Cruel Slavery
Sir: Cheers for your exposure of the evil operations of the Cosa Nostra [Aug. 22], particularly drug traffic. As a former narcotics court news reporter in Chicago, I can tell you that educated estimates attribute 50% to 80% of all crime to narcotics. It is a cruel form of slavery, and those addicted to heroin can seldom afford it without resorting to crime.
Since crime on the streets is a smoldering political issue, the Cosa Nostra and its narcotics traffic should be included as a root cause.
ROBERT G. MORGAN Hinsdale, Ill.
Sir: You neglected to mention that any Congressman who would vote against legalization of gambling and narcotics is a friend, a good friend, an absolutely necessary friend of La Cosa Nostra.
FRANKLIN J. HENRY Associate Professor of Sociology McMaster University Hamilton, Ont.
Sir: I read your article with mounting horror. There can be no effective solution to our urban problems so long as these communities are in the grip of L.C.N.
L.C.N. is a foreign pirate government at war with our nation. Americans who become citizens of the underground state of L.C.N. renounce their U.S. citizenship and the civil rights that go with it. Their renunciation, de facto though it may be, could open the legal door for the Government to plan a coordinated military attack on L.C.N. The Marines should deal with these latter-day Barbary pirates, not an understaffed FBI or 50 uncoordinated, oft-corrupt police forces.
W. M. WALLACE Bangkok
Sir: You wrote: "Most city and state police agencies are still not equipped to deal effectively with clever, well-financed conspiracies that extend across city and state lines . . . Besides, coordination among law-enforcement agencies at all levels is frequently weak or totally absent."
Why is it that the "bad guys" can always unite in strength, while the "good guys" never can? One of the reasons is our fanatical loyalty to the concept of states' rights, in which both groups associated with law—lawmakers (politicians) and law-enforcement agencies —are willing to pay any price to preserve their precious autonomies. The result is divisiveness and weakness in every area, from the shameful unevennesses in the quality of our various school systems to the failure of law-enforcement agencies to unite effectively. This is only part of the price we are willing to pay. But, fools that we are, we are willing.
CHARLES C. FITE JR. Hightstown, N.J.
Sir: TIME is probably right as to the survival of La Cosa Nostra "until there is a popular revolt." Precisely why public indignation is a prerequisite to the enforcement of law remains an enigma. I had supposed the protection of the public through legal processes was the fundamental excuse for a government's existence. But if the weapon of public indignation is required to "knock off" the new breed of gentle hoods, let us indignate now.
(THE REV.) CHARLES A. WHITE Claremont, Calif.