Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-01-12
YEARS ARE NEEDED
/. FOR CRIME SURVEY
Preliminary Report Indicates
Long Period Ahead Of
Ultimate Findings.
BY DAVID LAWRENCE.

Any idea that the National Commits
sion on Law Observance and Enforce
ment will have its final report ready in
a hurry has been dispelled by the far
reaching program just announced.
! The commission has undertaken such
an extensive survey that to do 1t justice
the probabilities are that the work will
take at least two years, If not more.
Needing the demand in Congress for
some glimpse into the commissions &C
tivities, Chairman Wickersham has out
lined the way in which the proposed
study Is divided. Judging by the time
It takes TO make researches OF this
character. it's really a f1ve-year Job
that has been mapped out. Whether the
commission will have one year. two
years, three years or more in which to
make thorough investigation. depends
upon the temper Of Congress and the
skill of President Hoover in holding
critics at bay.
Free Hand Demanded.
The Senators from wet States, as, for
instance, Senator La Toilette of Wis
consin. are insisting that the commits
sion have free hand and plenty Of
time. The theory Is that the longer
the commission investigates the more
dificult it will be for the drys. The
preliminary report, which calls the en-
forcenfent machinery inadequate. Is al
ready ammunition for the vets, who
have been raising the cry that it would
take hundreds of millions of dollars and
an army and navy to enforce the law
anyway.
The drys, on the other hand, are not
a. a.
be done to strengthen the law, and
some of them would prefer to hear
from the national commission before
taking any action. From a political
point of view, the most disturbing issue
at present is prohibition, for 1t cuts
into both parties. and If agitated dur
ing the remainder of 1880 as vshe-
msntly as it was recently there is a
danger that other issues in which the
administration is interested will not re-
ceive due attention.
Soft Pedal Advisable.
It is therefore TO the interest of the
administration to soft pedal the prohi-
bition controversy as much as possible,
keep the drys happy by reorganizing
within existing law the personnel of
enforcement and insisting upon await
ing the full report Of the Wickersham
commission.
It would not be surprising, however,
II by 1882 the national commissions
report would be the principal basis of
attack on the whole problem Of proni-
bition. The systematic way in which
the commission has tackled the prob
lem of law enforcement as q whole is
bound to offset the criticisms that
were made of individual members.
Chairman WickeYsham's suggestion, for
instance, that the States lend greater
cooperation In enforcement was con-
sidered a bold assertion last Summer,
but by the time the commission gets
through with its intensive study there
are likely to be further suggestions i'm
plying a greater activity on the part
Of the States. which really possess the
police machinery Of the country.
Police Given Attention.
One of the first items in the wicker
sham Commissions report, Just issued,
Is a study of police administration. A
staff d being recruited to gather infor-
nation not only In America, but In for
eign cities, as to the most modern de-
-veloprnents In the method Of detecting
crime. As indicative of the importance
of uniformity IN crime reporting there
has Just been issued by the committee
on uniform crime records a complete
Of the International Association of
Chiefs Of Police. It is the most COM.
prehensive work of its kind ever issued
and Is part of program Of education
of police chiefs In cities, towns and
villages with the hope that some effec-
tive method Of gathering national crime
statistics will be made available. The
work was financed by the Laura Spell
an-Rockefeller Foundation.
One of the principal difficulties of the
Wickersham Commission is in getting
accurate data as to what has been the
effect on the country Of the prohibition
law-what Is the truth about the num-
Der of arrests and crimes that might be
related to prohibition laws.
It is inevitable that coordination be-
tween the Federal and State govern
ments shall be brought about, and
though the Wickersham Commission at
this time gives no hint of its final
recommendation, it Is quite likely that
the administrative side of enforcement
will turn largely on what can be done
TO make the States the principal agency
for the enforcement Of the prohibition
laws Of the country.
(Copyright, 1907