Evening star., 1950-02-15
Conference

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friendless and the weak and the
victims of public excitement just
as much as it Is to protect the
wealthy and the fellow with power
and pull" the President asserted.
Il know it would be easier" Mr..
Truman added, ito catch and jail
criminals if we did not have a Bill
of Rights. But I thank God every
hour that it Is there
Public officials. the President
said, must be scrupulous in their
own compliance with every law.
Although he holds the most pow
erful office in the land, Mr.. Tru-
man said. he feels he must be
more careful than any other per-
son in his obedience to the laws
of the land.
Il never infringe on traffic
laws" the President said. I'll
never take advantage of the pre-
negatives of my Office by going
through red light
Solution Always Found.
Mr.. Truman said the increase
in crimes of violence in this coun-
try since the end of the wal have
caused him serious concern. The
Nation has been confronted with
a similar problem after every war
since the Revolutionary War and
always managed to find a sslu-
ton, the President said. 49, &S
1--WE had a terrible time after
World War I, but we managed to
handle it," he asserted. lie ex-
pressed confidence that the moral
force of the American people cou-
pied with alert and honest law
enforcement would cope with the
crime situation now facing the
country.
'The gentler forces such as
education, religion, home training
and intelligent home guidance of
youth, must be coupled with Of
fetal law enforcement If the cam
paign against crime is to be won,
the President said.
Moral Law Is Stressed.
1.-THE most important business
in the Nation is raising and train
ing children" the president said.
He added that he felt not enough
emphasis is placed in modern child
training on the basic Christian
principles which are set forth in
the Bill of Rights.
Honor ethics, decency and moral
law must play large part in the
training of young people, the Pres
ident said.
The conference has attracted
delegates from the American
Municipal Association, the United
States Conference of Mayors, the
National Association of Attorneys
General. and the National Insti-
tute of Municipal Law Officers and
Federal Prosecutors.
McGrath Cites Gambling Losses.
Attorney General McGrath, who
called the conference to offer his
departments help in curbing
gambling operations, said billions
of dollars are drained away from
legitimate business channels an
nually by gambling racketeers.
The Justice Department, he said,
stands ready to give every pos
sible assistance" to communities
that declare war on commercial
ized gambling in the form of book
making, slot machines and the
numbers game racket.
Mayor De Lesseps Morrison of
New Orleans, representing the
Municipal Association, is scheduled
to present a 10-point program
calling for joint Federal and State
action to curb commercial gam
bling later today.
MIR. McGrath told the law en-
forcement authorities they are
faced with a new phase of an old
problem" which requires the
concentration of the combined ef-
forts of all our law enforcing
agencies"
'The mobsters of the 1930s have
not been entirely eliminated" he
said. But their leadership is be-
ing supplanted. The modern ver-
sion combines the worst features
of big business manipulations with
violence and corruption to clamp
a monopoly or monopolies on the
Illegal business of bookmaking,
slot machines. policy or the num-
bers game and other forms of COM
mercialized gambling.
There is reason to believe that
such operations are tied in with
Dr0StitIlfian and nareoficc ond