A More Literate Government

I'm back from a couple of months interpreting code, where I stumbled - er - came across the following site.

The IRS says it can publish select Capone files under FOIA under the theory that since he never filed tax returns, there was nothing to keep confidential. In a less charitable mood, it strikes me that the released files are a good advertisement for a more glamorous line of work. It also strikes me that, at least in days gone by, a more literate approach to work was taken. Did our government really talk like this?

This could have been lifted from a James Ellroy novel:

"That Al Capone is shrewd, there is no doubt, which, togehter with his native Italian secretiveness, has made this case a most difficult on to handle. Al Capone never had a bank account and only on one occasion could it be found where he ever endorsed a check, all of his financial transactions being made in currency. Agents were unable to find where he had ever purchased any securities, therefore, any evidence secured had to be developed through the testimony of associates or others, which, through fear of personal injury, or loyalty, was most difficult to obtain."

Nice on the substantiation.

Also, the end of the document there is a neat recreation of Capone's income detailing partnership income allocations to his partners, including "town officials", income attributed from his wife (the IRS neatly created a joint return) as well as providing for deductions of somewhat obscure origin - $1.00 "for all years".