experience in public and business affairs and appreciates the problems which confront State and Federal enforcement agencies. He believes that more Federal judges are needed in Michigan, and that terms of the district court, especially in the western district, should be held at more places than terms are now held. The governor thinks the places of holding Federal court are too widely separated. He calls attention to the fact that Grand Rapids, the only city in the lower peninsula where district court is held in the western district, is hundreds of miles distant from Marquette and Sault Ste. Marie, which are in the upper peninsula. He emphasizes this suggestion with the statement that the upper peninsula alone is larger than the combined area of four Eastern States-Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Jersey, and Delaware.

CONCLUSIONS

The investigation of law enforcement, court procedure, the trial of prohibition cases and related matters in Michigan, though brief and expeditious, has been intensely interesting to the writer, and numerous definite conclusions have resulted therefrom. Conclusions concerning some of the more important subjects will be summarized herein.

The prohibition laws are fairly well enforced except in Detroit and Wayne County, and in some other sections containing the larger cities. The percentage of convictions in Detroit and Wayne County is the lowest in the history of prohibition in Wayne County. Convictions in prohibition cases in the courts in that county have declined steadily since the first half of 1927.

Crime is on the increase in Michigan. There has been a gradual increase in the number of criminals for more than a decade, and the prison population of Michigan is the largest in the history of the State. The dockets are congested and the prisons are overcrowded. During 1927 and 1928 the courts of Michigan committed 138 persons to confinement in penal institutions for life, of which 78 were for murder, first degree, and 5 for murder, second degree. The last report of the commissioner of pardons and paroles discloses that violations of the liquor laws heads the list of crimes, with a substantial gain over the preceding biennium; larceny stands second, and breaking and entering comes third.

Many officials and other citizens are giving intelligent study to crime conditions and law enforcement. There is evidence of patriotic efforts to improve conditions and bring about a better observance of law. The legislature has shown a willingness to enact laws and create new agencies to cope with the criminal. A State crime commission has been created, and this agency seeks the cooperation of every other agency in the war on crime. A judicial council has been established to make a continuous study of all matters concerning the administration of justice. A modern and efficient code of criminal procedure has been adopted. Michigan is not trying to evade its responsibility. Intelligent study and patriotic efforts are being given to its problem. The satisfactory enforcement of the prohibition laws in Wayne County seems to be largely a Federal problem.