New Britain herald., 1929-06-13
OPTIONAL CLAUSE IN 'BAUMES LAW
Judges Giva DauvdaouJ
 Povts h PsaHylnlh

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 Washington, June l3.-OnH ef the most important results Of the investigation of the Pennsylvania State Crime Commission vas the recent passage by the legislature sf modified BAumes law providing for heavy penalties for second and subsequent offenders and life i'm. prisonment for fourth convictions of ! higher felonies at the discretion of the judge.
 1 Mandatory life sentences had caused most of the criticism Of the Baumes law in New York. and Pennsylvania profttsd by sxpert- encs.
 On all sides." the crime com. mission decided at the outset. there is . general agreement that the administrator of the criminal laws and the preseat status of criminal procsdurs throughout the United statss, and in Pennsylvania in particular. ts not adequately meeting the preb- lems with which 1t ts confronted by tho new phases of criminaltty and the new kinds of crtminals" ] Two Eras tn CoafllCt
 The commission also quoted with approval q statement of Dean Res COG Pound of the Harvard Law School. one of the strensest mem. hers of the Hoover commisaen. Dean Pounds summary of the situation is this:
 "A highly developed system of substantive law and q specialized machinery of prosecution, admin istration, judicial organization. legal. procedure and panal treat. ment. devised and shaped for pic neer. rural. agricultural America of the first half of the nineteenth century. are struggling with the wholly different conditions of th4 urban. industrial society of today In the huge cities which have grown up all over the country in a generation the ill adaptatioa of the machinery to the task h acute.'
 The commission could not con- vince itself that courts should bs compelled to sentence fourth of- lenders to life mprisonmsnt. It asserted: Tt ts as true that some men should be imprisoned for life after the first offenss as unresen. crate criminal as it is true that other men after the cammiaeiea of their fourth offense sheul1 not be locked up for the balance of their natural lives"
 In addition to making. the fourth offense life sentence dis. cretionary with the judge, the law which the lesislaturs passe1 on its recommendation makes the propriety of such . sentence re. viewable by . higher court.
 For second and third major of- lenses, 1t provided. the convicted man may be sentenced to . term not moro than twice as long as the maximum for first offenss. The major oftenses" covered hy these provisions include treason. murder. voluntary manssausAter. burglary. entering with tateet te i steal. robbery. arson. mayhem. Kidnapping. sale of narcotics. per- jury abortion and offenses com mitted with deadly weapons
 Most of all, the crime commits sion laid stress on firearms le9ts- lation.
 ITO provide 'bandit.chssaas squads of police to establish bandit courts and to impose sx. traordinary sentences on the com paratively few gunmsn who are brought to trial" the commission reported. 'is. when viewed in the light of what little has been ac. complished against the so-calle1 gunmen. very much like lockiAe the stable door after the Aerse has been stelen."
 More than 1:.ooo persons lest their lives through acts of vte- lence In 1925. the commission sayA 10 murders to every 100000 h. habitants as against five per l0O,- 600 in 1900. Seventy.five per ceat were committed by professieaai criminals in cold blood and the Se. volver or xawcd.off shotgun was the principal weapon used. The in. crease in the proportion of gun murders has been large and steady. | Guns Easy to Bay
 dealer in firearms. located ia the busiest street in Philadelphia. was found to have sold ever 100 machine guns. that could fire mere than a hundred bullets . minute without taking receipts or making any record of buyers.
 The commission recommended an act, with the hope that similar laws would te adopted in other states. which would prohibit man. ufacture. sale. importation, pes- session and transfer of machine guns, automatic rifles. shot1uns. silencers and other deadly weap- ons; prohibit carrying of firearms in automobiles as we'll as on the person: prohibit aliens and convict cd criminals from carrying or pos. sessing any firearms; punish con- mission of violent crimes while armed with increasingly severe penalties; confiscate end destroy all unlicensed firearms and license al fireAnS ae well Ae Their fnieA