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Show NEWS REVIEW OF CURRENT EVENTS National Crime Commission Goes Into Action Against Country's Lawbreakers. By EDWARD W. PICKARD WITH encouraging words from President Coolidge, the National Crime commission got into action last week in Washington, determined to find some way to check crimes of violence vio-lence in the United States. The members mem-bers held secret committee meetings and planned a nation-wide drive, issuing is-suing an appeal for the organization of crime commissions in each state. The people are asked to arouse and enlist the aid of these four agencies : Public opinion, by keeping the need to combat crime before the eyes of dutiful citizens. Federal authority, by asking such approval and co-operation within the scope of federal influence and power. The governors of the states, by willingness to take up with them the plans for state crime commissions. Organizations of national scope, such as those devoted to patriotism, labor, commerce, and organizations of women citizens, by asking their aid in applying their influence within the states upon public opinion and public pub-lic authority. One immediate result was the obtaining ob-taining of a pledge from the Remington Rem-ington Arms company that it would support legislation for a uniform law In the several states to "control the sale, ownership, possession and use" of pistols and revolvers. Frank O. Lowden of Illinois called the attention of the commission to the tremendous power of organized crime, declaring this to be a new problem confronting civilization. District Attorney Banton of New York deprecated "sob stuff" and urged the vast importance of speedy justice. jus-tice. "A crime not tried within sis months of its commission," said he, 'loses over 50 per cent of its triable value. Today, as a result of a clearing clear-ing of the dockets by more courts and more judges, I can try any man in New York county within three weeks of his plea. Two thousand and ninety-eight cases have been disposed of since January 1, with the result that New York is no longer popular with criminals. You can do that anywhere In the United States. We did it by Just plugging away at the situation, by getting more Judges, and by having hav-ing a sufficient number of grand Juries. I begged the newspapers of New York to give as much space to the efforts to suppress crime as they did to crime committed. They replied re-plied that they would print it. They did. The result of this publicity was equal to 2,000 extra policemen and ten extra judges." This National Crime commission, it may be remembered, has for menjbers some of the country's most eminent men and women, including former Ambassador Richard Washburn Child, Newtn D. Baker, Herbert S. Hadley, Mrs. Richard Derby (daughter of Colonel Roosevelt), Gen. James A. Drain, Truhee F. Davison, Charles E. Hughes, Mrs. Carrie Chapman Catt, Senator Charles S. Deneen, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Charles S. Whitman, 3overnor Winant of New Hampshire, sad Judge Marcus Kavanagh and Henry Barrett Chamberlin of Chicago. Chica-go. The commission has been Investigating Inves-tigating for nine months and has concluded con-cluded there Is no panacea for crime, but that application of remedies rests 'With Individual states and individual citizens. Administration of justice, it finds, is the most pressing question. WHn'E Jfnj'or Dever of Chicago ' and District Attorney Olson were still quarreling about the responsibility respon-sibility for crime conditions in and "hout the city, the criminals demonstrated demon-strated their contempt for the law "nd its officers by assassinating an active assistant state's attorney and tjvo other men with whom he was sit-"nS sit-"nS In an automobile, one being a member of a liquor gang. The murderers mur-derers used a Thompson machine gun. a new weapon that seems likely to supplant the sawed-off shotgun. As has been the case each time the gangsters gang-sters have murdered a policeman In Chicago, the killing created a great furor and brought forth official assertions as-sertions that the criminals would be caught and hanged and the city cleaned of all their ilk. But that Job needs something more. Everyone conversant con-versant with the facts knows well that at the root of crime conditions In Chicago lie these things: Corrupt politics. Difficulty In getting convictions of criminals, due to the timidity and dishonesty of juries and to the hesitancy hesi-tancy of judges who fear reversals by an appellate court that pays too much attention to technicalities and petty legal quibbles. The ease with which the thugs, when convicted, get out of prison by the aid of a complaisant board of pardons par-dons and paroles. Of course the enemies of the Volstead Vol-stead act blame it for much of the lawlessness. That view is taken by the Chicago city council in a memorandum memo-randum submitted by It to the senate last week, asking for modification of the prohibition laws to permit the sale of beer and wines. WITH only four votes in the negative, nega-tive, the house passed the treasury treas-ury reorganization bill written by General Andrews, federal prohibition enforcement chief. It raises the prohibition pro-hibition unit and the customs service to the status of bureaus headed by commissioners appointed by the secretary sec-retary of the treasury. These bureaus, bu-reaus, with the coast guard, would be grouped under the direction of a single assistant secretary charged with supervision of prohibition enforcement. en-forcement. The measure also carries an amendment to place all except the highest prohibition officials under civil service regulations. T?RANCE made a new offer for the " funding of her debt to the United Unit-ed States Thursday which was entirely en-tirely satisfactory to the American debt commission and to President Coolidge. It was promptly signed by Secretary Mellon and Ambassador Berenger. How soon it will be ratified rati-fied by the American and French senates is problematical. The agreement provides for a payment pay-ment over sixty-two years of a grand total of $6,847,674,104, beginning with annual payments of $30,000,000 during dur-ing each of the first two years and running up to a maximum beginning with the seventeenth year of $125,-000,000. $125,-000,000. This is an increase of $627,-000,000 $627,-000,000 over the total payments offered off-ered in the Caillaux negotiations last September. The interest over the sixty-two year period amounts to an average of slightly more than 1 per cent. DEBT funding arrangements with Belgium, Latvia, Rumania, Es-thonia Es-thonia and Czechoslovakia all were ratified by the senate, and the President Presi-dent signed the Italian debt-funding bill passed the previous week. From London comes a story that leading international bankers are considering con-sidering a colossal plan for "the liquidation liqui-dation in one great ensemble of the problems of German reparations and the war debt in jther words, the whole question of" the intergovernmental intergovern-mental indebtedness left to the world as one of the aftermaths of the World war." The plan is somewhat hazy but it is based on the idea that the European debts to the United States, figured according to the settlements being made, would be not far from $3,750,000,000; that the securities to be Issued by the German railroads under the Dawes plan for about that amount could be marketed for more than $3,000,000,000 if the various nations na-tions would make these bonds free of taxes, and that the yield could be turned over to the allies entitled to reparations and paid by them to the United States in settlement of all debts. Thus all reparations arrangements arrange-ments and debt-funding agreements would be wiped out. GERMANY and Russia have signed a treaty of amity and neufVality that will have a far-reaching effect on European affairs. The two nations pledge mutual neutrality, both military mili-tary and economic, should a third power declare war on either, actuated by motives of unprovoked aggression. ' German v promises to participate in no action against Russia directed by the League of Nations if the German representative in the league decides there are no proper grounds for Germany's Ger-many's participation. All disputes between the two nations arising from the present treaty, the Locarno accords ac-cords and Germany's entry into the league are to be submitted to a nonpartisan non-partisan court of arbitration. This treaty was filed with the secretariat of the league. According to London dispatches, an early result of the German-Russian pact will be a tripartite treaty between be-tween Russia, Germany and Lithuania. Lithu-ania. Among its objects will be the wiping out of the narrow corridor between be-tween Lithuania and Russia now held by Poland, and also the wiping out of the Danzig corridor by which Poland Po-land cuts Germany in two. It is understood, un-derstood, also, that Lithuania would restore the port of Memel to Germany, Ger-many, In return for which the Germans Ger-mans would build for Lithuania a new port on the Baltic. These changes would give the tripartite alliance a clear sweep from the North sea to the Pacific, and the northern Baltic states, which are hostile to Soviet Russia, would be isolated. PRESIDENT COOLIDGE Is worried by a prospective deficit of $21,-000,000 $21,-000,000 In 1927, and has again warned the- Republican leaders in congress that the legislative program must be kept within budget limits. He Is especially es-pecially opposed to legislation carrying carry-ing continuing appropriations for the future. He hinted that he might veto the Spanish war veterans' pension bill but it was believed he would not go to this length. FIGURES just made public by the Internal revenue bureau show that Income tax collections for March were $504,141,356, or $05,412,739 more than for March last year. New York showed the largest collection and Florida the greatest proportionate increase. in-crease. Returns lower than last year were made by Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, Alabama, Georgia, Geor-gia, New Mexico, Oregon and Hawaii. THE League of Nations proposes to call a conference to work out plans to cure the economic Ills of the world, and for the purpose of preparing prepar-ing for this meeting 37 leading economists econ-omists and labor leaders met last week In Geneva. Among them are three Americans, A. Gilbert of Boston, Bos-ton, David Houston and Allyn Young of Harvard. During the discussions Alberto De Stefani, the principal Italian delegate, raised the question of immigration restriction and called such restriction a menace to world peace. "I repeat," the Italian said, "the declaration I made in London when the Dawes plan was adopted. That is, that the most essential condition con-dition for the new era of peace Is complete liberty of movement of peoples peo-ples and products." The Japanese delegate, Sugimura, touched on racial equality, declaring it to be imperative that there should be no discrimination by any country against the ships or products or foreigners. for-eigners. DR. RODRIGO OCTAVIO of Brazil and Fernando G. Roa of Mexico, members of the Mexico-American special spe-cial claims commission, announced that they had decided against the United States in the Santa Ysabel case involving the massacre of American Amer-ican mining engineers by Villa's band In 1916. Judge E. B. Perry, the American member, dissented, denying this constituted a legal decision and declaring it would not be binding on the United States. Perry insinuated that the case had been prearranged behind his back, and the Mexicans were enraged by this. FORECLOSURE and sale of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul railroad was ordered by Federal Judge Wllkerson In Chicago. The sale will take place in Butte, Mont., the date and upset price to be announced an-nounced later. The wording of the decree gives all sides a chance to be heard in the bidding and the reorganization. reor-ganization. The railroad is a $750,-000.000 $750,-000.000 corporation. RTZA KUAN", one time private soldier, sol-dier, was formally crowned as Shall Pehlevi of Persia or rather he i crowned himself amid scenes of oriental pomp and splendor. Those who know him believe he will bring Persia up to date and will establish a good government. lie comes of aristocratic stock and has an excellent excel-lent education. |