1939: Crime

Incidence of Crime.

The American people can not yet afford to relax their vigilance in the struggle against crime. Approximately 1,500,000 crimes of murder, manslaughter, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny and auto theft came to the attention of the police in 1939. This criminality was essentially predatory in character since crimes against property accounted for 95.7 per cent of the total, whereas crimes against the person represented only 4.3 per cent of the total.

It is gratifying to note that there has been a downward tendency in crimes of violence. In 67 cities of over 100,000 population, fewer murders, manslaughters and aggravated assaults came to the attention of the police in 1939 than in any year since 1931. The number of robberies reported also shows a significant decline, being the second lowest in 1939 than in any year since 1931. Of the other crimes against property, only auto theft showed any decline. This dropped from a total of 64,143 reported in 1931 to 28,004 reported in 1939. Burglaries, which dropped from 50,921 in 1931 to 43,740 in 1936, climbed to 48,872 in 1931. Of two crimes, only larceny and rape, can it be said that crime is increasing. Larceny increased from 112,776 in 1931 to 130,978 in 1939; rape from 905 in 1931 to 1,343 in 1939.

Of the persons arrested for various crimes whose fingerprint cards were sent to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, 92.5 per cent were men and only 7.5 per cent were women. Masculine criminality exceeded feminine in all crimes except commercialized vice.

Crime is essentially a youthful occupation. More persons aged nineteen were arrested for all types of crime than persons in any other age group. About one-half of the persons arrested for burglary and auto theft, and one-third of those arrested for larceny and robbery were under twenty-one.

In proportion to population, many more Negroes were arrested in 1939 than whites and many more native-born whites than foreign-born whites. Of each 100,000 Negroes fifteen years of age or over, 1,187 were arrested in 1939 as compared with 462 native-born whites and 154 foreign born whites. Recidivist offenders accounted for a considerable portion of the crimes of 1939. Almost one-half of the persons arrested in 1939 already had fingerprint cards on file in the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Outstanding Crimes.

Miami, Florida.

The year 1939 produced a number of spectacular crimes which were the work of the professional criminal fraternity. Of this character was the Blackstone Hotel hold-up in Miami on Feb. 15, in which five thugs carrying sub-machine guns and pistols bound and gagged employees and guests of the hotel and escaped with jewelry valued at $150,000 and $50,000 in cash.

New York City.

Some spectacular successes against criminals were also recorded in 1939. Outstanding was the surrender to Federal authorities of Louis (Lepke) Buchhalter, who had been the object of an intensive manhunt and who was described by New York's District Attorney Dewey as the 'worst industrial racketeer in America' and the 'most dangerous criminal in the United States.' With his partner Jacob (Gurrah) Shapiro, Lepke headed a gang which was estimated to have taken a toll of $2,000,000 a year for several years from the smuggling of narcotics and from racketeering activities in connection with half a dozen major New York industries. Lepke was tried in the Federal Court on charges of conspiracy to violate the narcotics laws, and was found guilty. Lepke is wanted by District Attorney Dewey to answer charges arising from his racketeering activities.

Spectacular crimes in 1939 were not confined to professional 'gorillas' like Lepke. The socially, politically and financially great and powerful, the 'lords of creation,' also contributed some outstanding instances of social demoralization. Chief among these were Judge Martin T. Manton, who, until his resignation, was the senior Federal justice of the Southern District of New York and the tenth ranking justice of the United States. Judge Manton was convicted of conspiring in the sale of justice, of dispensing favorable judicial decisions in return for substantial cash payments. He was sentenced to two years' imprisonment and fined $10,000; and his conviction and sentence were upheld by a specially convened Appellate Court. Judge Manton was not the only member of the judiciary who stood before the bar of justice in 1939. Magistrate Rudich of New York City was dismissed by the Appellate Division and later disbarred on the basis of charges that he accepted cash payments in return for approval of fake bail bonds.

Judge Martin of the Kings County Court was acquitted of charges of having received a bribe from an abortionist tried by him. The effort to remove him was also unsuccessful, since the New York Senate, the removal body, voted 28-19 to keep him in office.

But judges are not the only ones occasionally faithless to their trust. Even university presidents are not above making a dishonest dollar. This is illustrated by the adventures of Joseph M. Smith, former president of Louisiana State University. In June, Smith resigned his presidency and fled to Canada. He was returned to Louisiana when investigation revealed that he had indulged in widespread speculation with university funds and securities. He pleaded guilty to various Federal and state charges of forgery, using the mails to defraud and income tax evasion. He received a minimum sentence of 10½ years' imprisonment. Several political figures were also involved.

One of the outstanding members of the financial fraternity who came before the criminal courts in 1939 was Stephen Paine, a member of the well known brokerage firm of Paine, Webber & Co. Paine was found guilty in the Federal Court, along with three codefendants, of conspiracy and using the mails to defraud three investment trusts of $1,000,000.

When judges, university presidents and bankers cannot resist the lure of dishonest dollars, it is not surprising that public officials and outstanding politicians also profit from their positions by illegal means. In New York, District Attorney Dewey brought to a successful conclusion the prosecution of 'Jimmy' Hines, the powerful Democratic district leader, which had been begun in 1938. On his second trial Hines was convicted of conspiracy and contriving a lottery. The jury believed the contention of the prosecution that Hines was a politician who had made crime safe for the racketeers controlling the policy game in New York.

Kansas City, Mo.

In Kansas City, Mo., Thomas J. Pendergast used his influence for a different purpose, namely, to secure the release of money of insurance companies impounded by a Federal Court. But a $315,000 payment to him in return for his influence was not reported in his income tax statement. This omission cost him a sentence of 1 year and 3 months in a Federal prison and a $10,000 fine. See also KANSAS CITY POLITICAL MACHINE.

Waterbury, Conn.

In Waterbury, Conn., the crimes of Mayor T. Frank Hayes and his twenty-one co-conspirators were much less subtle and far more serious. They were convicted of looting the city treasury. It was alleged that they had defrauded the city of over $1,000,000 between the years 1930 and 1937. Mayor Hayes was sentenced to 10-15 years in prison.

Un-American Activities.

The leaders of two outstanding anti-American organizations, the German-American Bund and the Communist Party, have followed the precedents set by the above public figures and have also apparently not hesitated to violate the laws when it suited their purposes. Earl R. Browder, the general secretary of the Communist Party and its candidate for President in 1936, was indicted by a Federal grand jury for using false statements in connection with applications for passports obtained by him.

Fritz Kuhn, the leader of the German-American Bund, was found guilty in the Court of General Sessions of grand larceny and forgery arising out of his misuse of organization funds. Kuhn was sentenced to 2½-5 years in Sing Sing Prison.

Outstanding Developments in Crime Control.

At the request of the President of the United States, a National Parole Conference was held in Washington on April 17 and 18 as 'a means of presenting the facts about parole, reaching agreement as to desirable standards and procedures in its administration and pointing the way to closer cooperation between the Federal Government and the governments of the several states.' Delegates from all over the country attended this congress. The major achievement of the congress was the drafting of a set of parole principles which, if realized by the various states, would do much to eliminate the current dissatisfaction with parole. These principles call for impartial, non-political, professionally competent parole boards, endowed with a broad authority and discretion in the determination of the time and conditions of a prisoner's release and operating on the basis of complete and reliable information concerning the personality of the prisoner. The principles stress the close relationship between parole and programs of training and treatment within the institution in which the prisoner is confined and the duties of the community to which he is released. The principles also underline the need for careful supervision of paroled offenders by qualified workers 'trained and experienced in the task of guiding social readjustment.'

Youth Justice Authority.

For many years it has been realized that one of the major problems of crime was presented by the adolescent offender. The criminality of the 16-20 year age group was higher than that of any other comparable group of the population. Crime careers also have a tendency to become definitely crystalized in the 'teen' years.

Since the usual age limit in most juvenile court laws is 16, no special provision is generally made for offenders in the 16-20 age group, who are treated as adult criminals. This was found to be unsatisfactory by the American Law Institute, which appointed a distinguished committee to devise new means of dealing with the adolescent offender. This Committee drafted a project for a Youth Justice Authority providing for an expert board of three persons to whom courts can send convicted offenders between the ages of 16 and 20. The Authority is given the right to keep the persons committed to its care until the age of 25 in institutions specially designed for their study, treatment and rehabilitation. The Authority is also authorized to use probation and parole methods for the offenders committed to its care.

This project of the American Law Institute is still in the formative stage of discussion, but if adopted as it is written at the present time, will undoubtedly revolutionize methods of dealing with adolescent offenders. See also JUVENILE DELINQUENCY.