Evening star., 1933-02-21

different kinds Of business, largely on
the distribution end.
It has been said that this type Of or
ganized criminal activity is wholly at
tributable to conditions produced by
our national system Of prohibition, and
to a considerable extent we have been
disposed to sit quiescent with our hands
folded, claiming helplessness to deal
with the criminal conditions in our
large cities until national prohibition
may be done away with. Changes in
our methods of liquor control which
seem to be impending will not remove
the crime problem. Whatever may
have been the extent of the influence
of the prohibition situation on the de-
velopment of laWlesSness, it is alto
gether evident that under present con-
ditions the organized criminal racketS
and organized criminal activities in
our large centers of population have
spread out to point where the abo-
lition of illicit traffic in liquor will
make only dent in the activities and
revenues of organized crime.
All the available information in the
hands of Federal officials at Washing
ton indicates that at present very
large part of the revenues of these
criminal organizations is derived from
rackets of the kind described, supple
mented by illicit gambling operations,
traffic In narcotics, and law violations
other than those related to the liquor
traffic. Such research as we have
made into the previous records OF per-
sons convicted Of commercial traffic in
liquor indicates that at least one-third
of these persons are habitual criminals
with prior records in other classes of
criminal offenses, who may continue
criminal activities in other fields If the
liquor traffic becomes no longer profit
able.
Federal Intervention.
When I took Office as Attorney Gen.
eral there were $4,000 persons under
restraint for violation of Federal laws.
Today the number is $4,000. We have
today more prisoners held for offenses
not related to liquor traffic than in 1929
we held for all causes, including viola
tion of liquor laws If national prohi-
bition is abolished, we may awake to
the fact that we no longer have that
alibi for crime conditions.
The rackets have repeatedly come to
the attention of the Justice Department
at Washington because of failure Of
municipal authorities to deal with such
lawlessness, and in the form of appeals
from groups of business men and civic
associations to have the Federal Gov
eminent intervene to clean up local
conditions. There is a lack Of general
understanding of the existing consti-
tutional limitations on the extent to
which the Federal Government can in
tervene in such matters. The public
should know to whom it must look for
effective action for the detection, prose-
cution and punishment of organized
crime Ours Is Federal Union. We
developed the unique system of dual
sovereignty by which the powers Of
government are divided between the
Federal Government and the States.
The Federal Government is one of linn
tied powers, having only those con-
ferred upon it by the Federal Consti-
tuition. All other governmental powers
are reserved to the States. A vital ne
cessity of the times is that the average
citizen should better understand this
separation of powers and the respective
responsibilities of the National Gov
eminent and of the local governments
for suppressing lawlessness and pro-
tecting the inhabitants of our cities
from oppression by criminal elements.
Frequent appeals are being made to
the Federal Government to intervene
in these thickly populated areas to aid
in the suppression of crime. Those ap-
peals are made because the local au-
thorities through inefhciency or cor