ABSTRACT
Some American criminals, law-enforcement officials, political figures, and plain citizens know from experience that a nationwide cartel and confederation of criminals was established in 1931 and that it is more powerful today than it ever has been. Some of them have denied the existence of the apparatus because they are members of it. Others have denied its existence because they profit from it. The Organized Crime Task Force of the President's Commission joined the ranks of these "social-problem perceivers." In devoting much of its volume to "educating the public," this group tried to create a social problem. The Task Force concluded, "Much of the public does not see or understand the effects of organized crime in society." This view was heartily accepted and published by the Commission because some Commission members, and some members of the executive staff, were part of the "uneducated" public. But, continuing the analogy, considerable segments of the public remain illiterate.
