The Washington times., 1935-05-01
Study Needed

presented by the unwieldy to-
tai of almost $4,000 minor law
violations in a single year. How
ever, many Of the recommended
tons embodied in this report, if
adopted, will assist in the en-
forcement Of minor as well as
major laws, thus affording a
measure Of relief in this field.
The whole matter Of crime con-
troll Is a problem for constant
study and continuing supervi-
sion. It is in full realization Of
that fundamental fact that the
subcommittee recommends the
creation of a crime commission
as set forth in a section 6 Of
this report.
Article v. Larceny And Auto
Theft
Larceny-The present statute
for grand larceny (Which may
be found on page 43, title 6,
sec 80, Of the Code of the Dis
trict Of Columbia, complete to
March 4, 1929, reads, in part,
as follows:
Whoever shall feloniously take and
amount or value OF Ss5 or upward,
shall suffer imprisonment for
not less than / nor more than 10
years TACT Of March 8, 1901, 81 Stat.
1924, CHI. S54, sec. $3.50.
The present statute for petit
larceny (Which may be found
on p. -43, title 6, sec. 81, of the
Code of the District of Column
bia, complete to March 4, 1929,
reads, in part, as follows:
Whoever shall feloniously take and
carry away any property Of value Of
$S5 or less, shall be fined not
more than 5000 or be Imprisoned for
not moro than / year, or both.
From the statement submit
ted by Judge Schuldt it ap-
pears that Isl cases Of grand
larceny were docketed in the
United States branch Of the po-
lice court for purposes Of pre-
liminary hearing during the
calendar year of 1884. OF this
number, 100 were actually held
for the action Of the grand
jury.
A special committee Of the
District of Columbia Bar Asso.
citation, appointed to consider
certain phases of criminal law
and procedure in the District OF
Columbia, has, by a majority
report, requested the bar asso-
citation to recommend raising
the monetary value of property
subject to petit larceny to $75.
The committee is Of the opin'
ion that the value of property
subject to petit larceny might
well be established as SIS or
less, and that the value OF prop
erty subject to grand larceny
might well be established as
more than SIS.
In drafting legislation on this
subject care should be taken to
eliminate the uncertainty which
exists at the present time by
reason Of the fact the sum Of
$35 is indicated as the maxi.
mum sum under the petit lar.
ceny section and as the mini.
mum sum under the grand lar
ceny section which leaves the
offenSe of stealing property val
ued at exactly $35 ambiguous.
Auto Theft.-During the 20
months ended April /, 1885,
there were stolen from the
streets of Washington 6,033 au-
tomobiles, according to infor-
nation submitted to the sub.
committee by the police depart
ment.
In the comparison with other
cities it will be noted Washing
ton stands second among all
cities of its size in the United
States in the number Of auto
thefts committed.
This type of lawlessnesS not
only violates the rights Of the
automobile owner, but conSti-
tuteS about one-third Of our to-
tai felonieS. Get rid Of auto
theft and Washington's crime
rate will show a precipitous de-
cline.
Furthermore, auto theft is
dangerous because, aside from
the so-called "joy rider" most
cars are stolen either to be al
tered and sold, to be used in
tina commission of other serious