The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1934-06-30


" v McNutt. speaking Thursday in Chi
cago, said:
There does not seem TO me to be any
escape from the fact that the state Of Indiana
made John Dillinger the Public Enemy No. /,
which he is today. The Indiana Constitution
provides that our penal code shall be reforma-
tive and not vindictive Taking the case be-
fore Us We arc forced TO the conclusion that
our penal institutions obviously failed of ref
ormation; or that Dillinger was given too long
a sentence for his first ofense. or both.
Instead Of reforming this prisoner, the penal
institutions provided him with an education
IN crime"
That is a frank statement, Mr.. Coy. And
it is one on which you are to be complimentcd.
If the problems Of crime in Indiana were
treated as openly and frankly as Mr. Coy has
treated his subject in the foregoing paragraph,
there is no doubt but that in a few years In
diana probably would find Itself standing
among the leaders of crime combating. states.
However. there always has been weak
link in battling crime in Indiana. Where one
police chief, sheriff or Judge has adopted a
platform OF severe but square dealing with
crooks there have been scores of these officials
who have found it easier to deal with the
crooks than the law.
Mr. Coys speech went into other phases
of crime history and prevention In fact his
theories are those which have been termed as
ideal by the crime experts of the nation and
world. But again, the fault is to be traced
to the apparently minor executives of the law
who fail to heed the commands Of their
superiors and the people.
Indiana is tired of crime. Indiana resi-
dents are tired of the consistent criticism they
receive.
In the old days Indiana was known as the
hotbed Of the Ku-Klux Klan. Now Indiana is
known as the state which permitted such a
man as Dilinger to prey upon the nation.
Mr. Coy is right. The proposal for penal
institution investigation is right Let us hope
that every one of his theories is carried to the
limit. And let us also hope that every one
of the officers responsible for carrying out the
subsequent duty is as honest and straight
forward.
On the other hand. there are other people
i'm the nation who have ideas on the subject.
umnist for Scripps- Howard newspapers, pooh
poohs the idea that Dillinger is tough or even
the desperate that he has been branded In
fact. Mr. Tracys frank opinion is that Dillin-
ger does not rate" the classification of
desperate. Mr.. Tracy expresses his feelings
of Dllinger by calling the Indiana product
wandering runt."
But Mr.. Tracy agrees with Mr.. Coy to
some extent when the former says:
You can't quarrel with the WiStfu opti-
mism which such action suggests, nor with the
fact that Dilingers arrest would be worth
$1,000 but the point is that ten times that
amount. if not more. has been spent already
on peace officers who are supposed to attend to
such things"
Mr.. Tracy goes on to say that the reward
of $4,000 eleyates a criminal or wandering
r1nt~ as something of super-man in the
eyes of a weak minded people"
You can't dismiss a crook as of no con-
SEQUENCE when a nation the size of ours stamps
him AS worth $4,000. especially after having
failed to catch him despite heroic efforts. He
becomes an idol to the underworld and hero
in the plastic mind of youth. The very tumut
and notoriety make criminals.
we must not create the impression that
thugs are smarter than our law-enforcing
officers. or that the latter can not be depende.
mon N do their best without the incentive of
rewards
There is no question but that Mr.. Coy ana
Nj. Tracy express the feeling Of every law
abiding citizen of Marion county and Indiana.
Is there any more to be said?