El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1915-02-12

gang, al a. benefactor in addition to be-
ing a good fellow
The system develops perfectly natur-
ally. The boys have had certain IN
stincts and desires emphasized the
boss has made it easy for them TO
crafty their desires with impunlty.
Gangsters and Voters.
Johnnie since tile day he first went
out to play in the street, is man. Inc
first thing that the protector of Ihe
gang demands from Johnnie is his vote
and Johnnie wants and has to give It 10
him. He has developed a system in
trenched behind the, two strongest Tor
tifications that the political machine
has had-individual weakness and spe-
ciaI privilege.
Before Johnnie gets to the point
where he can vote, however, it may be
that he has become disqualified by
prison term. unless he has had unusual
luck He cannot vote in his own dis
trict. because his record is known. The
machine, however, needs his vote as
much as before, and it Is more than
ever incumbent upon Johnnie, who by
this time has perhaps gained the pic
turesdue distinction Of becoming
johnnie the Red" When he and any
Of his associates who have shared his
adventures with the same luck return
from prison, they have come at once to
the old haunts of the gang
Making Repeaters.
The brotherhood is more strongly ce-
mented than ever; they are more than
ever outlaws from society, and more
than ever dependent on each other and
upon the protection of the boss and the
machine. If they refuse its demands,
the next time they get into trouble no
body appears to lntercede Tor tnehl,
nobody pays their fines; nobody gets
their term shortened, if a sentence IS
not to be avoided; nobody receives
them when they come out and gives
them a start again.
Johnnie, however, is a convict; he
says he cannot vote. The boss replies
that he can vote in the next ward. Why
not2 He has broken one law; why not
another? And having done it once,
why not again2 The machine not only
needs his one vote; it needs as many
votes as he has time to give it. The
same is true for every other member
of the gang. Johnnie and his pals be-
come repeaters. They spend election
day luxuriously riding about in auto
mobiles from one district to another
voting to the politicians hearts con-
tent.
Finding Homes for Reporters.
Here comes in another natural Gle
ment of the district organization. The
boys gang, as the boys grow up, nat
urally becomes a social club. The boys
want to give parties and dances Of va
riOus sorts. and they want halls IN
Whihc to give them. The boss or the
Most of the shifting social clubs which
spring up for a time for the purpose Of
managing various dances and good
times, and disappear again, are simply
political gang organizations. The girls
VINO come to the dances become a con-
venient part of the system. They are
indebted to it as well as the boys, and
they see no reason for not helping to
make it possible for the boys to vote
where the machine needs to have them.
It is only one example, one of the more
pleasant ones of how the machine iden-
titles itself with every part of the life
of the community.
Having voted Illegally once and
found it easy, the gangster has no rea-
son for not keeping it up. If he is
caught at it, there is always somebody
to intercede for him whose influence
counts with the men in control to get
him off easily.
What Can He Done.
Boys clubs, the Boy Scouts, the Big
Brother movement, all these attempts
to substitute the personal influence Of
good citizens for the personal influence
Of bad citizens, have been striking at
the heart Of the system. in that they
are beginning at the essential work of
getting hold Of the boys. They have
discovered that it is too late to work
effectively if they wait to influence the
voters, and that the political system
has been founded consciously or I'M
consciously on getting the loyalty Of
the street gang. The problem is to get
that loyalty centered on social right in
stead of social wrong, to make it the
law of the gang to support the law of
the city.