Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-08-05
WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS

The rioting ct the Leavenworth
Penitentiary has served to focus the
spotlight on the prison problem which
the Hoover administration has on It's
hands and for which the solution is not
yet in sight. With the Federal peni-
tentiaries already filled to double their
normal capacity and with incoming
convicts largely outnumbering outgoing
convtcts the problem cannot be avoided
or longer deferred. It has already in
vited the attention Of the Hoover Law
Enforcement Commission and is q sub
ject which that body will unqueStion-
ably be obliged to survey. It has the
newly appointed superintendent Of Fed
eral prisons, Sanford Bates Of MasSa-
chusetts; Attorney General Mitchell
and even Mr.. Hoover himself on the
open-either Federal prison facilities
must be Immediately expanded on a
very large scale indeed, or else the
States must take over a substantial
share Of the burdens Of prosecuting and
combining criminal offenders now rest
ing on the shoulders Of Uncle Sam. The
Harrison narcotic act, the Dyer auto
theft act and the Volstead law, all put
on the statute books in recent times,
have increased tenfold the number of
Federal offenders. Two-thirds Of the
present Federal prison population is re-
cruited from these sources. Existing
Federal facilities never contemplated
any such multiplication Of Federal
crimes.
To date Congress has dealt gingerly
with Federal prison building program.
It made a small beginning back In
1928, authorizing the establishment OF
an industrial reformatory at Chilli
cothe, Ohio. calculated to care for
/ 900 first offenders. Subsequently, two
narcotic farms" were authorized, but
no buildings have been built at Chilli
cothe yet, and the sites for the narcotic
farm are not yet selected. The salient
suggestion in the now famous Wicker
sham letter that the States assume full
responsibility for local enforcement Of
prohibition bears directly on the Fed
eral prison problem. II the States will
take over local enforcement in its en-
tirety, that will not only lift burdens
from the Federal enforcement machln-
cry and from the Federal Courts, but
vast load from the Federal peniten-
tiaries as well.
Incident to the return to Washing
ton of Senator George II. Moses OF
New HAMPSHIRE comes the report that
he is slated to succeed his New England
colleague, Jesse II. Metcalf OF Rhode
island. as chairman Of the Republican
senatorial campaign committee. Sena-
tor PhippS Of Colorado was chairman
of this committee in 1925. Unlike the
Republican congressional committee,
the Craftsmanship Of the Senate COM
mittee rotates every two years. Sena-
tor Moses will have some real battles
on his hands next year, Tor the tnlro
of the Senate which comes up Tor re-
election then includes several vuiner-
are concerned. But George Moses de-
lights to emulate the role Of the boy
who stood on the burning deck whence
all but him had fed. Following . con-
ference with the President at the
White House. Moses added his own
word of confirmation to reports that
Mr.. Hoover had picked Claudius Hus-
ton as DR.. Works successor as cnalr-
man Of the Republican national COM
n1ittee.
The Russian Soviet's trade bureau In
Washington-which, in the absence OF
diplomatic relations. is the channel OF
communication and contact between the
tinues to shun the limelight. Now IN
its sixth year, quartered in a Connecti-
cut avenue mansion, its manifold &C
Invites continue to attract scant public
notice, yet It's agents and emissafies
without oficial status are conducting
highly important missions. Boris
Skvirsky, whose title is director" IN
stead Of Ambassador" Is at the mo-
ment on his annual pilgrimage to RUS
sia. In his absence the charge da1-
flares" is an American newspaper man
uyhoSA name Harold KelIOck has
Russian twist and who has been Skvir-
sky's assistant ever since the establish
nient of the bureau back In 1928. The
latter was q Soviet emiSsary at the
washington Disarmament Conference
In 1922.
Mabel walker WiFlehrandt has taken