Evening Star Newspaper, July 30, 1933, Page 23

WORLD BUREAU TO FIGHT ~ CRIME GOAL OF POLICE Success of Experimental Work Thus Far Convinces Authorities of Many Lands of Its Efficiency. pressed that they organized the Inter- national Criminal Police Commission, with an office in Vienna. The tion, the offs) of the conference, represents the ort to establish a World Police Bureau, has gained some headway and has accumulated records and statistics. ‘Washington Headquarters Proposed. It has been proposed, however, that Washington be chosen as the locale of the proposed international bureau. For this several reasons have been advanced. The Department of Justice, | with its present Bureau of Criminal | Identificaticn, would naturally co- { operate. There are also other Federal | departments which might assist. The BY JOHN WALKER HARRINGTON. OW great is the need for globe- wide suppression of crime was vividly expressed here last week by foreign delegates to an in- ternational meeting of police officials at Chicago. The object of their sessions is to form a World Police Bu- reau for the collection and distribution of in“ormation concerning the powers that prey. They planned to assemble in the city where is now being held the Century of Progress Exposition in the hope that the years to come will develop new and still more efficient methods of combating those public enemies who migrate from country to country. The menace of the international eriminal has been increasing ever since | various commonwealths are jealous of the World War. American gangsters, | their police powers and there is in as so picturesquely told in the novels of | consequence no national police in this the late Edgar Wallace, are invading | country, as in European countries. England. Driven from their own coun- | Under the Constitution, however, the tries, famous evildoers cross and re- | Federal Government has authority to cross European borders. Hunted out of | coin money, to manage the mails, to the Continental cities they travel over | collect revenue bcth internal and from the ocean ferry and by hook and by|imports and to restrict immigration. crook find new haunts in New York, | All these activities require police work, Chicago, Mexico City, Buenos Aires and | although the law enforcement officers other large communities of the twin | are not designated as policemen. Americas. | The Secret Service, which was an @uch a concerted movement as that Army :ntelligence bureau during the planned in Chicago naturally recalls | Civil War, now devotes itself to arrest- that in the last century considerable ! ing counterfeiters and to similar ac- progress has been made in internation- | tivities. The pcst office inspectors, al warfare on the criminal element. really Federal police detectives, appre- Once many classes of lawbreakers were | hend persons who make unlawful use able to flee to countries -where, owing | of the mails, rob or Kkill postal em:. to the absence of extradition treaties, | ployes, steal letters or loot pe<t of:- it was impossible to arrest them. - | fices. The revenue officers who suppress faulters irom the United States had |illicit distilling or mconshining are in only to pass the Canadian border to|effect police detectives also. The same enjoy the riches of thievery undis- classification could be applied to coast turbed. Certain South American coun- | guards or officials who arrest smug- tries were havens of refuge for crim- | glers and to the dwindling forces of jnals from all parts of the world. To-|the prohibition units. The inspectors ward the close of the nineteenth cen-|of the Bureau of Immigration, which tury, however, the co-operation between | is under the Department of Labor, are the governments and police departments | charged with keeping out unwanted had heen steadily gaining. The pro- |aliens. All these bureaus of the Gov- moters of the World Bureau believe it | ernment have records of criminals will unify all civilized countries for an | which are of much value and- could intensive campaign against these foes|be made available for the use of a of society, no matter where they go. wo_;l;li-wlde org‘;nlnnun. 1 e ere are other more or less of Three Groups Represented. | groups of law enforcers in the United The organizations represented at the | States which might figure in the devel- Chicago conclave, in the order of seni- .opment of the bureau. Among these ority, are the International Association | are the Sheriffs and Police Officers of Police Chiefs, the International Po- | Association, the International Associa- lice Conference and the International tion of Pclicewomen, the Fraternal Criminal Police Commission. The Order of Police, which is virtually a Theadquarters of the first two are in the | union for policemen of the ranks, and United States, that of the association |the World Association of Detectives, in Detroit, at present, and that of the | Which enrolls private detectives. There conference in New York. Both have|is a limited and somewhat exclusive foreign members. The home of the|organization, the Internaticnal Asso third member of the group, the Inter- | Ciation of Identification. It is com national Criminal Police Commission, ‘ posed of experts in fingerprint analysis is Vienna. There are several other and in other means of identification leagues or associations of police and |by physical peculiarities. This last as- detectives in this country that might |sociation, technical and scientific, pub- be included when the plans of the or- | lishes bulletins and papers which would ganizers are further developed. give chronic brain fag to the average Oldest of the triad, the International | layman seeking to understand the dia- Association of Police Chle!slis théhgu;:- |grams and formulae reproduced. cesscr to the Naticnal Police efs” | 8 Union, which was founded in St. Louis | National Unity in Eurepe. in 1871. It was started with the idea| In European countries and, in fact, of standardizing police service, in-|in most nations throughout the world, creasing the tenure of office of the|the police are organized on a national members of the force and for the ex- |rather than on the local basis which change of informaticn about fugitives |obtains in the United States. They are from justice. It almost faded out in a |more or less military in their opera- few years, but was revived in 1893 at | tions. In France, Germany, Spain and THE, SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTO: D. C. JULY 30, 1833—PART TWO. Kidnapers Nation’s Disgrace Menace Steadily Growing—What Federal Government Has Done—-Drastic Laws Enacted. BY ROBERT ISHAM RANDOLPH, (Former Head of the Secret Six, Chicago’s Crime Commission.) (13 ERDICARIS alive or Raisull dead!” was_the challenge of Theodore Roosevelt to the Arab kidnaper who dared to hold a citizen of the United States for ransom—and Perdicaris was restored his liberty, alive. Raisull was a piker at the kidnaping racket and Theodore Roosevelt did not know that the Constitution of the United States would become impotent by amendment before another Roosevelt came into the executive office. P “Life, liberty and the pursuit of hap- piness” meant something as constitu- tional guarantees before the Constitu- tion was undermined by an amendment hat violated those principles and made law enforcement a mockery. The kid- naper is the loathsome spawn of the bootlegger; the richest government on has wasted untold millions of dollars in a vain effort to enforce an unenforceable law, yet has done noth- ing to kill the fruit of this folly. The amendment of the Volstead act and the repeal of the various State prohibi- tion enforcement acts has killed the beer racket, but nothing has been done to kill the racketeers. An army of men whose guns were for hire in an illegal industry, having been thrown out of that employment, have turned their peculiar talents and their anti- social organizations to the less danger- ous and more lucrative racket of kid- naping for ransom. Alcohol Runners Suspected. Kidnaping has followed kidnaping in recent months and where there have been any clues at all to the identity of the kidnap gang these often have pointed directly to alcohol runners, beer hustlers and other members of the bootleg army whose wide organization and secret hideaways for beer and hard tion from bootlegging to kidnaping. ‘When John (Jake the Barber) Factor. the former bootblack and barber of liquor fitted them for a quick trans:- | | branch to enact laws which had been! advocated in vain by a small group of | | citizens who had had experience in | fighting this loathsome crime. Sworn testimony of this group before |a House committee in Washington so { shocked the committeemen that they | went into executive session in_order that the public might not be shocked | by it; but the request for laws- with teeth in them, the death penalty for | such heinous crimes, was met by ~Drawn for The Sunday Star by Stockton Mulford. Some States have enacted drastic ?fl‘f‘&l - kidnapers. Utah pu-et: a ransom a capital offense, and Missouri, where have been Uu- larly frequent, now has a similar law on its statute books. When Walter H. McGee was arrested last month and charged, along with seven others, with the kidnap! of Miss Mary MCcElroy, daughter of the city manager of Kansas City, a Federal jury indicted the eight flmoneu But since the Missouri State w provides for the death penalty where the ral law does not. prisoners were turned over to tife State courts for trial. Still Local Problem. Kidnaping is still regarded as a local quibbles about State rights, the dan- |police problem, when the very nature gers of further centralization of Federal | of the crime puts it outside of the pulice power and the impropriety of further power of any locality. The methods invasions upon the police powers of the | of the kidnap gangs emphasize the dif- sovereign States. The Lindbergh baby | ficulty of fighting the menace locally. was found—dead. The kidnap and ex- | The gang usually selects a victim in a tortion laws were put upon the Fed- town in which the gang has no head- eral statute books, but the kidnapers of | quarters. Word is passed along to an- the Lindbergh baby wese never found,|other gang. which makes the actual ab- and no Federal machinery was ever set ' duction. Should the trail be picked up up to enforce the laws that a futile hor- | by local officials, the victim is immedi- ror had written. ately moved into another State and ‘Gen. Johnson Forceful and Likable Leader in U. S. __(Continued From First Page) | two contrasting principles are inex- | tricably and inevitably involved in this | experiment—public, collective control of | industry as against private, individual- | istic control. General Individualist. As between the two, Gen. Johnson in | his personal capacity is pretty surely | an individualist. Habitually, in the off- hand remarks with which a man re- | his personality. he is extremely indi- | viction. I'trol and direction, as the established | This is a uniq given into the keeping of another gang. And should the investigators meet with any success in following this maneuver, | the victim may be moved about from State to State and from gang to gang {until the trail is lost. The result is | that when likely suspects are picked up jand their rendezvous raided, there is | no evidence that would aid in a con- Industrial Program vidualist himself, and therefore I sus-| The impotenceof the local investiga- pect sympathetic with the individual- tors was given a bizarre twist in the istic ideal. Anyhow, that does not|kidnaping of young O'Connell. The arise here. The law says this is an|law enforcement officials of that local- emergency two-year measure, and for |ity are satellites of the O’Connell po- Gen. Johnson that settles it. Emer- litical machine, and therefore were un- gency it is. Two years it is. |able to call in any of the O’Connells But the other thing. permanent col- ' and question them, as would be done in lectivism, permanent Government con- | an ordinary kidnaping. ue case, yet it furnishes rule for industry in the United States|additional evidence that kidnaping is —that is going to knock at Gen. John- |8 crime that can be met successfully a meeting called at the World’s Fair in | Chicago. The same thought of world | co-operation dominated the meeting| then, as it does at the present moment. | This was stimulated by the progress made in identifying criminals other | than by photographs and descriptions. ‘The Bertillon system of measure- ments was being introduced, followed later by fingerprinting. Both methods, | being thoroughly scientific, made identi fication easier, and are used in descrip. tive circulars broadcast in this country | and sent to Europe and other parts of the world. The late Maj. Richard Syl- wvester, head of the District of Columbia police, was for 15 years the president of the International Associaticn of Police Chiefs. The headquarters, following the custom of having them in the cit§ where the president lived, were in Washington. Later they were at Wil-| mington, Del, for some years. The association has several thousand mem- bers, active, inective and honorary. As its membership fees are cnly $10 a year, it has never had a budget large enough to do extensive work. ‘Washington Bureau Established. Owing to its recommendation, how- ever, there was established in Wash- ington the Bureau of Criminal Identi- fication, with cffices in the Department of Justice. For the bureau's supp-rt Congress makes an annual appropria- tion, although, for' rcasons inherent in the system of American government, | that unit has never had an official status such as a similar one abroad might have had. The various States | are supposed to send in reports, statis- tics and fingerprints, photographs and | the like to this bureau, but they cannot | be compelled to do so by law. By the| | rests and convictions. other continental countries the police were once soldiers of the garrisons, from which they were detailed to duty in the “polis” or city. The Anglo-Saxon idea provides essen- tially for peace officers under local control. In England, for instance, the police are appointed locally, although they are constantly being inspected by the central government or the home office to see that they maintain their efficiency. Scotland Yard, it is always noted, proceeds with great tact and consideration when operating outside of London. It handles the provincial police officials gently. The American police, in asserting independence of Federal and State control, are even more insistent than are the English provincials. It was many a long year before the police of New York City could be induced to wear uniforms, which they objected to as liveries which only servants could be expected to don. Among the American police depart- ments of the cities there is already much effective co-operation. The New York City Police Department especially excels in its helpfulness and courtesies extended to the police of this country and those of foreign lands. Its Bu- reau of Criminal Identification now has more than 1,000,000 fingerprints, be- sides hundreds of thousands of photo- graphs and huge piles of records of All this is cessible alike to the constable from Yaphank or to the high constables of London. Fingerprints Exchanged. Between New York and Scotland Yard there is constant communication, especially in recent years, with the Chicago’'s West Side, recently was seized by kidnapers on his first venture | from the city in many weeks, it was the hoodlums of Roger Touhey’s gang of beer hustlers that the police first suspected of the crime. And this sus- picion persisted despite the charge made by the British consul and a law- yer representing the British Crown that | flects his unconscious mind, the gen- eral speaks of this as “self-government | by industry.” Once, asked whether the | experiment might be adopted perma- nently, he said, with no particular con- centration of thought, “Oh, it's just | possible the experiment may develcp some few things that we may all want to | keep.” For him, all this about perma- the whole kidnaping was a hoax staged | nence is settled in the law. The law to enable Factor to escape possible ex- says the whole mechanism must come ' tradition to England, where he is|to an end in two years after enactment. | wanted to stand trial on a charge of | The provision for licensing businesses, swindling British investors out of $7.- | and giving power to revoke the license— 000,000. | which 1is the “teeth” of the measure, It was largely to the bootleg under- the pistol in the Government’s hip world that the O’'Connell brothers, who | pocket—that part of the law comes to have dominated the Democratic party | an end in one year. in Albany for a dozen years, turned for | This limitation of time means that help when John J. O'Connell, jr., 23- | the law intends the experiment to be ! year-old scion of the O'Conneil clan. | merely for the emergency. Therefore was kidnaped from his automobile di- as an emergency measure only will Gen. rectly in front of his home early in|Johnson administer it. It is like Gen. the morning of July 7. | Johnson's early experience in the Through most of the prohibition era Great War. He wrote the draft law bootleg gangs have warred among Mainly and carried it out wholly. (It! themselves, have kidnaped the leaders | Was his extraordinary success at that of rival gangs and held them for ran- | that caused him to be chosen to help som. Their virtual immunity from ar- | Co-ordinate industry through the War Test and prosecution and the approach- | Industries Board. And it was his ex- ing doom of their profits from -prohi- | Perience with the War Industries Board, | bition encouraged them to widen their | Chiefly, that caused him to be selected kidnaping _activities. Decent citizens | for his present job.) | were captured and held for ransoms,| :nnd Lhepvery organization of the boot- | Sympathetic to Draft, leg gangs and their connection with| The draft in the war was conscrip- tion for a limited time, for an emer- other gangs in other States made cap- | ture difficult. g;xmy!.l Gen. .vohnu;a administered it . le was sympathetic to it. Per- 1931 Kidnapings Recorded. manent conscription for a permanent Chief of Police Joseph Gerk of St., standing Army would have been dif- | Louis gathered statistics showing that | ferent. If that had been decreed, no there were 203 kidnapings for ransom | doubt he would have carried it out as | in 1931, and “at least 10 times that|3n Army man should. But I doubt | number ‘not reported.” It has been es- | Mmuch if he would have sympathized | | the country, | ernment. son’s door every minute of every d And also_at night. It won't merely knock. It will raise the windows. creep in the second story, rise through the cracks of the floor, come down the chimney. It is in the nature of the case that this should be so. Gen. Johnson, and the law, is making rules for in- dustry. Rules tend to crystallize. Bu- reaus set up for emergency tend to cling. Industry itself will be modi- fied inevitably toward the mold of col- lectivism. Will Require Aggression. To prevent this experiment from be- | coming permanent collectivism in one degree or another, to cut it off in two years, will require aggressive action on the part of somebody—the President, the Democratic party. leaders of thought—scmebody or some group or some party. & Tendency toward permanence of this experiment is inherent in the nature to of it. Further than that, tendency to- ward collectivism is abroad in the world everywhere. Moreover, Washington_departments wish for per- manent collectivism. Some of the “brain trust” wish for it and the pro- gressives or radftals who hold strategic key places here and there in the Gov- They sincerely believe in col- lectivism as desirable and also inevita- ble—as made n by the present stage in the evolution of society. They believe in it, and from day to day will give this emergency experiment a push here, a shove there, that will tend to make it permanent. Scmetime within the two years’ life of the measure a showdown between collectivism and the older American several high in various | |only by the Federal Government. | _In the days when the word of a | Roosevelt picked an American captive out of an Arabian desert, it was said that “Uncle Sam always gets his man.” | This is still true if the offense against Ithe Federal Government is counter- | feiting or robbing the United States | mails or any other offense against the | Government except that of Uncle Sam gets the bootlegger or the , banker for failure to file an income tax return, but he is impotent to get the | one for the violation of the eighteenth | amendment and not very diligent about getting the other for robbing his de- positors. He has set up the most effective secret service in the world to prevent and punish counterfeiting. and the finest bureau of investigation for other crimes agaist the Government, but John Citizen, who pays for all of this and is entitled under the Consti- tution to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, can’t expect any protection his person or his pocketbook from Uncle Sam if his local police force, which he also pays for, can’t provide it for him. ‘The kidnaper throws down a°chal- lenge to the Federal Government. The crime has become a national menace. Local police authority is impotent to cope with it, and where the State fails the obligation rests squarely on the Federal Government. The only cure i to strengthen the Bureau of Investi- gation. Appropriate more millions than 'lvrm wasted on %mhlblmn m‘mmemf necessary. and spend every of !it on the relentless pursuit, ptmzemnn{lon and punishment of the flends who Constitution, as generally interpreted, | number of international criminals in- the police powers are reserved to the creasing. The records of the famous States themselves, and therefore the | Engiish detective division are about as cc-operation of the police departments | extensive as those of the Bureau of of the various cities is voluntary. How- | Criminal Identification in New York's ever, the bureau has about 1,750,000 | timated that 2,000 persons paid ransom, With the notion of conscription for a| for release from abductors in 1930 and 1931. During those two years 400 cities }nn the United States reported kidnap- gs. And this menace has been steadily standing Army. In all the aspects of | ‘Theod t alive or Raisuli dead!” way is unavoidable. P e Naval Men in Hawaii fiingerprints and is adding to its col- | Jecticn approximately 200,000 a year. One of the obstacles to scientific and exact reporting of crimes and the gath- | ering of statistics has been the absence | of standarized classification. In some States, for instance, murders, man- slaughter and homicides are not so sharply defired as they should be. To advance a better means of classifying, the Committee of Uniform Crime Rec- ords was sponsored by the Association of | Police Chiefs. The funds for the re- | search required for the formulation of | an improved system were furnished by | the Bureau of Social Hygiene, which in turn is finarced by the Rockefeller Foundation. Among the objects of the Interna- | tional Association of Police Chiefs ar Closer official and_ personal relation- ship among the police at home and | abroad. Unity of action in police matters. levation of the standards of police institutions by urging the elimination | of politics. Extending the tenure of office in service. Detection and prevention of crime. Development of methods of identifi- eation of crimirals. Improvement of methods of identifi- tation and of disseminating information eoncerning criminals. Enright Founded Conference. Akin in its objects to the association, s the International Police Conference. It was organized as the National Police Conference in 1920 by Richard E. En- right. then commissioner of police in New York, and the following year took its present name. Mr. Enright threw his picturesque and forceful personality into the promotion of the conference, with the aid of several men of wealth. appointed by him as special deputy police commissioners. Its New habitation was at police headquarters snd a paid secretary looked after the details of its promotion. Annual meet- ings were held in New York for several years and then Mr. Enright and his supporters attended sessions in Rome and Parls. where the establishing of a ‘World Police Bureau was proposed. ‘The conference is supported almost | entirely by contributions from private | sources. Its most prominent backer is | Collier, for many years an en- | thusiast in the development of the po- lice, and at present special deputy po- lice commissioner for foreign affairs. He has been the host of the foreign | ds?-fl'“ on their visits to the United In Europe tracted much The Austrisn the -conference has at. attention in police circles. members were 80 im-| Police Department. It often happens that a criminal arrested here has an English record. He may be wanted by | Scotland Yard. Something in his man- ner, his speech or papers found in his possession when searched suggests to Commissioner Bolan's men that he came from some British city. His fin- gerprints are made and an especially characteristic one is selected, “from which a section is taken. In code lan- guage the specimen is described in a cable to Scotland Yard. In many cases identifications have been made gy the underseas route in two or three ours. By the same token. Scotland Yard may pick up a.New York gunman or gangster and send over a description of a print from one . The expert identifiers here have been known to complete an identification wituin a few minutes after the guery has been de- coded. The classii prints are so closely made that from a description the identifier may go to one special drawer out of hundreds cf such receptacles, then to a single port- folio and often to the identical p:int, if it is of record. Circulars descriptive of criminals | | sought are now very widely distributed. It is not unusual for the New York Po- lice Department to send out 15,000 cir- culars concerning & man or woman wanted. There is usually a phoio- graph, and in many instances actual| the fingerprints. . Similar circulars are em- ployed by the post office inspectors and other Federal agencies. They often result in arrests, both directly .and in- directly. Several years ago & man named Donald and his wife kidnaped a chauf- feur in Canada and York | Pol that McDonald wife were the arrested and his in Nevada criminals New York or fications of finger-| . growing. Now only the rich are mo- lested. But with the end of prohibition and the resulting loss of a livelihood to the huge bootleg army, it is not sensa- tionalism to predict that the crime of kidna) will become far more wide- spread than it is today and that thou- sands of members of our great middle- { class population will be kidnaped and held for whatever sum their families can raise. What has the Federal Government -done about it? Pessed two more laws— that’s all. There weren't any Federal laws against kidnaping for ransom or the use of the United States mails for purposes of extortion until public opin- ion, stirred by the kidnaping of the Lindbergh baby, forced the legislative new subject. his own text books. States, extradition proceedings are car- ried on through the Department of the belief of those advocating the founding of a world police burea that information of all more distriby master for his g is in process of through the ages linked with pioneer courage. of keep- ing records, standardizing the designa- tion of crimes and their could also be developed. In the same way punishment meted to offenders ;wnld be iul.hced n;l studied. 'lt‘he con- | ference at Chicago in any event throws much light on the conditions which have arisen from the doings of inter- national criminals and the necessity for “The forelgn police delegates, after o1 egates, a tour in New York, last Wednesday. on Thursday and uled to leave that city tonight for Pitts- lue back in New y to remain several formal reception by the mayor at the City Hall. By direction of Commissioner Bolan will be accorded the visi- the police methods. At they will examine the | great_vision.” His next appointment was water college. He was po smoked cigarettes. At the end Being jobless and without ing money, he wrote and publ sent for him. It was a good about his career. know now where he only a few men know or can tackle the nearest The future we have task caught the eye I(}t the dean of an Eastern If BY BRUCE BARTON ATTENDED a small dinner in honor of an_ educator. Twenty-five years ago this man had joined the faculty of his university as an instructor in what was then a He had neither precedents nor tools. It was necessary for him to map out his own course and create Year by year his program developed. Assistants were added and collateral courses established. Today he is the head of a large department, a recognized leader in his field. At the dinner the toastmaster referred to the “great vision” which had made it possible for him to “see his goal from the beginning” and build “so wisely and so well.” In responding, the educator said: “I thank the toast- renerous words. I can see that a noble myth creation. Doubtless my name will go down this story of vast vision and “That is a pleasant thought,” he continued smilingly, “and I would not discourage it. friends, and I must therefore speak the truth about this But we here tonight are He then proceeded to tell the amusing tale of 2 dozen “ifs.” His first job after leaving college was as teacher in a boys’ academy. If he had succeeded he would probably have remained there indefinitely, but he failed. Failure drove him back to his alma mater for a year of post-graduate work. an instructorship in a fresh- ular with the students, but his personal habits offended the straight-laced president. He of the year he was dismissed. If he had not smoked cigarettes. . . . &rospecta, he married. Need- a magazine article. It university, who he had not married he would not have been broke; if he had not been broke, and so on. speech and entertaining. I am moved to refer to it at this time because I have just recei letter from a recent college graduate who is much He wants to be sure to choose a will lead somewhere; he wants to look ahead; he wants to will be at 45. I hope I gave him the correct answer. I told him that i ioh that even guess at 22 where they will be at 45. I said that for most of us the only thing is to 45 leave to biacd wick d staying leave ‘WOrk an portion of lucky ifs: = Hail U. S. Building Plans HONOLULU, Hawail. — Announce- ment in Washington that the Navy De- partment will ask $75,000,000 of public Charge Will Be Made LONDON.—In the Kingsbridge dis- g £ i 2 g8 ! E ] 5 i B i : | E | ; ; § g? s g i s | % s EE: I i Ry 5 o 38 5 %8 PERU HAS 4 PRESIDENTS WITHIN SPACE OF 4 YEARS National Day Finds Different Chief . Executive at Head of Government During Trying Period. BY GASTON NERVAL. OR the fourth consecutive anni- versary, Peru's national day has found a different chief execu- tive at the head of the Peruviaa government. On July 28, 1930, Dictator-President Augusto B. Legula was still, and literally, reigning over the country, in the midst of his fourth presidential term. The following year the celebrations of the Peruvian na- tional anniversary were presided over by Provisional President Samanez Ocampo, after a series of short-lived, transitory governments which followed the overthrow of the Leguia dictator- ship by Col. Sanchez Cerro. July 28, 1932, found Col. Cerro, this time constitutionally elected, at the helm of the Peruvian ship of state. But July 28, this year, found still another man in the presidential chair. San- chez Cerro having been removed from the scene by an assassin’s bullet, Gen. Oscar R. Benavides is completing his term. 4 This fact illustrates the trying and exciting period through which the Pe- ruvian Republic has gone in the past few years. Begun as part of the gen- eral wave of reaction against absolut- ism which, precipitated by the world economic depression, swept Latin-Amer- ica in 1930 and 1931, this chapter has undoubtedly been the most eventful one in contemporary Peruvian history. In August, 1930, the autocratic 11- year rule of Leguia was brought to a dramatic end by the armed uprising of the southern military forces. under Col. Sanchez Cerro. Overwhelmingly supported by the ple, the rebellion had no major difficulty in rendering Leguia powerless and in sending him from the Pizarro palace to the na- tional penitentiary to pay for his po- litical errors and maladministration of the public funds. Sanchez Cerro Hailed. At first Sanchez Cerro was, of course, hailed as the savior of the country. The old conservative elements praised him for the restoration of public liberties and the end of a personalistic dicator- ship. ‘The middle class—the professionals, the business men, the intellectuals, the liberels and all independent groups— welcomed him as their deliverer from an odious regime which had trampled down individual liberties and almost monopolized business activities. Finally, the more radical elements, the sectors of the left, which, during the 11 years of the dictatorship, had lived literally ‘“under the ground,” were no less enthusiastic and optimistic in their hopes for the future. They were confident that Sanchez Cerro, succeeding a regime of absolutism and special privileges, would bring about a new order, in which social justice and modern trends for the nationalization of natural resources would be given greater consideration. But this optimism did not last long. Soon Sanchez Cerro began to give the impression that his success amounted only to a change of masters for the Peruvian pecple. He prolonged martial law throughout | the republic, maintained press censor- ship, and even had recourse to the same old methods that the deposed ruler, Leguia, had employed for many years to stifle public opposition. Political “detenidos” again began to leave Peruvian ports, and others went to fill anew the prison of San Lorenzo. Naturally, it was.not long before his popularity began to wane. The first signs of discontent came in the form of strikes of workingmen and students, and bloodshed. And when rumors of his political ambitions were confirmed by his announcement that he intended to stand for election as Constitutional President for the regular five-year term, public opposition reached its climax. The outcome of an election held under the direction of the same person who was to be the chief candi- date was, of course, not difficult to ascertain in advance. Forced to Flee Country. ‘Two armed uprisings—one in the southern metropolis of Arequipa and another in the northern region—finally forced Provisional President Sanchez Cerro to hand in his resignation and fiee the country. His et from Peru, however, was fol- lowed by a series of internal upsets which demoralized the country and offered fertile ground for the propaga- tion of radical tendencies. Three sub- sequent armed uprisings resulted in an equal number of changes in the execu- tive. It was not until the colorless regime of Samanez Ocampo had suc- ceeded in restoring governmental sta- | which in some cases resulted in violence | bility, that the constitutional elections ded by the people could be called. by that time, the sectors of the left to such an extent become organized and spread their propaganda, that the cogservative elements, headed by the old Civilista party, fcund themselves, when the presidential electicns of Octo- ber, 1931, were only a few months away, before an enemy much more powerful than thev had expected. Alarmed by the possibilities of a radical victory, they recalled Sanchez Cerro from his exile. and impressing upon the Peruvian people, and particularly upon the mid- dle class, that he was the only guaran- tee against the “atrocities and excesses™ of a “red government,” they succeeded in having him nominated a presidential candidate. Against him stood Haya de la Torre, ta\"x:::er of the Apr: p‘.ny, ‘who ldvtl)- cated a united front of working people for a more equital and intellectuals distribution of wealth and the exploita- tion of natural resources by national But, had Align Behind Sanchez Cerro. Frightened by the tone of the Aprista electoral campaign, not only the conservatives, but the middle class, the professional groups, the army, the church, all the crganized factions which still control Peruvian politics, aligned themselves behind Sanchez Cerro and gave him their votes. They went to him because he was the enly one able to maintain order and to head a con- stitutional government which would protect and preserve the existing order of things. And because they knew he would have the support of the armed forces to do so. Thus, July 28, 1932, found Col. San- chez Cerro presiding over the des- tinies of the Peruvian Republic. But this time his regime was not different from his previous one. New persecu- tions, new martial laws, new political prisoners, new oppressions, until, & few months ago, the gun of a fanatic Aprista put an end to his sensational career. And so July 28, 1933, found ;’ ]l:v man, Gen. Benavides, at the The 112th year of Peruvian inde- Eendence will probably be remembered )y two outstanding events: One inter- nal and the other external. ‘The first one is the enactment of a new constitution, the product of more than a whole year’s debate by the Constitutional Assembly called for that purpose. Although originally in- tended to satisfy national aspirations for a more liberal and progressive gov- ernment, the new constitution bears a striking resemblance to that written in 1920, in the dawn of the Leguia dictatorship. Consequently, it has caused much disappointment, received much criticism, and it might some day be the cause of new and bitter internecine disturbances. Legislative System Retained. Under the new charter, the tradi- tional two-chamber legislative system is preserved with a senate composed of oy Congress Snd 1. clected By poputar y an el by vote. Individual rights and guaran- tles are safeguarded on paper, as they were under the Leguia regime, but no means of control are afforded to check the abuses of an autocratic government. Freedom of conscience and the right of the individual to express his opinion on any subject | are conceded. but “in harmony with existing laws.” ‘Women are not allowed to vote. As { for political liberties, the existence of the werful Apra organization—a youl movement which seeks a “new deal” for the ivian masses and a continental-wide social reform—has re- sulted in the insertion in the new constitution of clauses such as the fol- lowing: “The state does not the legal existence of political parties of an international character. All | those belonging to such parties are dis- qualified from holding public office.” But for more than anything else, the year which has just concluded for Peru will be remembered by the armed conflict with Colombia over the Leti- cia territory. Beginning with the sud- den dramatic seizure of that little Co- lombian port on the Amazon River by Peruvian irregulars, and following with a series of armed skirmishes between the military forces of both countries, this “unofficial” war threatened for a moment the whole peace machinery of the world. Its adjuStment, by the League of Nations, is now affording an opportunity for a new experiment in world affairs, the employment of an international army at the service of the League to aid in the peaceful set- tlement of conflicts. (Copyright, 1933.) Departure From the Gold Standard Adds Life to -South African Mines JOHANNESBURG, South Africa— It is estimated that the life of the gold mines of the Wirwatersrand, the largest producing mines in the world, has been | development increased by an from 40 to 60 years by South rica’s departure frcm the gold standard. ‘This is explained paradox by the fact that the mines now enjoy a premium of more than $8 an ounce, -| which will enable the very low grades of ore to be worked at a profit. In other words, the way is now open to the greatest development the indus- ogu'yhuhldslncemedheovery:: the cyanide process of, extraction 1895, which caused the great kaffir boom of that period. Profits Greatly Increased. For Baptismal Water ubebuent Mining executives state quite plainly that attention will now be directed not to the highest grades of ore, which yield profit at any time, but to the of the lowest grades, which, without the present premium, could only be worked at heavy loss. The results of this policy will be twofold. In the first place, the life of the mines will be greatly —to the ultimate benefit of the coun- try and of the industry itself, and in the second place, it will greatly lower immediate profits, on which extrava- gant hopes had been placed by feath- er-brained speculators. ‘Two Major Factors, ‘Two major factors can now affect these plans and profits. The first is a substantial rise in sterling, to which the South African i 4 EI g i g g 8 i troubles. mines depend on an abundant of cheap native labor, but as its im] the outlook s Wales Is Prince of Scotland; Little Known LONDON.—The novel suggestion made by some enthusiastic Scotsmen Title Is Discovered