Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1912-08-30
ORIGIN OF THE eANesTER.
Gunman 10 No Novelty Nor Have His
Methods Changed Much.

ORIGIN OF THE GANGSTER.
Gunman 10 No Novelty Nor Have Hi,
Methods Changed Much.
Where did the gangster originate
Is he new genus of the human fam.
lily. unique and distinct, the out.
growth Of some condition peculiar tc
the locality where he has his being?
Is he product, an excrescence, az
1t were, Of modern civilization, de.
veloped by reason of the vicious
crowding together Of individuals in
the modern metropolis?
| Or, again, is the gangster merely
A., the logical result Of the combining OF
the criminal types Of many countries
and races into one homogeneous
whole?
| All these are questions which the
criminologists have been asking ever
since 1t became apparent, even to the
since 1t became apparent, even to the
defiant gunmen Of New York consti-
tute a menace to the fair name of
that city which could no longer be
ignored, or their acts explained away
on the theory that each was but the
individual daring Of desperate and
determined criminal. Instead, the
country has awakened to the fact that
in the nations metropolis exists an
organization, or rather a number of
more or less allied organizations, in
finitely complex in their details, yet
banded together with the single OBJ
ject Of exploiting the public.
The members Of these organizations
often battle among themselves. With
them murder Is little more than a
pastime. In place of the decalogue,
which they have necessarily rejected
as interfering with their scheme of
life, they have substituted a single
commandment, Thou shalt not
squeal!" And this they live up to
rigidly, In letter and spirit.
Outlaws all, they hold themselves
subject only to the rule of the game
as they play 1t. With the laws of
the state they have nothing to do. Be-
ing outside the protection of the law
themselves, they have recourse to their
own code-resistance of the law and
revenge-re- enforced by the revolver,
blackjack and knife.
But let the authorities seek to visit
retribution upon one of their number
for a criminal act and at once there
Is a rallying Of the forces Of the un-
derworld. Bribery, intimidation. sub
ornation Of perjury and when neces-
sary, even murder-all these are wea-
pons which the gangster uses when
one Of his brethren is in the tolls.
And in most cases the law is rem
dered powerless and ineffective. It Is
much like a man fighting in the dark
who persists in adhering to Marquis
Of Queensberry rules when he Is OPP
posed by a shrewd and cunning homi-
cidal maniac armed with pistol and
dirk.
The evolution Of the gang fighter
has been a phase Of urban life which
has long been puzzle to many, though
his aff1liation with certain brands Of
police ofiicials, gamblers and politi-
clans has gradually become apparent
to all. How else could the gangs and
their leaders-many Of whom appear
to be absolutely immune from police
| n ho nff hnl a
ly striking or shooting down innocent
persons in the street?
1t has been said-and there is am
pie evidence to bear out the state
ment-that for $500 man, who has
even a slight acquaintance among the
gangs, may purchase the commission
Of murder. :. And yet only a score or
so years ago there was but one class
Of gangster in New York. He was
generally merely a tough young man,
who would rather loaf around street
corners and drink beer from "growl-
err than work.
Rarely, indeed, was he capable Of
crime greater than petty thieving or
assault. The gangs Of which he was
member committed few depreda-
tions outside Of their own localities.
OF them all perhaps the most MOTOR
ious was the Whygo gang, whose
leader, Driscoll, many years ago was
hanged in the Tombs prison yard.
But these organizations were a
menace to the people Of their own
neighborhoods. Each was powerful
only in its own section. They corre-
spond to the criminal bands which
have existed in every large city from
time immemorial.
The New York gangster Of today,
on the contrary, has probably no COM
pletely analogous counterpart In any
other community in the world. He Is
essentially a product Of the crowding
together Of conglomerate races, and
more especially the result Of the Pc
culiar social and political conditions
that exist in the city where he has his
habitat. Yet he differs from the des-
perado Of other communities and other
lands only in degree.
While necessarily an outgrowth Of
urban life, the gangster Is neither Pc
culiar to any country nor any period
of time His prototypes may be found
in every land and every race under
the sun since the beginning Of history.
In the Paris of today there is the
Apache, a criminal who, perhaps, most
nearly approximates the "gunman" of
our own metropolis. In certain sections
Of the French capital the Apaches rule
supreme. For policeman or detective
to enter the purlius of their haunts un-
disguised or without a strong escort,
Is to invite sudden death.
A few centuries ago. in the period
following the battle Of Agincourt, 1t
was the "caboches" who ruled Paris.
And the "caboches" were neither more
nor less than a lawless association
formed by the butchers Of the French
metropolis for the purpose of levying
blackmail and the like on their wealth.
ier neighbors.
Other large cities in every part Of