Evening star., 1946-05-09
Doug|asCites
|mportanceof
TrafficCourts
Tells Sofety PorIey
Nation Has Been
NiggurdIy' in Funds

= , ''~S
Describing lower courts as "tht
most important conditioner of public
attitude toward law and administra.
tion of justice" Justice Douglas ol
the Supreme Court, today said the
Nation has been "all too niggardly'
In providing money and personne
for its traffic courts.
The justice told delegates to the
Presidents Highway Safety Confer
ence they were tackling the Nation.
most important conservation prob.
lem and said it primarily was one Of
education.
Law which does not have popular
acceptance is not an effective one,
he remarked.
Martin Voices Approval.
His address in the departmental
auditorium was followed by intro
duction of the Governors of nine
States. Gov. Martin of Pennsyl-
vania, chairman of the Conference
of Governors of the United States
echoed the Justices statement that
real enforcement must come from
the local level.
People Must Participate.
Decrying as unhealthy, too great
a dependence on Washington, JUS
tice Douglas noted that the Fed.
eral Government necessarily is re-
mote from local problems and that
democracy will work only by the
active participation of the people in
the work of local agencies.
I'm time of peace, the rich talents
OF the people are too little drawn
into the service of the state. There
is no reason why you can not harness
the same energies that served the
country in time of war to prevent
the appalling loss of life through
accidents he declared.
Unfortunately, the justice OBJ
served. the casualty lists of the
automobile 60 unseen or appear less
dramatic to the public than wal
casualties.
10000 Deaths Expected.
Representative Luce, Republican
of Connecticut whose daughter was
killed in a traffic accident, reported
that traffic deaths are expected te
total more than 10000 this year
the highest figure in history.
1T may be remarked that peace
like charity, ought to begin at home
and a death toll of 10000 good citi.
zens year is not a very profitable
way to keep the peace" she re.
marked in an address prepared fol
delivery this afternoon.
The problem can't be cured by
any national law, she said, because
"a national motor law-for highway
vehicles-is "a coercive law which
ignores local conditions. 1t can be
cured by communities which recog-
nize the alarming sound and slow
down their traffic motor"
Must Begin at Home.
Asserting that law enforcement
must begin at home, Mrs. Luce COM
planned that motorists leave traffic
enforcement entirely too much up
to delegated agents and regard traf-
fic violations as amusing achieve
ments so long as they can get away
with them.
Highway casualties are two-thirds
as high as the military losses of any
average war year, she said.
There is no possible compensa-
ton for such tragedies. There is
not even the solemn satisfaction OF
knowing that the victim died te
maintain principle, or to wider
the area of human liberty or un-
derstanding,' she commented.
Final Session Tomorrow.
The invocation was pronounced
by the Rev. Msgr. John j. Russell
pastor of st. Patrick's Church. Tht
Navy Band played. Conference re-
ports, discussed in eight committee
sessions this morning, will be con
sidered tomorrow at the final gen.
eral session.
Winners Of the national traffi
Safety contest are Iowa, Connec
ticut, Texas and Utah, and the cite
OF Wichita, Kans., Buffalo, N. Y.
Oakland, Calf; Evanston, Ill; Oal
Ridge, Tenn; Lynchburg, Va, ant
Saltwater, Okla.
National pedestrian protection
contest awards are to go to Kansa
and the cities of Detroit, Wichita
WauWatosa, Wis; University Park
Tex, and Little Falls, MINI.
In response to an invitation from
the State Department 81 foreign
governments sent observers to 81
in at the safety conference sessions
To Seek Policy Accord.
Committee recommendation vii
be presented to the conference to
morrow in an effort to reach agree
ment in policy for a continuing
Nationwide effort to reduce traff
accidents, which have caused 8,12
deaths in the United States sine
the first of the year.
After President Truman ad
dressed the conference yesterda
the delegates divided for afternoon
sessions at eight committee confer
ences held in the Commerce Depart
ment, the archives auditorium. tn
departmental auditorium, Unite,
States Chamber of Commerce an,
the Municipal Courthouse.
The enforcement committee
headed by Dean Arthur T. Wander
bilt, dean of the New York Univer
sity School of Law, pointed out tha
existing enforcement weaknesse
are due to inadequate personnel an
facilities, unsound organization @
enforcement agencies, unqualifie
police officials and indifference, lac
OF proper training of enforcement
personnel, political interferenc
with enforcement and lack of ade
quate reliable data.
Records Bureau Urged.
The preliminary report of the Ac
cident Records Committee. heade
by George H. Gallup of New Yorl
director Of the American Institut
OF Public Opinion, declared tha
"eVery CITY and eyery State sho,ll