Evening star., 1934-04-29
BY OWEN L. SCOTT.

John Dillinger, outlaw, has given
the country a oneman crime wave.
AS a result he may have assured out
laWry a barren future. Until this
desperate went on his latest rampage
a new deal program for crime eraoi-
cation had languished in House
committee, apparently buried. Now,
with the public aroused, Congress
promises to act. When it does. pro-
fessional criminals who have thrived
for years. first on prohibition, then on
racketeering, face new trouble. They
are going to find that experts dag
nosed the reasons for their success in
recent years, and have prescribed a
remedy.
That remedy calls for much larger
Federal participation in the crime
fight. 1t involves a break through
the barrier raised to effective law en-
forcemert by State lines. The pre-
scription has been written. so the un-
derstanding is in Washington, by Col.
Louis McHenry Howe, secretary to
President Roosevelt and long a stu
dent of criminal problems. 1t was
whipped into shape and will be ad-
ministered by Homer Cummings. At
torney General, who has been prose-
cutting a vigorous campaign against
organized criminals. But until Dill
linger dramatized the problems raised
by outlawry those problems largely
had been lost sight of by a public
deeply engrossed in the performances
of the alphabetical creations Of the
rev deal.
A round dozen new laws are pro-
posed to meet the crime problem.
Each one involves Federal encroach-
ment on territory formerly reserved
to the States. AS with the N. r. A.,
the A A. A, the P. w. A. and the
F E. r. A, the Washington authorl-
ties would take over new functions
that individual States are unable to
perform. But this program would
provide a new deal for criminals in
stead of for business men. farmers and
unemployed. 1t would cause the Fed
eral Government to pursue and to
punish persons who:
l. Engage in racketeering by re-
straining interstate commerce through
extortion, coercion, violence or intimi-
dation.
2. Transport stolen property in in
terstate commerce.
6. Engage in kidnapping, If the VIC
tim is held more than three days.
4. Flee from one State to another
for the purpose of avoiding prosecu-
ton or giving testimony in felony
cases.
5. Rob, burglarize or steal from
banks operating under United States
laws or as members of the Federal
Reserve System.
6. Kill or assault a Federal officer
or employe.
In addition. other laws would make
more effective existing statutes by
technical changes. One of the dozen
proposals provides for regulation of
the manufacture, sale and Importation
of machine guns or concealable
weapons
Another would authorize two or
more States to enter into agreements
for mutual cooperation in the pre-
vention of crime. This would open
the way for officers of one State to
enter another State in pursuit of GRIM
inals.
All of these laws or proposed laws
recognize the changes wrought in the
crime problem by the automobile and
by the improved weapons available to
criminals. Thus, Dillinger, who
escaped from prison in Indiana, soon
appeared in Ohio, where he engi-
neered a Jail break He was caught in
the Southwest, brought back to In
diana, escaped again, shot his way
out of trap in st. Paul, Mimi. and
then escaped another anbuscade in
Wisconsin. He reappeared in Mime
sofa within a few hours and in a
few more could have been in Illinois
or in the Dakotas.
State lines mean nothing to>the
criminal, but they are now a high
barrier to the State officials charged
with the responsibility of capturing
criminals. The proposed legal changes
are intended to break down these bar
riers between States.
The nature of this problem was en-
phasized by Attorney General Cum
mings. He said:
In one of last years kidnapping
cases the operations of the criminals
took place in seven States. It was
necessary for the agents of the De-
partment of Justice to go into nine
additional States in their successful
efforts to solve the crime and bring
its perpetrators to justice.
"This illustration indicates the ex-
tent of the difficulties involved and
accentuates the need of Nationwide
approach to the problem. The Federal
Government has no desire to extend