosecution.
But even those accounts unfolded be-
fore the committee only scratched the
surface of conditions as they have been
found to exist in a lengthy survey con-
Quoted by the National Crime Com
mission and the National Association of
Credit Men The latter actually insti-
tuted the move for the law on fences"
in its fight on behalf of legitimate
business, battle designed also to break
up the fiouriShing operation Of con-
cealing aSSets-a polite phrase for theft
in fraudulent bankruptcies as the
law would reach this form of crooked
ness also
Agents for Fences"
To begin with, the John Shoddystuff
of Citizenville, who is selling the goods
of a financially embarrassed" concern.
or Is conducting a fire sale" or what
ever his explanation at the time may
be. is a sort of middleman among the
fences" He may be operating in con-
nection with what started out as a
legitimate business but strayed afleld. or
he may follow as profession the oper-
alton of sales agencies" for stolen
goods He may be one OF q dozen diff
f1f AfcfrikatfinV1
Nothing like this for the big fences"
though. They direct their own gangs
of thieves-mostly young men, too In
vestigation showed-and whenever they
get line on some particularly rich
shipment of merchandise, stored per-
haps IN warehouse. the plunderers go
into action. and there is a sudden shift
OF ownership.
II the desired commodities happen TO
bs moving in trains. the looterS
proceed with equal facility. and II
guards or watchmen happen to get In
the way. it's somebody's bad luck. for
a little thing like murder doesn't stop
these gangs. It's a weli-organized In
6ustry All the equipment for success
full theft is at command. and owing To
the manner In which the wherewithal
Is obtained. profits are high when dis
tributi0n starts TO the John Shady
stufis
As for the law which is urged, IL
would apply TO fences dealing in
goods stolen either from interstate ship
ments. or from commerce between this
and other countries. prescribing max
imum penalty OF 5000 fine and two
years Imprisonment. as at present con-
ceived.
Recall Auto Theft Law.
The measure was drawn up only aft
er consultation with prosecuting at
torneys. State and Federal. throughout
the country. who. by the way. are re-
ported 10 have wholeheartedly Endorsed
the idea. and. as Mr.. Baker explained.
is In strict analogy to the interstate
automobile theft law, passed some years
ago and which Is described as working
out in a highly satisfactory manner.
It is not aimed directly at the thief
himself. for. as IL was brought out at
the hearing. there Is a Federal law al
ready 10 cover thefts from interstate
shipments and In other thefts State
statutes are considered OF sufficient ef-
fectiveneSs TO deal with a crime, the
actual commission OF which must OF
necessity be located in one place. Nor.
as ii was pointed out by Mr. Baker, and
amplified by other spokeSmen. do We
want the Federal Government TO un-
dertake either 10 penalize or prosecute
In those cases where local self-goyern-
ment can adequately deal with the OF
fense"
Summed up. the thing that really Is
aimed at is a centralized" prosecution
for a case that otherwise might drag
oat 70 the four corners OF the country.
a prosecution that viii allow perfect
picture to be drawn before one jury,
instead Of trying 10 show IL In the same
light before a dozen: one statute that
at a stroke cuts through the thousand
and one technicalities surrounding DIFF
ferent jurisdictions.
Then. say those behind the measure.
the safeguard that distance from t1e
scene Of the theft which Is the prtn-
cipal reliance Of the fence" Is de-
stroyed. he knows ne must deal with
the Federal Government. instead OF
having a chance to eyade justice, and
With the fence" curbed and the ave-
nue for disposal OF stolen goods blocked,
death blow is dealt 10 this thievery.