of Governor Herbert R. O'Conor 349

LAW ENFORCEMENT PROBLEMS OF
NATIONAL DEFENSE

The Council of State Governments, Mayflower Hotel
January 21, 1941
Washington, D. C.

THE topic assigned me is that of "Law Enforcement Problems of National
Defense", but I find it difficult to discuss these problems without in some
measure involving the whole question of National Defense, and I trust it will
be understood if some of my remarks deal generally with that subject. However,
before undertaking to discuss the broad principles which, in my opinion, should
govern the relationship of the States and the National Government in defense
matters, it should be of interest to outline briefly just what the States have
done and are doing to aid the National Government in law enforcement as ap-
plied to National Defense.

Under the sponsorship of "the Department of Justice, the Federal-State
conference was held here in Washington the early part of last August, the im-
portance of the meeting being emphasized through the formal message of the
President of the United States which described the gathering as "the first in
the history of our Country to discuss common problems of National Defense".
In association with other governors of the Country, I had the privilege of
attending the conference and of presiding over one of the groups into which
the conference was divided.

The meeting was called by the Council of State Governments, the Gov-
ernors' Conference, the National Association of Attorneys General, and the
Interstate Commission on Crime, in cooperation with the Department of Justice.
It was attended by representatives of forty-six States, including fourteen Gov-
ernors, twenty-six State Attorneys General, the Attorney General and the
Solicitor General of the United States, representatives of the War, Navy, and
Labor Departments, and of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and other
State and Federal officials. »

Attorney General Robert H. Jackson sounded the keynote of the conference
in reminding those in attendance that the Country "looked to it's responsible
public officials to handle the problems of Federal and State law enforcement in
connection with the National Defense in an efficient and orderly manner. This
justifiable statement constituted a challenge to the best thought and study of
all in attendance.

The conference was divided into five sections, which dealt respectively
with the protection of properties essential to National -Defense: espionage,
sedition, propaganda, mob violance, and civilian cooperation; treatment of
aliens; cooperation between the States and the Federal Government in National
Defense matters; and public education to secure the cooperation of all citizens
in furthering the National Defense Program.