Evening star., 1933-10-29
Army of Lawless Losing

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their work throughout the case, in CO.
operation with local and State author
tiles. The help of Federal agents was
invaluable In that instance, aS the Cul.
prits sought to escape by fleeing across
State borders, and several of them were
of the crime. A large part Of the ran
som money was located by the oper-
atives Of the Justice Department, also
in Ststes other than that in which the
kidnapping occurred.
Mr.. Urschel was seized at his home In
Oklahoma City and transported to an
obscure farm in the northern part of
Texas. The two gunmen who kidnapped
him were not alone In the enterprise
The abduction had been carefully
planned and the place Of imprisonment
prepared.
Vast Area Covered.
In Missouri other co-conspirators
were awaiting the receipt Of word Of
the kidnapping with view to demand
ing and securing the ransom money
In Minnesota still other members of
this gang stood ready to receive these
funds and exchange them for currency
that could not be traced.
Thus, in accordance with carefully
laid plans, four distinct co-ordinated
groups Of conspirators collaborated in
the execution Of this crime. The opera
tion OF these criminals covered four
Oklahoma, Missouri, Minnesota
and Texas. The combined areas Of the
States over which these criminals were
operating is greater than that Of Eng
land, Scotland, Germany Italy, Bel
gium, Austria and the Netherlands. The
extent Of this terrain indicates the diff1-
culties involved and accentuates the
need Of Federal action.
Our records demonstrate that a large
percentage Of the serious crimes are
committed by men who have escaped
from prison. These men operate in
groups and make a study Of methods
by which to avoid punishment when
they are caught. At large, they prey
upon the public; confined. they plan
and encourage prison outbreaks. In
t.midation, bribery and violence are
their accustomed methods.
More Isolated Prisons Wanted.
The majority of the inmates of our
prisons are comparatively well be-
haved. but few desperate criminals
among them present a menace to any
penal institution. Relatives. friends and
fellow members Of the gang congre-
gate near the prison. to be Of help when
favorable opportunity is offered. This
rnndttiNn pY3StC uyhora largo ranifantf- :
aries are located.
For some time I have desired to OBJ
tain different type Of prison, to which
our more dangerous and intractable
criminals could be sent. Such q place
should be apart from the large centers
Of population, preferably on an island
which would not be easy Of access. 1t
was not my purpose to find q prison in
which the inmates would be subjected
to any unusual or unreasonable environ
ment. but rather a place which would
be apart and inaccessible, so that the
holding Of the inmates would be as
sured and their influence removed from
the better class Of prisoners.
Such a place has now been found
BY negotiation with the War Depart
ment, we have obtained the use Of Al
catraz Prison, located on a precipitous
island in San Francisco Bay, more
than mile from shore.
Place for Irredeemable Type.
The current Is swift and escapes are
practically impossible. 1t has secure
cells for 900 persons. 1t Is In excellent
condition and admirably fitted for the
purposes had in mind Here may be
isolated the criminals of the vicious and
irredeemable type, so that their infiu-
ence may not be extended to prisoners
who are disposed to rehabilitate them
selves.
There has beer far too much glori-
fication Of the criminal The real
heroes are the efficient States attor-
neys and district attorneys who consci-
entiously prosecute the dangerous GRIM
inals. the courageous Judges who i'm
pose adequate penalties and the faith
full police officers and Federal investi-
gators who. taking their courage and
their lives in their hands. track down
these enemies of our country.
There Is another matter to which I
invite your serious attention. 1 refer
to interruptions lawyers who aid GRIM
inals in their unlawful undertakings
ana employ every unworthy aFtif1ce In
their defense.
Disgrace to Profession.
There Is reason 10 believe that In
many localities certain members Of the
bar are in touch with and regularly en-
ployed by the criminal element These
men are the scavengers of the bar and
are unworthy of the profession they
disgrace Their elimination is a part
of the problem of crime.
Although recent accomplishments in
the drive against crime are encourag-
ing. do not wish to give the impress
sion that they justify any relaxation
by enforcement agencies. AS one OFF,
cial of the department put it. the
Urschel case was just a skirmish. We
ell realize that the warfare which an
armed underworld Is waging upon Or
ganized society has reached disturbing
and that its suppression will
the utmost diligence on the
part of our law enforcement groups over
a long period Of time.
To that end the Department Of Jus
tice is continually building up its ex-
isting facilities and studying all angles
of the crime situation with a. view to
enforcement methods. We
expect to be able to recommend to the
next Congress certain proposed legisla-
tion which If enacted will prove an
aid to the Governments law-enforcing
bodies.
Enlarging Fingerprint Service.
We are continuing to improve and
enlarge the fingerprint service Of the
Division of Investigation, already the
largest and, think, the most efficient
criminal identification unit In the
world. 1t now has on file nearly
4 900. 900 fngerprint records and these
are available without cost to law en-
forcement officials throughout the coun-
try. Each day more than 1900 addi-
tional fingerprint records are received
from 6066 officials and contributing
q agencies all over the world.
Illustrative of the effectiveness Of this
cooperation is the fact that of all the
fingerprints received for study more
than As per cent result in identiflca-
tion and the establishment of prior
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