Empowered Under New Laws, G-Men Operate With Deadly Certainty vent Oun Owne Comssronnext Washington, June 12. been unheard of and cranks, amateurs; When on the night of May 11 Jand busybodies all took a hand in Federal agents boarded a fast plane the tree for all detective work which Glendale, California, for Louisville, followed. 'The limit was' reached'
Kentucky, with Thomas H, Robinson when the underworld itself was sp-'Kidnapper and female Impersonator) ented to and. serious suggestions their prisoner the last of the "pub-tore made that it might be sive He enemies" had been accounted for release AY Capone frm his, cell and the American people terrified by solve thie crime against society. the snatch racket" since that night' in. March, 1992, when the Lindberg Besinning of the End baby was taken from his cot can, The Lindbergh case was, however, breathe more freely. the beginning of the trid for the hid:
Two years ago American citizens uppers for an aroused country Brows:
armed' by kidnap threats were flee-rasure to Dear upon" Congress 10 ing abroad fog safety with their ass the so caled Lindberg Laws ehitdren, Those who could not leave the country hired special guards or ting the Federal Government as. thority over: any cave In which per placed specially manufactured grills font were tranaporied over State nes fon the nursery windows. Mothers which threats were sent, rane were ferried if children dawdled on Som' demands made' or blackmail their way from school. Not only templed' through use" of the Federal children but grown up men and Post. Later additional laws were women, were taken and held for ran-Passed making it Pedera cence to som, But Federal agents from the Tia Federat agent, crow a State Department of Justice gradually line ina stolen eer"or Tob 2 State Grew their net tighter and to-day they triumphed. Kidnapping has been made s0 hazardous a form of crime 1 Government power that criminals will think many times {o fight the kidnapping menace, but before they turn to it. The achiev they were hampered for a long time Edgar Hoover bby the terrorized condition to which of Investig the underworld had reduced the gen-complete as it is remarkable and fal public. If a number of peopl remarkable as it is complete, man shot down by gangitere their normal behaviour would be to Chronic Lawtessness OUt as fast as possible and keep Lawlessness in the United States the fact that they had seen the tas usually been treated as a chronic murder commited to themselves. condition, "It was traced back 10 The first reason for doing this was rough and ready life of the frontier that they feared the police would days, to the free and independent hold them in. prison og ""materis! spirit of the American people, who witnesses" unless they could pay founded their nation on. rebellion heavy bail, but a far more point against Iaws and had been revelling: reason was that they had absolutely against them ever since. One could no confidence in the ability of the almost detect a certain' complacent) Self-satisfaction in the voice of some police to. protect them. They had ead too many cases in the papers Americans as they dis of witnesses who had helped" tion, [secure the conviction of a. criminal owed with a spurious romance. When 'oF who were about to testify against ttle, boys "gangsters and some criminal suddenly disappearing cops" everybody wanted to be a or being found dead.
inister end the cops always lost.
The public had no confidence in its adult, in one important respect, local police and it took some time for the Federal agents to build up and" the. soft the necessary trust and reliance. At drink manufacturers had robbed him rst a family faced with a kidnapping of his God-given right to get drunk, tended to keep the matter quiet and Dit the gangster at considerable risk negotiate directly with the kidnap-to himself (and of course considerers only turning to the police able profit) enabled him. to enjoy ast resort, this outlawed Iiberty.
Crucial Case The Federal. men who went al the bootleggers did not come from the The turning point was the Ursche! Department of Justice but from the case of Oklahoma, At 1 am. on July, Treomy. Treasury men Analy tap: call was received in ped the noloriovs Al Capone and hed jon over the "Kidnap line," firn ghoted'on a charge of defrauding '7117. Mrs. Charles Urschel the. income" fax Burens. Public reported that ten minutes before her Sympathy was on the sids_ of the husband had been. kidnapped, thus fanaster and against the Teeastry giving the Federal agents (G-Men) a fying start. The first care of the While the public. ooked _with Bureau of Investigation was the sympathy on the boollegger or gane safety of Mr. Urschel and while earry-Ser and with pathy om the. efforts Ing out their investigation. Mrs. of me Government fo bring Nim Urschel was permitted to negotiate SUstce a losing war was being fought with the kidnappers and pay. them haninat rime The fist Tendinariein the $200,000 demanded in the ransom the. victory over. the organized note (The Lindbergh ransom was $50, minal wat the repeat of the Proki-000). On July 31, Mr. Urschel was tion Act which out hin off from pub released and the G-Men set to work in earnest.
Anilquated Police System 'Another reason for the success of the criminal and for the prevalence of lawlessness was the antiquated police system of the United States Crime had become streamlined while crime prevention was still in' the horse and buggy stage. The Federal Government had few potice powers. Under "the 18th Amendment the Federal Government was given concurrent powers with the State Governments to enforce prohibition but most crimes could be dealt with the States alone, and most States left criminals to be caught by local police authorities without the ald Stale police or State Criminal Investgation Departments. There are about 43,000 separate police agencies in the United States: most of them jealous of outside interference, shot through with politics and demoralized. by political influence or control. They form a sieve through which the criminal can easily" slip.
'New Jersey Is better organized than many States but the futility with which the Lindergh kidnapping ease' was surrounded made any immediate capture of the criminal responsible impossible. State police rushed on their motorcycles {o the Lindbergh home in droves, trampling every clue into the March mud. If they lett any section of ground untrodden, news paper men, photographers, and radio broadcast employees" completed the work, The normal routine of seienti~ fie crime investigation might have During his imprisonment Urschet had kept his wits about him. He was blindfolded and could not see where he was being carried, but he heard the roar of an aeroplane en; passing over the house twice a In opposite directions. One stormy day the morning plane was not hears. He also was able to tell the G-Men the approximate time at which he heard the planes. The G-Men communicated with all airlines operating within 600 miles of Oklahoma City and discovered that American Airways made two trips to Fort Worth, Texas, as described by Mr. Urschel and that they had missed one dai These planes passed a town known as Paradise (in Texss) at about the times noted by Mr. Urschel.
Mineral Water Clue Another fact noted by Mr. Urschel was that the water he was given to rink hag a strong mineral taste. He was given it in a tin cup without 3 handle and heard the water being drawn from a well near the house, An agent dressed as a farm labourer and wandered about Paradise asking fat various farm houses for work. At one house he noted well with a cup beside it which had no handle. He took a drink and noticed the wat had a mineral taste. At dawn the farm was raided. A man sleeping in the yard was covered before he could youre himself and reach for two automatics and a machine gun which lay beside him. He wes Harvey Bailey, a man with a long criminal
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