Evening star., 1933-01-05
BY HERBERT YAHRAEs, JR.

N YEW YORK Up. - What would
happen in the field of crime
VI if the sale of liquor should be
i ' legalized2
The report of the Presidents s
Research Committee on Social Trends,
published after three years of work by
more than 500 Investigators, many Of
them eminent sociologists, has this 20
say:
eff the huge sums acquired by Or
ganized criminals from the illegal liquor
traffic are shut off two immediate
effects may be expected.
"First-Organized criminals will pur-
sue their professions more vigorously
In other fields of crime, such as the
drug traffic, burglary, racketeering and
kidnapping and, in addition, they will
develop new types Of organized crime.
"Second-They will probably secure
less profit than they have from the
liquor traffic, and because of lack of
ing immunity from the police and the
courts. Consequently the large scale
organizations will tend to break down. u
Dictatorship Possible.
The section of the report dealing
with crime and punishment was written
by Edwin II. Sutherland of the Uni
versity of Chicago and c. E. Gehlke of
Western Reserve University. The whole
study was under the direction of a
committee named by President Hoover
In 1929.
The committees main conclusions
were that the varied directions and
forces Of the social trends now affect
ing American life must be integrated
or else the nation will face greater
difficulties with the possibility Of a
dictatorship.
Organized crime" the authors state,
will probably continue"
mo reduction is In sight in the num-
Der OF crimes, either major or minor, u
they say, but the fact that the major
crimes reached an approximate level
, in 1925 which has been maintained
since that time indicates that we need
expect no great increase in them in the
immediate future"
No Crime Wave Seen.
The report finds no support "for the
belief that an immense crime wave has
engulfed the United States.
The number of arrests and of court
cases per 100000 population increased
moderately from 1900 to $780," it says,
with a tendency to rise more rapidly
after 1920 than before.
"A large part, however, of the In
crease In the last decade is explained
by traffic cases, which increased at ap-
proximately the same rate as automo-
bile registrations.
Arrests and prosecutions for major
crimes increased even less rapidly than
the rates for minor crimes Prose
cutions in Federal Courts were fairly
constant from 1900 to 1917. after which
an enormous increase occurred, but this
was due principally to the large num-
Der OF liquor cases.
'The record Of crimes known to the
police, which is potentially the best
index of the number of serious crimes,
shows slightly lower rate in 1881 than
in 1880.
"These figures do not indicate that
crime has swept over the country like
a tidal wave"
Politics Baiks Law Enforcement"
Though there is no expectation of a
great increase in crime in the imme-
diate future, neither is there an encour-
aging prospect for greater efficiency on
the part Of the police, the courts and
the other agencies for dealing with
criminals"
"A principal limitation on the In
creased efficiency of these institutions
Is politics." says the report "A sec
ond limitation Is the unwillingneSs Of
the public to pay taxes sufficient to
make efficiency possible. And a third
limitation Is the localistic restrictions
on the agencies Of justice by the Amer
lean framework of government"
As for criminal laws, the number Of
them will continue to increase, the re-