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Show AUTO IlElS Mr uii Theft Committed in Interstate Inter-state Commerce Traffic I'cdcral Crime. Of nil the luitomoljile.s stolon in tho i I" " it oil Suite; liist joar, SOilO of thorn, i valued iit. Sr..(Mil.000, were never i-oeovore.l, aecoi-ding t, u i-o;)oi-L tmbmilted to eon-src:;s eon-src:;s by the htius committee on the Judiciary during the present eowsion. Tho reason for 1Mb, it was slated, U boeauae a. large majority of the. machines stolen annually urc taken to other states to be disponed of and are thus out ot the jurisdiction juris-diction of their owners. ;U Iho Instigation of the National Au-omol.ilo Au-omol.ilo Dealers- association. orRan-latlon orRan-latlon numbering ;ai.ili)i) dealois, lliorc was passed In the present session of con-Bnss con-Bnss a law- known as the ".National Mo-tor Mo-tor -ehiele Theft Act," which provides tor the punishment of thieved taking stolen automobiles Into another stale, and also for tho recovery of the stolen machines. T,c -.Motor Vehicle Theft Act became a law on odohor ::s, without with-out Iho signature of the president. Hue to tho InadC'iuaev of existing etalo , laws to provide for the punishment of such cnmina.ls, there has been built up in the United titutes during tho last five years a. motor vehicle theft traffic of immense pn.poi lions. Last vear In twen-ty-ono cities there wore stoien 1,VM) automobiles au-tomobiles valued at Sl'8,iiihi,oO!i. It was the opinion of tho ft. -lies' atlomeys in most of the larger cities coneerned thai lully HO per cent of the siolen machines w-ero locaLed within a radius of H'O miles or their owners, but out- of their jurisdiction, juris-diction, and in other states. In recommending Ihc passage of the Mirfor Vehicle Theft .Act," tile report SUf'initted to congress says: "Tho committee on the indi.-iarv, to whom was referred the bill to punish the u-aiii-portatlou of stolen motor vehicles in interstate or foreign eonimei-ce. having considered the i,-.!.. i-.-...t ;ii, ..iioe. it'j'oii. uo-ieoii Willi the recommendation that it pa.-s. "Tho congress of the United tstatos can scarcely enact any law- at this session that Is m'oro needed than the bill herein recommended, and that has for its purpose pur-pose tho providing of severe punishment of those guilty of the stealing of automobiles automo-biles in interstate or foreign commerce. There has been and is now a most widespread wide-spread demand for such a law-. State laws upon the subject have been inadequate inade-quate to meet the evil. Thieves steal mi. tomohltes and take them from one state to another and ofttlmes have associates in this, crime who receive and sell tho stoii machines. The losses to the people fji the United States by reason of this stealing amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars every year. It is getting worse. It is, getting so now that It is difficult for owners of the cheaper cars to obtain theft Insurance, due to tiie great loss the insurance companies have sustained. Ouring tiie past year automobile Insur-aneo Insur-aneo on tics class of cars has increased l'to per cent. It is automobiles of that pricj that are genera lly stolen. Automobile Automo-bile thieves who make a specialty of this crime do not steal many of the higher priced cars, the reason he'ng. of course, that they are not so easily told." Thieves have found the automobile field one in vhieh ihey can reap huge harvests. This is doe no doubt to the fact that th-rO'is such a great number of automobiles in use in this country. On July 1 the number of automobiles and trucks rOETStored in the United States totaled 6.o.-3 It is estimated that by I now- tiie number has reached P,,arni.fieu or over. "With an average estimate of JUhiQ each the total value of all the motor vehicles ve-hicles now in use is estimated at $7,800.-oon.fMlo $7,800.-oon.fMlo With property of such enormous vahinUon a prey to thieves, vigorous protection is reeded, and the National Aiitomofele Dealers' association, with the aid of the pew law. has instituted a vigorous vig-orous proirram against a utoniohile thievery thiev-ery and plans to prosecute such thieves to the limit. |