Statement on the Kidnapping of Charles Mattson,

The murder of the little Mattson boy has shocked the Nation. Every means at our command must be enlisted to capture and punish the perpetrator of this ghastly crime.

Attorney General Cummings informs me that he has offered a reward for information leading to the arrest of the criminal; and that the special agents of the Federal bureau of investigation of the Department of Justice are engaged in a search which will be pursued relentlessly and will not be terminated until the murderer is caught.

I bespeak for the agents of the Department of Justice the continued and wholehearted cooperation of the local police and all other law enforcement agents in this necessary work.

A crime of this kind is renewed evidence of the need of sustained effort in dealing with the criminal menace.