he Malignant Enemy

Crime in the U.S. is certainly a matter of legitimate national concern, but its punishment -- and reduction -- is mainly up to state and local police and prosecutors. Although the Federal Government is limited in what it can do, President Johnson last week sent Congress a message urging that the Government do more than it has done.

Calling crime "a malignant enemy in America's midst," Johnson said: "Since 1940 the crime rate in this country has doubled. It has increased five times as fast as our population since 1958. The cost of operating our police departments has risen by 50% in the last five years." Adding to that picture, the FBI last week reported that from 1963 to 1964 the number of U.S. murders rose by 9%, forcible (as opposed to statutory) rape by 19%, aggravated assault by 18%, robbery by 12%.

Said Johnson: "Our streets must be safe. Our homes and places of business must be secure." To "arrest and reverse the trend," he called for new laws that would:

> Give the Federal Government more weapons with which to root out organized crime, which the President called "an entrenched national industry." One proposal, being drafted by the Justice Department, would grant the feds jurisdiction over "juice" (usurious loans), with interest rates some times ranging up to 20% a week, by which sharks and syndicates have milked and bankrupted laboring men and businesses. The Administration also urged passage of a bill sent to Congress by the Justice Department that would make arson a federal offense when the arsonist crosses a state line. This was aimed at racketeers, who, according to the National Board of Fire Underwriters, are believed to have been behind 124 business fires, in which insurance totaled $16 million, in 17 states in the past ten years.

> Tighten up controls over pill-type drugs. Last week the House passed, 402 to 0, and sent to the Senate a bill requiring that records be kept, from lab to drugstore, on sales of barbiturates ("goofballs") and amphetamines. Illicit sales of such drugs to persons under 21 could be punished by two years in prison and a $5,000 fine, v. one year in prison and a $1,000 fine at present. For the narcotics addict who peddles dope mainly to finance his habit, a civil commitment statute under preparation would provide for rehabilitation rather than incarceration. -- Halt mail-order sales of firearms to individuals (Lee Harvey Oswald got his assassination weapon through a mail-order house) and restrict the importation of surplus military weapons. -- Provide for increased training of local officers by federal law-enforcement agencies and finance research on improved justice and law enforcement on the local level. Federal grants for such purposes would be authorized by a "Law Enforcement Assistance Act."

The President declared that "the starting point for such efforts is the individual citizen. Law enforcement cannot succeed without the sustained interest of all citizens." Calling for some citizen help, Johnson announced that he will appoint two commissions. One would study crime in the District of Columbia, where serious crimes have increased more than twice as fast as the national rate. The other would conduct "a comprehensive, penetrating analysis of the origins and nature of crime in modern America," and report by mid-1966. Said Johnson: "The staggering cost of inaction makes it imperative that the task be undertaken."

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