Evening star., 1933-07-27
The War on Crime.


criminal racketeers is the renewed sug.
gestion for the organization Of ar
American Scotland Yard" the term
which implies an eficient force Of de.
tsctives responsible directly to the
National Government. The suggestion
has been made before. The Governors
in convention at San Francisco have
just gone on record, as far as the rules
of their convention allow, In favor o1
such an organization. But special signifi.
canoe is seen in an article In the cur
rent Saturday Evening Post by Louis
McHenry Howe, secretary to the Presi-
dent. advancing the suggestion in much
the same form that 1t was once ad-
vanced by President Roosevelt as q
member of the Executive Committee OF
the National Crime Commission.
The article by Mr.. Howe states that
Those who have studied this great
problem-one which will loom larger
and larger as our economic troubles dis
appear-are almost unanimously con-
vinced that the Federal Government
must come to the aid of justice II the
racketeer, the kidnaper and the whole
sale stealer Of merchandise are to be
wiped out. And at last there Is visible
evidence that the people Of this country
are themselves realizing this fact. and
as always happens when the public Is
determined that something should
be done. 1t Is already evident that the
Congress Of the United States IL in
clined to take real action in the matter
Indicating that the President is fully
behind the suggestion for an American
Scotland Yard" the author proposes
that there could be created such an Or
gan.zation with local headquarters in
every State and trained men ready to
proceed instantly to the scene of the
crime, without expense to the State or
county. at the request of the local police
authorities"
It has long been felt by many
that something in the nature of q
national police force will eventually
come into being as the result Of fail
ures by local police forces to cope with
crime. But there are, Of course. q
number of practical difficulties that
must be removed before any such ac-
tivity by the Federal Government could
be launched with hope Of success. The
constitutional limitations imposed on
Federal police activity and the jeal-
ously protected States rights" repre-
sent one of these. II, as Mr.. Howe
suggests, force Of trained Govern
ment detectives was available for inter-
cession at the invitation of the States
or localities. one wonders II any body
of detectives, no matter how efficient,
would be able to untangle the knots
that are tied by debauched local OH
cials and the bungling work Of local
police chosen and directed by local
politicians. The Bureau of Investiga-
ton Of the Department Of Justice has
been cut by budget limitations to little
more than q skeleton. It has about
q score Of field ofnces. How large would
this force have to be II its men were
to be available for investigating every
crime that local police fail to solve?
Would this Federal force Of detec-
tives not lead to the buck passing" 50
natural when responsibility can be
shifted to Uncle Sam?
More than an American Scotland
Yard" there Is needed an aroused pub
lie opinion against crime and criminals
and crooked politicians who permit
crime to succeed. II the people are
once aroused to the point where they
want to stop racketeering. they will
stop it. kidnapping will not last long
as q criminal racket, because people
fear it and will not stand for it. But
as long as they stand for the private
manufacture and sale Of submachine
guns, riot guns and other such weapons
and permit their shipment interstate
they may expect that these will be used
as indiscriminately as they are made
and sold. As long as they permit the
control of municipal police and de-
tective forces by political machines
they can expect them to work accord
ing to the dictates Of the machines.
President Roosevelt may be counted
upon to supply leadership and initiative
to a national campaign Of education In
crime prevention. The Federal Gov
eminent should properly be given the
authority to cooperate on wide scale,
and lend its resources toward the CEN
tralization Of methods Of criminal icen-
tification. There should be national
legislation against interstate shipment
OF weapons. But the most valuable
form Of aid from the National Govern
ment is leadership. President Roosevelt
Is an ideal man to supply 1t.
ktaA nxo~ An,a