Evening star., 1938-01-27
BY CARTER BROOKE JONES.

No more fines for numbers men will
be recommended to the courts. but
straight Jail terms will be insisted on.
Acting United States Attorney David
A. Pine told the Washington Criminal
Justice Association at the Willard
Hotel as he outlined major offensive
on crime in general.
Describing the numbers racket as
dangerous to the community because
OF its tendency to encourage crimes OF
violence. Mr.. Pine said fines were USE
less in dealing with numbers writer's
and others engaged in the racket.
Fines, he said, are regarded only as
license fees.
I've given directions" he said,
that no more fines are to be recon-
mended in numbers cases or in any
other gambling cases. Further than
that the district attorneys otice has
nothing to do with the punishment
that's up to the courts"
20 Indictments Signed.
The police, he said, are making a
drive on the numbers, and he signed
20 gambling indictments yesterday.
He blamed ''pablic apathy" for tol-
Grafton of the numbers a wide
spread racket in the District, addnl&:.
Its hard to get people to believe
that betting few cents on a number
Is social evil, and perhaps it isn't
in itself. but they don't realize the
commitsnts of the game. The back
ers OF the numbers are in an illegal
business. and SO are easy victims Of
hijackers. These hackers can't COM
plain because they would reveal their
occupation. Violence is a resultant
sometimes. suppose because of at
tempts to apportion territories"
The acting district attorney said
his Office had been working night and
day to speed up disposition Of the
accumulation of pending cases he
found when he took Office in January. .
Pending Cases Reduced.
Since then, he said. 629 felony cases
pending then had been reduced to 296
Tuesday and, although 122 new in
dictments had been brought in by the
grand jury since the first of the year,
the net reduction in cases awaiting
trial had been 174.
He said his office was doing its best
to combat the alarming increase in
crimes of violence, which is fr out
OF proportion to the increase in popu-
lation in recent years."
Delays in justice, ne added, en-
courage crime. since they give ac-
cused persons chance to prepare a
defense which sometimes is a "fx."
There is no greater deterrent to
crime" said Mr.. Pine, than the GER
tainty of speedy trials and sure pun
ishment."
In cases like armed robberies. he
said, his Office had been able to
obtain indictments and bring cases
to trial within a week in recent In
stances and it hopes to pursue this
policy further.
Joseph E. Rice presided.
Delinquency Report Given.
An indictment against the COM
munity could be drawn from the
report of delinquency among women
and children, which Capt. Rhoda J.
Milliken, head of the Womeps Police
| Bureau, made at the associations
crime forum yesterday afternoon.
She told of one little girl who ex-
plained when asked why she had ran
away that she hoped to be sent to
reform school because it would surely
be nicer than the place where she had
to live.
"As heard her story" Capt. Milli-
ken added, Il thought that the rest of
us were the delinquents and that child
was taking the only intelligent position
in dealing with her case"
A citizens group like the Criminal
Justice Association, she pointed out.
could take time to do what no one
law-enforcement agency had the time
or opportunity to do-co-ordinate ac-
tivities among the various groups in
terested in preventing and putting
down crime and studying the condi-
tions that produce it.
Capt. Milliken expressed hope that
Congress would pass the pending
juvenile court bill, providing for a
court Of domestic relations to deal
with problems of homes as . whole.