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i eee, C 6) CHICAGO DAILY TRIBUNE Fe 29, 1932, DGE WILKERSON AND CAPONE. =——— ‘The United Btates Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed unanimously the conviction of Alphonse Capone. In so doing the court bes underwritten and approved the conduct of the trial by Judge Wilkerson and the sentence of eleven years’ tn: prisonment which Judge Wilkerson tmposed. ‘The action of the higher court t# significant In connegtion with the opposition which has de-| veloped to Judge Wilkerson’s promotion to the Ap- ~“ pellate bench. Before Capone appeared for tria! an understanding bad been reached with the gov- ernment for pleas of guilty to some of the charges egainat bim. Capone thought, rightly or wrongly, that he was going to recetve a light sentence. Judge Wilkerson refused to become a party 10 such an arrangement. He served notice that if Capone wished to plead entity he must understand that no arrangements regarding hie sentence would be regarded as binding by the judge. Ac- cordingly, Capone pleaded not guilty, the jury re- turned It verdict and the judge imposed a sen: |} tence far more eeere than Capone had expected |' to receive. It would be a ing, in view of these cir- cumstances, if Capone and his criminal associstes id not ‘regard Judge Wilkerson as an enemy. It would be even more astonishing if men of gang- ster mentality did not seck to revenge themeeives upon the man they regard as their enemy. That they have done so is clear, They have not dared to employ their usual methods against the judge but they tuteve they can q wield against the judge's promotion. The opposi- | tion to the confirmation of Judge Wilkerson'a ap- polntment bas come, nominally, from labor, but the animating force in the opposition is gangdom and its desire for vengeance. Gangdom, as Chicago well knows, is not without ita political allies. They are to be found in every branch of the government, federal, atate and loce! Gangdom has key men fn office and organized vot- . ing strength. It ts not without significance In this connection that Capone was able to come to an undermanding regarding his sentence with the de- partment ST~Yustice. Today gangdom ts moving heaven and earth to punish the-man who defied its - leader and upset his arrangements. There is in the opposition to Judge Wilkerson's confirmation something more than a blind frenzy for revenge. If Judge Wilkerson is promoted the impotence of gangdom will have been revealed. if | the confirmation ts denied, every official, and par- ticularly every federal judge, will have received unmistakable notice that gangsters are not to be treated Hke ordinary defendants but as @ privileged Claas in the community. Those are the alte: which today confront the Unjted Statey perinte. att.