New Britain herald., 1929-07-22
LAW ENFORCEMENT
 GROUP IN SESSION
Tremendous Interest in Work After WiCkerSham Letter

Washington, July 22 (UP)-The
 presidents law enforcement con- mission resumed work today after an interim of several weeks. It comes back to work the center of new and intense public attention because of the recent letter of Chairman George w. Wickersham urging the states to assume more definite share in prohibition en- iorcement
 demand for Wickersham' s resignation because of this letter was made last week by Senator CaraWay, democrat, Ar1,, but indi- cations at the White House are that President Hoover has no such thought.
 Much Comment Provoked
 The Wickersham letter, however, mas provoked such widespread com ment both laudatory and otherwise, that it was expected to be a sub- Ject of informal discussion among members of the commission today. However, officers said it was hoped Inc commission would not be de- Hected from it's original program of exhaustive investigation of all as- poets of the crime problem by the current excitement over prohibi- ton. The commission is engaged in routine work, selecting experts to survey the various aspects of the law enforcement problem in ac- cordance with NIr. Hoovers original instructions to investigate the en- forcement of all laws
 But while the commission is seeking to steer it's course in such judicial and comprehensive fashion. public discussion has tended to concentrate on the question of pro- hibltion enforcement because of Chairman Wickersham's letter.
 Many Subjects Touched
 Wickersham's letter dealt with many aspects of the crime problem to which he wished to call the at tention of the governors. such as weakness in the state and federal court systems. better selection of iuries, the cost of private crime prevention measures such as bur | s'ary insurance, armored cars and | such. Investigation of these oues- lions already has been undertaken | in Boston. Wickersham said. and | it has been found that there crime | has actually diminished in the last | decade. He mentioned prohibition | as only one nhase of inc law en- forcemcnt nroblnm which should be called to the attention of the gov arrors
 The letter contained the state ment fiat if the national govern ment attended to preventing manu- lecture and interstate shipment of | linuor and the states took over po- Iicing and suppressine of sneak- oases and local sales. "the national and state laws might be modified so as to become reasonably en- forcoable and one great source of 1omoralizing and ne"nniariIy profit 1ble crime removed"
 Causes All CommOtion
 This sentence. buried in a letter ""arly 1.oon words long. has set up ho present commotion. Wicker. sham has been charged by some with nroiudging federal prohibition and deciding it has not been suc- cessful The views expressed in the letter are generally taken in popu- lar comment to forecast the deci- sion of the commission when it finished it's work at some distant date
 Three members of the commission were absent today. Federal Jud@n Mccormick was detained In Cali fornia by his judicial duties Fos- COG Pound Of the Harvard Law school and Judge Kenneth Mackin- tosh are in Europe Investigating systems of jurisprudence there.