Evening star., 1934-12-12
u. 5. CRIME BOARD
URGED T0CUT VICE
Bar Association Head Says
WickerSham Benefits Are
Being Lost Rapidly.

Creation by the Department OF
Justice of permanent National
Crime Commission to carry on, with
out let-up, the war on crime was
advocated today by Scott M. Loftin,
president of the American Bar Asso-
citation, who presided at today's ses-
sion of the National Crime Confer
ence.
Declaring much Of the work for
suppression of crime has been spora-
die and temporary, Loftin deplored
the "shelved and forgotten" recon-
mendations of the Wickersham Com
mission, which, he said, made one
of the most thorough investigations
of law observance and enforcement
of modern times.
1.-The 13 volumes of that commits
sion's report" the bar leader said
"are now gathering dust on the
shelves of college libraries and copies
of most of them are no longer avail
able even from the Government Print
ing Office. This I know to be true
for there were only 10 copies to BE
had at any price when we wished
to distribute some of them to our
committees.
Probe Cost Put at $500,oOo.
"Here was an investigation which
cost $500,000, the results Of which
are being lost largely because there
was no permanence to the commits
sion.
'I think this conference should 90
on from year to year and that the At
torney General, having called us to-
gether should give consideration to
promulgating the resolutions and re-
suits of our deliberations to associa-
tions and bodies of various kinds
which can follow them up and report
annually what has become Of them. ]
make bold to make this statement be-
cause know from the public addresses
which the Attorney General has made
that he believes in the principle OF
continuous and persistent work in this
field and realizes the problems are not
ones which can be solved in day"
Loftin called for Statewide reform
in the system of selecting local judges
He said this reform is being vigorously
sought by the American Bar Associa-
ton.
mo matter how perfect" Loftin de-
clared, sis the machinery for detention
and apprehension of criminals, how
able and effective the prosecution,
how conscientious the jurieS, there will
be a failure of justice If the judges are
not fair and unbiased and are not free
from political or other prejudice"
Voters Declared Handicapped.
Loftin said the public must under
stand the necessity for demanding and
requiring proper standards Of fitness
for judicial officers. Voters, he said,
cannot Judge the qualifications Of can
didates for the judiciary.
Belief that habitual criminals
should be kept in continuous con-
finement was expressed before the
conference today by Warden James
H. Johnston of the new Federal pen
itentiary on A1catraZ Island in San
Francisco Bay, where such despera-
does as George Machine Gun" Kelly,
Harvey J. Bailey, Alfred Bates and
others are imprisoned.
Warden Johnston recommended
that all prisoners be required to do
sufficient work to pay the cost Of his
support by the Government and that
thereafter they be given a chance to
earn money for themselves by per-
forming extra productive labor. He
declared this plan would be an ex-
cellent safeguard against unrest and
conspiracy, in addition to fitting pris-
oners to enter business after their
release.
when a man is known to have
committed a dozen or more serious
crimes" the warden said, "and to
have been properly convicted and i'm
prisoned three of four times, it would
seem that he had conclusively DEM
onstrated unwillingness or inability
to earn living honestly and to re-
spect the rights Of others.
When a man exhibits such a
character and disposition he should