Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-01-11

The following Is the complete text o.
the National Law Observance and En-
forcement Commissions answer to thu
criticism of its activities and procedure
THE National Commission on Law
Observance and Enforcement, organ.
lied some seven months ago, has hello
during the present week its ninth reg
ular meeting. The broad purposes Of
the commission being searching ex-
animation of criminal law enforcement
including prohibition. the organization
of it's work naturally falls into the
conduct of police, prosecution, courts
and judicial procedure, the management
! of penal institutions and the causes oil
! crime; the objective Of all of which is
form which Will secure more prompt and
effective justice.
THE commission some months age
divided its work among IL principal
committees. dealing, respectively, with
the subjects of police protection, courts
penal institutions, probation and pa
role, prohibition, cost of crime, causes
of crime, juvenile delinquency, criminal
! justice end the foreign-born, abuses in
i enforcement, and statistics.
Machinery Inadequate.
"a preliminary examination by the
| commission demonstrated unuueStion-
! ably that the Neutrality-suspicious.
machinery Of the country is entirely in
adequate: that prohibition, automobile
theft, white-Slave traffic, immigration
and other criminal laws of the Federal
Government have overtaxed the capac-
| ity and effectiveness Of the national
machinery for enforcement. The rela-
! tions OF the State agencies of law en-
| forcement have also to be considered.
Under the direction of these vari-
| Gus committees. exhaustive examina-
ton of the situation has been initi-
ated through wide correspondence
conferences by members of the commits
sion with scores Of leading men and
officials and by the appointment of
qualified research experts Of whom some
IA have been engaged to date; by CO.
operation with crime commissions and
similar agencies throughout the coun-
try, and several advisory committees
have been set up for the pursuit of vari-
Gus phases Of the problem.
Results Of Researches.
The following summary Of the work
Of the various subcommittee may be
given:
"Police-The first point of contact
between the law and the offender Is
through the police, and no thorough
study of conditions of law enforcement
could be made which did not involve
very careful examination Of the sub
iect Of police organization and admin
istraton.
1.-THE commission secured for the
month of September last the services
of Mr.. August Vollmer. then chief of
police OF Berkeley, Calf. now a pro-
fessor at the University of Chicago and
admittedly one Of the leaders in the
fald ~ noIira nrOapi1afion and admin =
istration. Mr.. Vollmer completed and
furnished the commission with a pre-
liminary report early in October, but
has been prevented by his duties at the
University Of Chicago from following 1t
up with the larger work of application
which the commission has desired him
to complete.
Further Staff Recruited.
"A further staff is being recruited.
The commission has made arrange
mentS for the gathering Of informa-
ton in leading scientific police lab
oratories In foreign countries relating
to the most modern developments In
the methods for detecting crime.
"Prosecutions-Imme following
the contact between the police and the
offender comes the question OF prosecu-
ton. Early in its work the commission
secured the services OF Mr.. Alfred Bett-
man. who has had large experience in
survey of 1921, and also more recently
with the Boston crime survey, to I'M
dertake study and report on the meth
DDS of prosecution, the Offices OF prose-
cutors and other enforcement person.
mel, and the general considerations in
cident to the prosecution Of offenders.
mr.. Bettman has been continuously
engaged in this work with staff of as
Sistants, and his report is expected
within q reasonably short time.
Many Court Problems.
"Courts-The question of courts has
presented many difficult problems. Most
important is the question OF the gen.
eral organization of the Federal judici-
ary( the Jurisdiction of the Federal
courts and procedure therein. At the
request of the commission Judge Fran
els @. Gatfey Of the United States Dis
trict Court for the Southern Dis
trict of New York and Benjamin
A. Matthews Of the New York bar UNI
dertook the study Of the courts Of that
district.
In addition to these reports. spe-
cial study Of the Federal district courts
was undertaken for the commission by
the honorable Joseph c. Hutchinson, jr,
United States district judge of Houston,
Tex, for the purpose chiefly OF deter
mining the extent to which congestion
exists in the Federal courts and the
methods which might be adopted for
relief.
THE commission concluded from
these preliminary studies that far
more thorough study of the whole mat
ter should be undertaken and that
such an inquiry could be best carried
on through the cooperative efforts Of
the law schools Of the country.
Experts on Committee.
"This work has been assigned to q
committee comprising Charles E. Clark,
Esq, dean Of the Law School OF Yale
University; owen ]. Roberts, Prof
E. M. Morgan Of the Law School OF
Harvard University, DR.. o. K. McMur-
ray, dean of the Law School of the
University OF California. and President
Hutchins of the University Of Chicago
Penal institutions. probation and
parole-After O preliminary eXamina-
ton of a large amount OF material
| bearing OH these subjects and confer
ences with officials and others engaged
| in these fields, the commission set up
| a committee under DR.. Hastings II
| Hart OF the Russell Sage Foundation
composed OF the following named per-
sons, to make an exhaustive inquiry
into the subject:
"Dr. Hastings II. Hart.
"E. r. Cas-, Prison Association OF
| New York.
Charles L. Chute, National Proba-
| ton Association.
Edwin j. Cooley, chief probation on
Ger, Court Of General Sessions OF New
York.
Lewis e. Lawes, warden, Sing Sing
| Prison.
Calvin Derrick, State Home for Boys
Jamesburg, N. c.
| William ]. Ellis, commissioner OF
| nj o0oneioR nf NaU Jersey