The Waterbury Democrat., 1941-07-07

Checks on the registration Of agents of foreign governments.
 Investigation of alien employment in aircraft plants.
 Investigation of all cases involving espionage and sabotage.
 The making of plant surveys Tor defense industries.
 Violations of customs laws, smug- gling, passports and v1Sas.
 Handling of selective service regis tration investigations. BUREAU WORKING ON
 OVER 100000 CASES
 Those are but few of the crimes against defense. In 1939 there were 1900 cases in those categories re- uuiring FBT attention. Tn 1940 there were 16,00O. Today the FBI has over 100 0OOO matters under investigation including National Defense cases.
 To handle this job, the FBI has staff of 5330 Over 200 are agents, the other being clerks, fingerprint ex- perts, laboratory technicians. The payroll is $12,000,000 year, $400O- GOO going for expenses, the biggest item being for travel, $2,000,000 or about 5000 year for each agent.
 Headquarters of the organization are, as the world well knows, in the big, seven-story Department of Jus tice building, covering a city block in downtown Washington. FBI takes a third of this space, overflows into eight other buildings in the District, and would like still more floor space for its expanding activities.
 Nearly 2oO0 employees are in Wash ington alone. That includes only about 100 special agents, but the 1900 clerks in the fingerprint divis- ion are working on three shifts to keep out of each others way.
 In the field, in 54 branch offices, including Juneau, Alaska, Honolulu, Hawaii and San Juan, Puerto Rico, are the 200 agents who do the work. At the present time they have on their hands about 92,000 assignments, two thirds of them now being na- tional defense matters.
 NATIONS POLICE
 ARE COOPERATING
 Staggering as are these figures as to the size and activities of the FBI today, Director Hoover would be the last one to call this National Police Force. In fact, he says the country doesn't need one.
 But with defense activities as- suming constantly increasing share of the nations attention, the need has been apparent for 8 closer CO., operation of all the state, county and municipal police work, and out of that has grown the FBI plan for Law Enforcement Officers National Defense Mobilization.
 The whole mobilization plan has been developed on a voluntary basis. Nobody has to sign up and no pres sure is exerted to get any of the badges to line up with the FBI in handling actual defense work.
 While the FBI mobilization plan really embraces the rank and file law enforcement men, 1t is the chiefs of some 5000 local police forces the sheriffs and the heads of state police organizat ations-who have been given the opportunity to sign Ma tional Defense Pledge which auto- matically recruits these police heads and their organizations in active aid to the defense mobilization.
 FBI EXERCISES
 NO CONFUSION
 When the police head signs the pledge to defend the United States against all enemies, and safeguard the internal security and defense of the nation, he certifies that he is a cooperating officer and his name IS placed on file at the FBI headquar- ters in Washington There is no com pulsion to take orders or to assist the FBI. It is, as the FBI head points out, the democratic way of doing the defense police job. In- cidentally, it tends to nullify any of the suspicion on the part of the local police officers that the FBI is trying to take over the national police job.
 The whole idea for the plan is really an outgrowth of the Presi- dents request to all law enforcement officers, atthe beginning of the eni- ergency, asking them to clear all ill- formation on espionage and sabotage through the Department of Justice and the FBI.
 Out of that grew plan for 6 ser- les of quarterly conferences with local police officials, broadening oi the training program Of the National Police Academy and Of the annual retraining session for local police officers, with special emphasis on the current problems of national defense. T
 Since the inception of this FH,