Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-01-05

America after . nine years absence.
This writer Of British best-sellers, who wrote
one of his 140 novels between a certain Thurs
day and the Monday following and whose
insight into the life of the criminals whom he
has studied the world over is revealed in his
ingenious mystery stories is convinced that
America can never successfully combat her in
creaSing crime activities under existing laws
many of which he considers archaic as those
OF Russia.
You cannot deal with the crime problem
IN America as you can in England" said Mr..
Wallace as he glanced up from a manuscript
piled table in the suite of his New York hotel
You have too large population of aliens and
no uniformity of laws between States. The
matter Of offense and punishment in America
differs to an extraordinary extent from ono
State TO another For example crime in one
State is punishable by life imprisonment, while
in another the punishment may be only q
$50 fine.
You cannot compare the crime problem OF
New York with that of any other great city in
the world. Take Berlin, for example: there
you have great city in country under one
rule and obeying one set of laws In New York
the laws are very different from those of New
Jersey, just across the river. Therefore, the
police work under great handicap.
Il consider the police of New York tremen-
dously efficient ranking with the police of
London and Berlin-the three cities which have
the finest police in the world-but New York
police are working under conditions over which
they have no control / can't see how it Is
possible for them to do more than they are
doing. They are working under system that
Is obsolete and doesn't function"
II light there Mr.. Wallace let it be known
that he didn't come to New York TO in
vestigate the Rothstein murder Furthermore
In that matter he considers there Is nothing
more to investigate. Nor is he out to dig into
the Chicago underworld. But he Is willing to
discuss the crime problem and what he con-
siders practical ways of combating it,
Until you take the administration of
justice-judge, district attorney and the rest,
down to and including the humblest police
man-out OF politics." said Mr.. Wallace, cit
cannot be completely efficient 1t is absolutely
necessary to divorce these servants of Justice
from all political machines
Personally. feel that what America needs
land 1 say this with all respect for American
laws ana lnstitutions) is a Magma Charta a
tearing up of the old Constitution In some
respects America is as archaic as Russia. In
some respects she is as retrospective and
reactlonary as the most reactionary countries.
She Is too closely welded to ancient formulas
which are no longer practical.
In an electric, wireless, aviation age-an
age of new life and new conditions-it is
absurd to maintain the same system of laws
that were in use century ago. You have
stage coach laws to deal with airplane
conditions
But this condition is not peculiar to the
United States alone. It Is true of almost
every country except England, where the
methods of government are such that laws
may be changed when necessary without any
reference to the people, but where the masses
are protected from eccentric changes by