Evening star., 1951-08-31

derived from opium. Z The coun-
tries in which tpe drugs are man.
ufactured have been fairly sue
cessful in limiting the output &c
the actual medical needs Of the
world.
On the other hand, the coun-
tries where the opium poppy is
grown have found it to be i'm
possible, in spite Of strenuous ef-
forts. to regulate the quantities
planted and cultivated by the
farmers. These countries grow
enough opium poppy plants to
produce 40 times the amount of
opium needed for legitimate medi-
cal purposes.
1t is believed that. whereas in
the growing countries the guam
tity cannot be regulated, complete
prohibition against the planting
Iof opium poppy plants could be
enforced.
Except in the case of cocaine,
which represents a minor problem,
adequate synthetic substitutes
have been developed for opiate
drugs. especially for morphine,
which is the principal pain-reliev-
ing product. Although the syn
thetics are easy to produce, it is
believed that their manufacture
could be regulated within reason
able limits. The. medical pro-
fession would not be materially
handicapped if opium poppy grow
ing were prohibited throughout
the world.
C. CRIME AND CORRUPTION.
/. The same pattern of or
ganized crime found in large me-
tropolitan areas exists in the
medium-size cities with similar
evidence of official sanction or
protection. In some cases the
protection is obtained by the
payment Of bribes to public Off
cials, often on a regular basis
pursuant to a carefully conceived
system. In other cases, the rack
eteering elements make SubStan-
tial contributions to political
campaigns of officials who can
be relied upon to tolerate their
activities. Sometimes these con-
tributionS will support a whole
slate of officers in more than one
political party, giving the racket
eers virtual control of the gov
erning body. Democracy vanishes
in a captive community because
the ordinary citizen for practical
purposes has nothing to say about
his government.
In many cities, large and small,
there is evidence Of active and
often controlling participation by
former bootleggers, gangsters and
hoodlums in the political affairs
of the community. In some cases
this participation extends to other
cities and even to the government
of the State. Underworld charac-
tiers do not engage in politics for
the good of the community or the
Nation. They do so for the pur-
pose Of increasing their power and
wealth and gaining greater pro-
lection for their illegal activities.
Organized crime has been able
to flourish and grow largely be-
cause of the economc power WELD
ed by gangsters. The ordinary,
honest citizen cannot expect to be
able to compete in either business
or government with persons who
obtain wealth and power through
illegal means.
2. Wiretapping is a powerful
tool in the hands of law-enforce-
ment officers. Federal agents are
seriously handicapped in their
regular enforcement work by the
legal restrictions which presently
surround this valuable instrument
of investigation. If properly safe
guarded by the same restrictions
that are imposed by law upon
searches and seizures, wiretapping
does not infringe upon the right
of privacy of the honest citizen.
Several States, notably New York,
have laws which permit the use
of wiretapping pursuant to court
order and, subject to reasonable
safeguards. These laws work sat-
isfactorily and without objection
on the part Of law-abiding citi-
zens. A similar Federal law would
represent an important contribu-
ton to law enforcement. =
III. RECOMMENDATIONS AND
SUGGESTIONS.
A. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR
ACTION AT THE FEDERAL
LEVEL /. ESTABLISHMENT OF
NATIONAL CRIME CO-ORDI-
MATING COUNCIL.
In order to keep the searchlight
of public vigilance turned upon
crime and corruption in a manner
that leaves at. the local level the
basic responsibility for law en-
forcement and at the same time
affords centralized guidance and
ordination, the committee pro-
poses the establishment of a pri-
vately constituted national crime
co-ordinating council.
The council would be body
composed of representatives OF
privately established local crime
commissions. Its first chairman
would be designated on an interim
basis by the President of the
United States to serve until ap-
pointment of his successor. As
soon as the organization was es-
tablished it would nominate five
persons from whom the President
iii