Evening star., 1932-05-20
PERSH|NG FOR WAR
. ON GROWING CRIME
Declares for Repeal or Modi-
fication and Forming of Vigi-
lance Committees.

4 OcCIdIlIlS H1I1tIlCd H dI VOL NAOi
crime and that the time has come tc
face the facts, Gen. John J. Pershing
in an article published today in the
American Magazine, blames prohibition
for the rise of "a criminal army" and
puts himself on record for the first time
as favoring repeal or modification Of
the dry laws.
A hint as to Gen. Pershing's attitude
toward prohibition was contained in his
published memoirs on the World War
| In commenting on his order against
strong drink for the A. E. F., he said
| that while in time of peace the young
men could be controlled in morals ano
health by home influence. he Thought
it advisable to have limited prohlbi-
ton for an army in time of war.
In his signed magazine article Gen
Pershing declares that in addition to
finding some other solution" to the
liquor problem, those who are fighting
| gangsterism should organize citizens
| vigilance committees in every COM
munity and should institute card
identification system for all citizens.
New Underworld Type.
During the years of prosperity fol-
lowing the war an underworld of gang
sters and racketeers, unparalleled in
any other civilized nation, grew up and
flourished in our cities" the article
says. "The criminals who manned this
underworld were Of new type. They
were not the masked and shabby plug
uglies who filled the jails In earlier
years. They were expensively dressed; {;
/ they owned machine guns, high-pow-
cred cars and speedboatS; they had
money in the bank. With this money
they were able to establish a relation
with corrupt officials and police which
seemed to make them immune from
prosecution.
'Lulled into complacency by pros
perity, our citizens passively accepted
this poisonous growth with small con-
Germ.
Now that out complacency is gone,
we begin to study this foul phenomenon
more carefully. We see it eating more
and more deeply into our national life,
injecting politics, extorting tribute from
business, threatening our very homes.
From my own study, as an individual,
am convinced that prohibition has
largely financed this new postwar I'M
derworld of ours. Vast profits have
drawn multitudes into the bootlegging
business, and once outside the pale OF
the law, they do not hesitate to turn
to racketeering and other forms Of
crime. Thus a criminal army has been
built up which defles the very Govern
ment itself.
IT do not question the sincerity Of
the prohibitionists nor their nobility of
purpose. Yet the inability to enforce
the law in this respect has resulted in
such tragic consequences that I believe
the time has come to face the question
squarely and to work together toward
some other solution which takes more
account of the inevitable traits of hu-
man nature.
More Than Repeal Needed.
But neither the repeal nor the modi-
f1cation of the prohibition laws will al
together abolish crime. The estimated
one million or more men, accustomed to
the easy money of the bootleg and
speak-eaSy business and with an utter
contempt for law, cannot be thus con-
verted into virtuous, law-abiding citi-
zens overnight. Many will turn to other
forms of illegitimate activity. Corrupt
officials, deprived Of bootleg tribute, will
seek new sources of graft.
"The ability of the underworld to ter
rorize society lies in the fact that it is
thoroughly organized, while society is
not. At present it Is more the gang
against the individual than otherwise.
Why should we not form neighborhood
and community committees SO that the
gang will find itself confronted with an
organized body of men larger and
stronger than itself? The more i'm
! portant his position in the commu-
nifty the greater the obligation of the
citizen to join the committee
Such committees made up of subStan-
tial citizens, who regard citizenship as a
paramount obligation, could force ac-
ton. Suppose neighbor of yours gets
kidnapping threat, or a merchant is
visited by gangster who tries to extort
tribute from him, or a section of the
town experiences series Of hold-ups. II
the individual citizen goes to the police
station or City Hall and fails to get
satisfaction, possibly because of an alli-
ance between officials and the under
world, he is powerless.
COMMITTEES of this kind would be
Vigilance Committees, not in the old
sense, but in the sense that they would
be ever vigilant in the protection of
rights and the performance of civic
duties. I would consider it an honor
to serve on such a committee myself,
Time for Open Dealing.
1.-THE time has come when we must
abandon the right to anonymity, as
enlightened European countries have
| done.
Every resident of our country
should have an identification card, a
small passport with photograph at
tached. Change of permanent resi-
dence should be reported to the police.
The card should be shown if neces-
sary, upon registration at any hotel,
or on any other occasion when de-
manded by the police. The penalties
for forging card or disregarding reg
ulationS concerning IL should he heavy A"