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Show I! MOTOR THEFTS I TOTALIS LARGE Losses Amount to Hundred Million Dollars Each Year in United States I f Motor car then in's in th I nlted I Btates every twentjr-fdur hours arc I I placed by authorities at more than ' p .T ii ii . start'.Kit: n iraK" of J 10". OOO.i ; h im ' -I'" ' 1 11 1 "; I i reater than the agjrrojrate loss by I c thefl of all other kinds of property., I This evil, which retnrds the progres- 1 sivc advance of almost every phase I and branch of the motor car Indus- I try, imposes a burdensome liability' ? upon owners and a great deal of work ? ,n.l i p. ii iii'i ti police ami state d - I partments, is today one of the most I i i-.iiitablo form.s oi lawlessness. It Ma u s law.- to ..lick the motor car I hofl and I ra ud evil 1 1 1 . been n -I acted. The majority of them carry f heavs penalties for violators, ami al-B al-B though many arn s,r made I throughout the country, convictions 1 seem difficult seouri . in any event, ? fewer than should be are uccomp-I uccomp-I iishod and no perceptible Blackening I ,, i : ie ia asness g generally ip-fc ip-fc parent. The wide variety of locks In use. I while having some retarding effect up- On Joy riders and amateur thieves, i cms to b inadequate pi otei tlon I i;aJnst professional thieves, who, as j I a rule, are skilled mechanics cleverly I idepi in picking, breaking or over-n over-n coming locks or other protective dV I vices, b State and city registrations and I of Identification ha,vi bi ought I little relief, due briefly to the lack of ? a national clearunce system, which I eaves it a comparatively easy matter I to alter the number and appearance I oi stolen cars and re-rcelster them ! r i ithoul detection. I Among many factors that largely 1 ontribun to making th thett and: D sale of motor vehicles a very profitable enterprise an I Garages where cars can be safely I -i on 'l a ad i ild Second-hand car dealers who rnn- I .lone lax methods or who arc dishonest f fences foi cai r Crooked politicians, crooked Insur- I ance adjusters and agents, p The accessibility ot Interstate travel B due to good roads. I The increasing number of cars each I year. ! Lax and unstandardized methods of j transfer and ownership of motor vo-I vo-I hides. I The case with which numbers and j; appearance of cars can be altered due I io the lack of any national clearance I system. Lax and unstandardized methods of transfer of ownership Of motor vc-' hides are, without doubt, the main basic factors largely supporting all Others in providing a market for stol-en stol-en cars. Bills of sale can be easily fkked or forged and even though re-i re-i elved from a friend or reputable d .1-r. .1-r. they do not prove that the car was j not stolen some time- in Us past or sold ! hile under mortgage, perhaps un- known to the last vendor, It seems apparent that no real mcas- , ure of relief can be expected, present lawS) locks and other protective de- I vices notwithstanding, as long as there 1 is a ready market for stolen cars Therefore, It becomes highly important import-ant that all efforts i. centered on the 1 destruction of this market. The Investigation conducted by the Interstate Motor Theft commission ; -disclosed that the best. If not the only logical way effectively to destroy the market for stolen cars la to standard-tee standard-tee transfer of ownership through a national clearance system. Therefore, umon" the main functions func-tions of the commission will be the operation of a national clearance sys- i tern perfected with the aid of experts In crime prevention and other author-1 author-1 ltles, providing for records of moior car registrations, stolen cars, sales It iiiv.u'ji,j, niuiitdgi: unu nun records rec-ords and other Important data, which j will, among other things .make it Impossible Im-possible to prevent to a large degree, the registration, sale or use of a stolen stol-en car without detection, anywhere in j tho United States, by providing nccur- j ate means for .ulckly detecting changes, chang-es, alterations in the numerical or phy- j leal Identification of a car. forged or faked bills of sale or mortgage releas- ' SS and other elements of fraud. It will also provide accurate means j for locating a great majority of the unrecovered cars stolen in the past few years, that arc still In operation In the I'nited Slates, as well as any car that may bo stolen in the future. This standardisation work, to be t arried on by tho commission, will not entail an radical changes, red tape complication or other demoralizing disruption of established procedure or routine, Coincident with other work, the commission will render any assistance possible to America's ten million motor mo-tor car owners and alJ others concern-, ed in or allied with, the motor car Industry, In-dustry, by helping to advance uniformity unifor-mity la usage, la v. : , . , pra, t In h, a ml -ocure proper consideration ind concentration con-centration of opinion upon all ques-Uooa ques-Uooa having to do with motor c;-. theft and fraud. |