Evening star., 1932-10-12
BAR REPORT HITS
CRIME IN DRY LAW
Gangsters' Demand Created
by Conditions, Says CON-
mittee, Though Neutral.

A report before the American Bar
Association today said organized crime
by gangsters is based largely on supply
and demand and that prohibition
brought about demand for the serv-
ices of outlaws such as we never had
in this or any other country prior to
prohibition"
The report on "mercenary crime" was
made by the Committee on Criminology
designated by the organization two
years ago to study gangsters and their
operations.
In the Life of our cities We have
had various lawless gangs over the last
100 years" the report said. However,
these gangs did not flourish and pros
of prohibition"
The committee consists of George A.
Bowman of Milwaukee, chairman; Her.
bert Munro Of Detroit and william D.
Knight of Rockford, ILL.,, all prosecuting
officers. They said:
Neutrality Of Position
We do not want to be understood
as holding a brief for or against this
law: We simply point out what We be-
lieye to be fact, that prohibition
brought about a condition Of times and
customs and law which made 1t easy
for the gangster to obtain q large per-
sonal organization at small risk, and
that it also brought about demand for
the services of outlaws such as we never
had in this or any other country prior
to prohibition"
The report said that despite the pro-
hibition laws there was "a general and
large section of the American public
for Intoxicating liquor" and that few
people, If any" considered violation Of
the dry laws involved moral turpitude.
1t added
Not only did q great section OF the
American public look with approval
upon the violation Of the law itself, but
those engaged in its violation were con-
sidered respectable citizens whose serv-
ices were more or less essential to the
comfort and wellbeing Of the COM
munity."
This condition, the report said, made
it easier to secure protection and CO.
operation of police and other supposed
reinforcement officers 1t added
that those in the "bootlegging racket"
soon found that when their merchan-
disc was stolen they could not expect
police protection from hi-jackers.
They were outlaws who could not
appeal to the law" it said. The only
court to which they could appeal was
the court of Judge Colt, who presided
over the law of the frontier.
Huge Profits in Bootleg.
Because of the huge profits con-
nected with organized bootlegging sales,
the profits Of prostitution and gambling
gangs fiourished in every large city in
the United States, with few excep-
tions.
They have at times traded their
protection for political influence.
While eangsters seem to be we'll In
trenched in the life of this country, the
conditions, times and customs in this
country are changing. Strict regula-
ton rather than experiment seems to
be the keynote of the immediate fu-
ture. and in this we see hopeful signs
of the elimination Of the gangster."
Probation can be justified only when
it is believed that it tends to control
crime and protect the public as ade-
quately as would a harsher punish
ment," Charles Evans Hughes, jr., of
New York, president Of the National
Probation Association and former Soil
citor General. told the Section of Grim
inal Law and Criminology at dinner
last night in the Mayflower Hotel.
While the original impulse" he said,
may have been largely humanitarian.
to spare offenders, usually youthful or
first offenders, from the stigma and
of prison life, society
cannot afford to have 1t administered
in a spirit of mere leniency to the
Pointing out that while probation is
more humane than incarceration, Mr..
Hughes warned that it must not be
forgotten that $50 far as applied to
adults it deals with persons who have
either by verdicts Of juries or their own
pleas of guilty"
Selection of Subjects.
In the selection of those to whom
probation is to be applied, Mr.. Hughes
no rigid, mechanical test"
can be applied Obviously. he ampli-
fed, professional or habitual criminals,
drug addictS and others in the same
category are not fit subjects. At the
same time, he added, it cannot be said
either, that all first offenders should
be put on probation, and that this
leniency should be denied second Of
tenders.
THE sole object must be-" the
speaker emphasized, ito Gull out from
the mass of human beings who daily
go through the mill of criminal courts
those whom society would be safe in
having returned to 1t without incarce-
ration and to set them apart from
those whose return would be con-
tinuing menace"
The probation question is becoming
Of added Importance in the present
scheme of things, Hughes said, because
Of the increasing number of offenses
made punishable by relatively short
sentences. For this reason, he said,
the protection Of society depends more
and more upon reformation Of the
criminals who cannot be kept in jail
I'm the first place" he explained,
humanity forbids that most offenses
should be dealt with so harshly. In
he second place, entirely aside from
reasons, the cost would
be prohibitive."
Charles L. Chute Speaks.
Mr.. Hughes declared that grave
duty rests upon probation officers to
guide those in their charge. In many
cases, he said, youthful or first Of
fender would be better of in penal
Institution headed by sympathetic
officer than on probation under an OFF,
:ial who showed only perfunctory in
terest in hk work.