The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1933-02-03

How 1t Operates
BY William Bruckart
THE DEPARTMENT OF
JUSTICE

| government tnat result In disagree
ment, they simply rebel against a
compromise. They want to go to
court and fight it.
That reference, of course, Is to
civil matters. Criminal charges of
| which the government necessarily Is
the prosecutor occupy a different
status. In theory, there may be no
compromise In this respect.
| Since the government must protect
its own rights as well as prosecute In
! dividuals who violate the rights of
others, it Is readily seen that 1t re-
quires a great law Office to look after
the business of the distinguished
client, Uncle Sam. He really has an
immense amount Of litigation and in
view of that fact he has his lawyers
scattered In every important city In
every state In the Union. They are
able to the greatest number of peo-
pie and thus avoid as much expense
| to the individuals and to the govern
ment as may be, since 1t would be i'm
possible to place them in every COM
munity.
The governments law office, the De-
partment of Justice with a cabinet
member, the attorney general of the
United States, at its head, naturally
has to have it's headquarters in Wash
ington. The attorney general is just
like the general attorney for a rail-
road or a bank or any other organi-
| zation. He is the legal adviser to
the President Of the United States,
among his other duties, and repre-
sents the United States in every mat
ter in which the United States has
an interest. He, or one of his repre-
sentatives, represents the United
| States likewise whenever penal stat
utes are invoked against anyone who
transgresses the law of the land.
| There is no better way to show the
varied interests with which this i'm
mense law office is concerned than to
set out it's administrative organiza-
ton for handling the vast amount Of
work.
The attorney general, of course, is
the boss. His right-hand man is the
solicitor general Of the United States,
who appears in behalf of the attorney
general at all times in the Supreme
| Court of the United States. There is
an assistant to the attorney general,
an Office created especially to deal
with one type Of prosecution, namely,
the antitrust law violator.
| Seven assistant attorney generals
serve in their respective fields with
more or less limited subjects that
they may become specialists in their
work. One of them deals exclusive
ly with questions involving tax laws
and enforcement Of prohibition; a
second devotes his time to defending
the governments interests in the
United States court of claims where
Uncle Sam is always a defendant and
never a complainant in suits for
money; third has an assignment of
work in connection with admiralty
| litigation and foreign relations as
well as much of the financial con-
troversies in which the government is
concerned; a fourth does nothing but
consider the governments rights in
land matters, and with the memory
of oil scandals still in mind the job
embraces great detail; a fifth assist
ant attorney general is the official
criminal prosecutor of the great law
yer in matters of customs, the laying
| of duties at the customs houses, ap-
| praisements of merchandise and such
like, and the other official of this
class seems to be the general super
| intendent, for it is he who watches
over the scores of United States at
torneys who represent Uncle Sam in
their respective jurisdictions through
out the country.
1t must be remembered, however,
| that before the automobile thief or
the bootlegger is convicted, there must
be evidence to satisfy a court and
| jury that the defendant is guilty. So
this law office has group of highly
trained investigators who do nothing
but run down criminals and gather
evidence.
The Department Of Justice now has
charge of enforcement of the prohibit
ZION laws, too.
But the policy of the government is
| to look after it's citizens who have
been found guilty of law violation,
and the attorney general is charged
with that duty as well. He man.
ages, through his subordinates, of
course, every penal and correctional
institution operated by the federal
| government, and in connection with
| them carries out the national policy
Of trying to make better citizens out
of violators before they are released
| again into society. There is a parole
system and an arrangement for par
dons, the latter a matter left to the
| President, and constant attention is
| given to means of improving those
prisoners who will accept instruction
as a means of equipping them to earn
a livelihood without resorting to
| crime.
| The courts, Of course, provide che
| machinery through which much of the
! Department of Justice work Is accom-
! plished, but the judiciary constitutes
the third branch of the government
| and ought to be treated aside from
| the executive establishment of which
| the governments law Office Is a part.
q. 1892, Western Newspaper Union
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