Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-05-17

| night in the National Radio
| Il Forum, arranged by The WASH
| ington Star and broadcast over
Nation wide network OF the Columbia.
Broadcasting System. follows:
The proper administration of Justice
has always been q major national prob
| lem. In his inaugural address PreSi-
dent Hoover laid emphasis on the need
| for more effective agencies State and
! Federal, for investigation and prosecu-
| ton of crime. There was q time when
| the activities of the Federal Depart
ment of Justice touched a relatively
small number Of people, but conditions
| have changed In the last quarter of
a century the. enactment by Congress
OF penal statutes in new fields, such as
the Harrison anti-narcotic act. the Dyer
! act penalizing the transportation Of
stolen automobiles, the Mann act deal
ing with white slave trafhc and the
national prohibition act, have largely
| increased the activity Of the Federal
| Government In criminal matters. New
| forms of tax legislation. such as the
income tax law and statutes touching
| business in commerce and communica-
| tons have increased Government ntiga-
| ton.
In 1879. 900 civil cases in which the
United States was a party were COM
|
! 1914 the number was 1000. and in
1880. $4,000. In 1872 the Government
| commenced 5000 criminal prosecutions,
in 1914, $4,000, and in 1880, $1,000.
| How Duties Are Divided.
The Department Of Justice has charge
Of all criminal and civil litigation for
the United States. Our Bureau Of
Prisons has charge Of Federal penal in
stitutions and the administration Of
| the parole and probation systems. Our
Bureau of Investigation is charged with
the duty Of detecting offenses against
variety Of Federal statutes, and the
| Bureau Of Prohibition Performs the
same function under the national pro-
hibition act. The department also has
the administrative work connected with
the Federal courts and the ofices Of
United States attorneys, marshals and
clerks OF court. The Attorney General
is required to give formal legal advice
to the President and to the heads Of
| the executive departments, and furnish
informal legal assistance to other de-
partments of the Government. The
other departments bring their troubles
to us, but we rarely have a chance to
unload any of our own. We examine
the qualifications of candidates for ju-
dicial ONCE and report the facts to the
President, and are required to consider
the legal aspects of legislation relating
not only to the Department Of Justice.
but to other branches of the. Federal
Government. These routine tasks would
keep US busy without any effort to de-
wise constructive administrative meas
ures
Tonight 7 shall not attempt to de-
scribe in detail the many activities OF
the Department of Justice, but only to
review some Of the major problems Of
the past two years.
I. One Of the first matters Demand
ing attention was the reorganization of
the Federal prison system. For. aCquar-
ter Of century the demands on that
system had been increasing The new
| Federal criminal statutes / have re-
ferred TO had increased the load. In
! 1910 the number of prisoners sent to
| Federal prisons per million Of popula-
ton was ia; in 1920 1t had increased
to rs, and in 1926 to 40, in 1929 to So,
and in 1880, as q result of our activity
in law enforcement, it had jumped to
30. The prisons were overcrowded.
| There was no adequate central organi-
zation and the parole and probation
| systems needed improvement. Since
March 4, 1929. there have been estab-
lished, or provided for, an independent
parole board: new penal institutions:
Federal prison camps; a hospital for
defective delinquents; diversified en-
ployment of Federal prisoners; medical
service in the Federal prisons by the
Public Health Service; the reorganiza-
ton OF the probation system: q prison
bureau in the department with new
personnel; a training school for prison
guards; an educational system for priS-
| oners; q scientific analysis Of the food
| in the prisons, and farm system for
outdoor employment of prisoners. The
work of acquisition of sites and con-
struction Of new institutions Is well
under way. Nothing visionary Is being
done, but 50 per cent Of all Federal
prisoners are released and returned to
| society, and the public welfare requires
| that as many of them as possible shall
be rehabilitated for that purpose. Dur
| ing this administration the Federal
| Government has taken the lead In
prison reform.
Complete In Two Years.
During the next two years this york
will be carried to completion. We have
been studying, In cooperation with the
Presidents Commission on Law OBJ
servance and Enforcement, the method
| Of dealing with juvenile delinquents
During the six months ending Deem
Der 81, 1880, 2,243 boys and girls, ID
years Of age and under, were taken into
custody by the Federal authorities for
alleged violation of Federal statutes
The training Of juvenile delinquents
should be left more to State authori-
ties. That burden properly belongs on
the communities from which they come
and from the standpoint of the welfare
of the children they are better off under
the control Of local magistrates and
agencies in their own communities. The
| Federal Government Is not in q posi-
ton to perform that service we'll. It
has not enough Of that work to justify
the creation Of special tribunals or
agencies for that purpose. In line with
President Hooyer'S well known interest
in child welfare we expect to devise
methods by which many juveniles ar
rested by Federal authorities may be
returned to their home States for de-
tention, and to improve the methods of
dealing with those retained in Federal
custody. i,
2. In connection with the problem
OF efficient law enforcement, delays and
wasted effort resulting from the con-
gested conditions in Federal courts In
some of the important metropolitan dis
tricts have demanded attention. There
| can be no efficiency in law enforcement
where there Is delay In prosecution. We
found that In many districts the Of
fees Of the United States attorneys,
United States marShals and clerks of
court were undermined and under
paid. These forces have been strength
ened and stimulated to further effort.
As indicating this increased activity, it
will be noted that on July 1, 1929. the
number of Federal prisoners was 10 500,
while q wear later it was 24,524. and
the number Of Federal prisoners COM
| mitted during 1880 was 80 per million
Of inhabitants, as compared with So
per million in 1929.
No doubt this Nations methods of
enforcing criminal justice are open to
improvement and it is hoped that re-