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Show AS OTHERS THINK UNDERCOVER MEN The recent experience of Iron County and Cedar City with so-called under-cover men, as a means to enforcing prohibition pro-hibition statutes, was anything but satisfactory, and no doubt will prove the "last straw" in "breaking down their reliance in that form of procuring evidence. Following an experience the County had some time previous to the last one, some of the officials were heard to say, "never again." But they yielded once more, to their sorrow. Three charges were brought, one of which was tried and the defendant was acquitted, and then the prosecution's prose-cution's chief witnesses, the under-cover men, disappeared. So the other cases will have to be dismissed it seems. There isn't anything fundamentally wrong with the practice of employing undercover men to get evidence. They use secret service men in various branches of the govern- ment service to advantage. But the class of men which can be employed, particularly on a "contingent fee" basis to get evidence against liquor law violators, is,- as a rule, a pretty low and undesirable type. Most of them all do anything for money. If they are to receive $.0.00 a conviction, as were the last ones, they would as soon sell out to the bootlegger for the same money, and not infrequently they do just that. As a matter of fact there is a strong suspicion that that is what happened in the last case. Under the agreement when they were employed, thoy weren't to receive anything unless they secured convictions, and the way the affair turned out, the County of Cedar City shouldn't have been out any money, but as a matter of fact they advanced some money for expenses, transportation transporta-tion or something of that sort and therefore are out to just that extent. And besides, another victory was chalked up for the opposition of law enforcement. Paying on the basis of convictions attracts the wrong kind of undercover men and offers too great an inducement for "framing" cases. It is fundamentally unsound. Better pay a straight salary if undercover men are desired. Paro-wan Paro-wan Times. t i |