While the authority of the Federal
Government extends to but part of our vast system of national,
State, and local justice, yet the standards which the Federal
Government establishes have the most profound influence upon the
whole structure.
We are fortunate in the ability and integrity of our Federal
judges and attorneys. But the system which these officers are
called upon to administer is in many respects ill adapted to
present-day conditions. Its intricate and involved rules of
procedure have become the refuge of both big and little criminals.
There is a belief abroad that by invoking technicalities,
subterfuge, and delay, the ends of justice may be thwarted by
those who can pay the cost.
Reform, reorganization and strengthening of our whole judicial and
enforcement system, both in civil and criminal sides, have been
advocated for years by statesmen, judges, and bar associations.
First steps toward that end should not longer be delayed. Rigid
and expeditious justice is the first safeguard of freedom, the
basis of all ordered liberty, the vital force of progress. It must
not come to be in our Republic that it can be defeated by the
indifference of the citizen, by exploitation of the delays and
entanglements of the law, or by combinations of criminals. Justice
must not fail because the agencies of enforcement are either
delinquent or inefficiently organized.
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