Evening star., 1934-01-11
CUMM|NGSP[EDGES|
AID TO DRY STATES|
Attorney General, in Forum
Address, Asks Public to
Kill BootIegging.

Support OF the public in the Gov
ernment's continued warfare against
the bootlegger in his post-repeal Efforts
TO cheat Uncle Sam out OF liquor reve-
nues and to sell his illegal wares in
dry territory was asked last night by
Attorney General Cummings in the
National Radio Forum, arranged by
The Star and broadcast over coaSt-to-
coast network of the National Broad
casting Co.
The Department of Justice accepts
and intends to discharge" its obliga-
tions under the tWenty-first amend
ment which imposes mandate on the
Federal Government to protect dry
States from leakage of liquor from ad-
joining wet territory, Cummings de-
clared.
He pointed out that repeal of the
eighteenth amendment left II States
with constitutional prohibition and II
with drastic dry laws. These % States
are clearly entitled" to the support
of the Federal Government in enforc-
ing any dry laws they may enact, 1t
was stated.
AS far as appropriations will permit,
the Department of Justice will render
full assistance to these States. The
department also is cooperating with
the Treasury in safeguarding revenue
pION1olOllS VI tic hqIOL lo"o.
Tax Cheats" Criticized.
Stressing the Importance to the re-
covery program of full collection OF
liquor revenues, Cummings called on
the liquor consuming public to buy
from W-abiding dealers rather than
bootleggers. He said this is an i'm
perative duty"
Any citizen who, at this hour" he
said, seeks to cheat his Government
Is not only unpatriotic, but is cheating
himself and his neighbors. Disregard
of law in this matter is gross breach
OF faith with his fellow citizens"
Far-flung operations of the depart
ment's Division of Investigation in its
successful campaign to round up kid
napers, eXtortioniSts and other ''preda-
tory criminals we're described by the
Attorney General.
All 20 kidnapingS reported to the
division since enactment of the So
called "Lindburgh law have been
solved, he asserted with a total of 3
convictions and 20 persons awaiting
trial. There have been one death SEN
tence, 10 life sentences and aggregate
terms of imprisonment amounting to
405 years meted out to the kidnapers,
he stated. Local authorities have rem
CeTeQ Valuable CO-OpcIdIlOu W y.
Edgar Hoover, director of the division
In the drive, Cummings said.
Outlines Extensive Chase.
AS an instance of the wide territory
covered by special agents of the di-
vision in their intensive operations, the
Attorney General pointed to the Charles
F. Urschel kidnapping, which occurred
in Oklahoma. Urschel was held captive
in remote mart 0f Texas. the ransom
money was paid in Missouri, part Of
the ransom money was exchanged in
Minnesota, another portion was re-
covered in Texas, one OF the guilty
parties was apprehended in Colorado
and the other participants were located
in Tennessee, Minnesota, Texas and
Illinois
In this one case, he pointed out, the
division operated in seven States with
an area of $4,000 square miles-more
than the combined area of Austria,
Denmark, France, Germany, Italy,
Holland Switzerland, England, Scot
land and Wales. In addition, agents
worked on special angles of the
Urschel case in nine other States.
Cummings deplored the recent wave
OF mob violence and spoke with loath- !
ing of the ''inexcusable crime of
Enching"
In this connection he urged reform
of ''antiquated procedure" in the courts
and asked the courts and bar to
purge the legal profession of scaven-
ger lawyers who degrade their calling
and SO frequently bridge the gap be-
tween respectability and crime"
Text Of Address.
The text of the Attorney Generals
address follows:
This is the second opportunity have
had to address you through the cour-
tesy of the National Radio Forum and
The Washington Star. On the first
occasion (Which occurred last ApriD I
sought to describe the functions of the
Department of Justice and certain pur-
poses 1 had in mind. I repeat now, as I
said then, that the Department of JUS
tice belongs to the people of America. |
1t is their servant, miniStering to their
needs, and beSpeak for it the support |
and the good opinion Of all law-abiding |
citizens"
Surely I could not have expected |
more loyal and generous support than I
have received. Ten busy months have |
passed rapidly by and during that pc
riod the various State and municipal /
authorities, the newspapers of the coun- |
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