◆ SpookStack

“t also provided a tool by which the federal government could investigate criminals who evaded state laws but had no cther federal violations. Finch became Commissioner of White Slavery Act Violations in 1912, and former Special Examiner A. Bruce Bielaski became the new Bureau of Investigation Chief. . Over the next few years, the number ‘of Special Agents grew to more than 300,.and these individuals were complemented by ‘another 300 support employees. Field offices existed from the Bureau’s inception. Each field operation was controlled by a Special Agent in Charge who was responsible to Washington. Most field offices were located in major cities. However, several were located near the Mexican border where they concentrated on smuggling, neutrality violations, and intelligence collection, often in connection with the Mexican revolution. - With the April 1917 entry of the United States into World War I during Woodrow Wilson’s administration, the Bureau’s work was increased again. As a result of the war, the Bureau acquired responsibility for the Espionage, Selective Service, and Sakctage Acts, and assisted the Department of Labor by investigating enemy aliens. During these years Special Agents with ceneral investigative experience and facility in certain languages augmented the Bureau. . William J. Flynn, former head of the Secret Service, became Director of the Bureau of Investigation in July 191$ and was the first to use that title. In October 1919, passage of the National Motor Vehicle Theft Act gave the Bureau of Investigation another tool by which to prosecute criminals who previously evaded the law by crossing state lines. With the return of the country to "normalcy" under President Warren Gc. Harding in 1921, the Bureau of Investigation returned to its pre-war role of fighting the few federal crimes. THE "LAWLESS" YEARS ; The years from 1921 to 1933 were sometimes cellec the "lawless years" because of gangsterism and the public Gisresard for Prohibition, which made it illegal to sell cr import intoxicating beverages. Prohibition crested’. new federal medium fer fightine crime. But the Department of the Treasury, not the Department of Justice, had jurisdiction for these violations. Attacking crimes that were federal in scope but local in jurisdiction called for creative solutions. The Bureau of Investigation had limited success using its narrow jurisdiction to investigate some of the criminals of "the gangster era." For example, it investigated Al Capone as a "fugitive federal witness." Federal investigation of a resurgent white supremacy movement also 3