Evening star., 1935-12-28
MORE POLICEMEN
HEAD LIST OF D. C..
NEEDS GIVEN K|NG|
Letter From La Roe Also
Asks Enactment of Anti
Gaming Bill.
FAVORABLE CONDITIONS
HERE ARE NOT IGNORED
Washington's Government Hon.
est and Officials, on Whole, Are
Competent, Says Message.

Enlargement of the police force, en-
actment of the anti-gambling bill
which the Senate passed year ago,
q more restrictive policy in the
granting of liquor licenses, and
more modern method of dealing with
tnebriates were included in list Of
local needs outlined today by Wilbur
La Roe, jr., of the Washington Fed
Grafton of Churches, in a letter to
Chairman King of the Senate Dis
trict Committee.
Before listing the steps he believes
necessary to improve the District,
however, La Roe took stock of favor
Washington In this connection, he
said I'VE ought to rejoice in having an
honest government in the Nations
Capital"
At the outset he expressed appre-
citation to Senator King for the
friendly and cooperative manner in
which you handle matters relating to
the District. The openness Of your
conferences and the frankneSS of
your statements in dealing with mat
ters of public Importance are very
helpful"
Both Sides of Ledger Weighed.
Mr.. La Roe, chairman of the Civic
Affairs Committee of the church fed
Grafton, said he thought that some
times "our church people are looked
upon a bit too critical and not suffi-
ciently appreciative of the good points
in the administration of public af-
fairs. For that reason, it may be de-
sirable to look at both sides of the
ledger at the beginning of new year,
with emphasis on the credit side"
After describing the local govern
ment as honest, he added that he has
found its public officials, on the whole,
to be competent. He said the Com
missioners are men in whom the
community should have confidence.
The present Board of Commissioners,
he indicated, is sensitive to public
opinion and public needs.
Mr. La Roes letter. which was ap-
proved by the board of directors of the
church federation, read further, in
part, as follows:
Our court system deserves high
praise. Admitting that there is a
weak spot here and there, OUR judges
are not only honest, but, on the whole,
highly competent Our judicial system
does not suffer by comparison with
those in the States.
Juvenile Court Changes.
"Our Juvenile court is rendering a
high quality of service. There is need
for the rewriting Of the basic juvenile
court law to make it more modern and
more flexible and to expand the func-
tions Of the court so as to make 1t
less q criminal court and more an in
strument OF correction and rehabili-
tation.
Our police system we may well be
proud Of. 1t is not perfect, but the
system as a whole is both honest and
efficient and those at the head Of it
have a high conception of their duty
to the public. We believe the system
to be seriously undermanned.
"Our Board of Education and our
school system as a whole are of very
high order, and are probably above
the average in the several States.
we can boast of an excellent
health department under highly COM
petent leadership.
Prosecutors Found Alert.
"Our district attorney has been
rather severely criticized, but largely
on the ground of insufficient training
for this particular work. Our fedora
ton has had frequent dealings with
the district attorney and his assist
ants, in connection with the prosecu-
tion Of crime in the District, and we
have found the officials in charge, on
the whole, alert in prosecuting Grim
inals.
Our federation has been critical Of
the Alcohol Beverage Control Board,
which seems to us to have been ex-
tremely liberal In the granting Of
licenses. But after all the basic trou-
BILE lies with the law itself. which ex-
pressly authorizes the license system.
While we believe that the board should
be much more stringent in administer
ing the law, it is only fair to recog-
nize that no board can create an ideal
situation as long as the present statute
remains unchanged. There is no ex-
cuse for law that authorizes the dis
pensing of liquor In almost every drug
store and grocery store.
Much has been done to improve
conditions in our city. So-called big
shot" gambling has been greatly re-
duced. The police report a material
decrease in immoral solicitation on our
streets.
Policy Racket and Drunks.
The two worst black spots just now
are the numbers racket which is
fourishing almost unchecked, and
drunkenness, the arrests for drunk
enness alone averaging about $4,000
annually. You succeeded in getting a
bill through the Senate that would
have aided the authorities in fighting
the numbers racket but the bill came
to disgraceful halt in the Judiciary
Subcommittee Of the House District
Committee.
Much remains to be done. The
civic position of the Negro must be
improved and the handicaps against
him removed. We must have q more
modern method of dealing with in
ebriates, experience having demon
strated that Just throwing them into
Jail periodically fails to solve the
problem. We ought not to kill a
hundred or more persons year with
automobiles even If q drastic remedy
Is required to prevent the slaughter.
If we must have liquor. its distribu-
ton should be reasonably restricted.
There is need for strengthening Of
our parole system, our probation sys-
TEN, q undermining of our juvenile
court law, better facilities for our
courts, and an enlargement of our
police force. We should also put a
stop to the mixing of young prison.
ers with hardened criminals at Lor-
ton. And there must be relentless