A PEARL AMONG SWINE

Senator McKellar of the Senate Appropriations Committee protested yesterday that J. Edgar Hoover's "G" men were running wild with Government money, and he advocated a $225,000 slash in the Department of Justice allotment for the coming year. Mr. Hoover appeared in person to defend these charges, and insisted that any cut in governmental appropriation would encourage a new crime wave, as well as seriously hamper the Department's work.

At present the "G" men working under the Department of Justice have established a well-won reputation for honesty, integrity and above all efficiency. The slogan "They always get their man" is one which the facts and record of convictions bears out completely. To curtail the funds of an organization which has done as valuable work as it has, is inexcusable, especially when government money is flowing more liberally than it ever has before in the history of the nation. The "G" men are free from dirty politics and party "back-scratching" and for that reason the public can rest assured that money devoted to the cause of exterminating crime will not be spent unwisely. Funds extorted from the taxpayer should not be sunk in the briny waters of Passamaquoddy and withheld from the Justice Department's Bureau of Information at the same time. We are living in an administration of unprecedented liberality with public money and unwieldy bureaucracies. The alphabet has been twisted beyond recognition and 'Brain Trusters' have played havoc with age old American institutions, but the one shining light of usefulness and of service to the public is the "G" men under the leadership of Mr. Hoover. The American public owes it to itself to see that nothing is allowed to interfere with the work of this department.

Since Congress has recently passed several new crime laws such as the Extortion Statute, the Fugitive Law, the Stolen Property Law and the Crime Bill Series, it will put itself in a very embarrassing situation if it refuses to grant the money to finance the enforcement of these bills. It can not expect to increase the necessary duties and administration of the "G" men and at the same time withhold the funds to meet the added demands. The Florida canal was started with great excitement, but as soon as the initial fanfare had died down, funds were withdrawn, and the project temporarily abandoned. This must not happen to the Department of Justice, since the work has been begun admirably, and it would be utter folly to curtail its usefulness, just as it has reached the point where Americans are entitled to be extremely proud of it. If the Federal Government wishes to redeem itself, and for once carry through a large project without changing its mind, it should not haggle over $225,000.

Today the underworld fears and respects the "G" men, but the time must come when criminals and hardened gangsters will shudder at the very mention of Mr. Hoover and his cohorts. To cut down on the funds for this department would be to encourage crime and send a new wave of criminality to prey upon the public.