El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1915-02-12
POLITICAL BOSS IN THE MAKING;
Boys GANGS DEVELOP THE SYSTEM
How from the Street Up They Are COdded and Watched
Over by the Crooked Boss, Who Later Uses Them to
Keep Himself in Power; the Boss Their Friend,
and They Are Educated only to His Ideals.

the best Of gangs the rule holds:
stand bv a pal and don't squeal on
him." That is the answer. The law OF
the political and criminal underworld
is the law Of the gang.
When Johnnie is first allowed to go
out to play, his instinct is to seek out
other boys. He wanders up and down
his street, making acquaintance
friendly or fistic, with others VINO
have escaped for a brief period from
maternal discipline into the free out
lawrv of the pavements and back yards.
One or two Of them organize a game
together-spies and outpOSts, probably,
since the modern boy is nothing If not
I'D to date-and the gang is begun. 1t
grows as other boys are attracted by
the games.
The gang very quickly develops itself
as an alliance OF mutual OtIence ana
defence against the gang in the next
street There the principle of loyalty
comes in. The boy learns to stand by
his gang and all its members, and the
gang in turn stands behind him and in
vests him with its prestige and power
How the Politician Gets Hold.
The gang soon gets beyond the point
where it is able to satisfy all its own
wants, however, as the boys grow older.
They begin to organize athletic teams
"a baseball team, football team-and
the old interstreet rivalry Of mutual re-
wings over the back fences, ending IN
system of challenges and team contests.
The gang begins to need the use of an
open lot in which to practice. 1t needs
bats balls, equipment of various sorts.
The boys have hung around the pool
room. and as a sort of common CLUB
center it may easily become Identified
in their minds with good time. They
begin to want money as well as prlVI-
leges, in other words. Where do they
get them
This is the critical point at which the
influence of the older gang leader
comes in. This is where the ward boss
gtes his control. Usually it is all quite
haphazard, and unconscious, naturally.
There is no particularly definite plan;
the system is largely an evolution OF
chance. But it is at this point that the
boy leader Of the gang, who has held
his place by means OF frequently
proved ability to lick any Teller who
said he couldn't" gives way to the old
er leader who gets the boys the privi-
leges they want to whom they become
indebted, and to whom they learn to
look upon as their hero. The man who
does favors for the gang is the man
who gets a hold on its boys.
Where Citizens Fail.
There is tie point at which the rep
utable citizen, who prides himself on
fightfuc for reforms after the vicious
system is well started, has usually
failed. He had no time TO concern him
self with boys. But the politician who
had something to gain by it has found
it worth while to take the time.
How Bad Gangs Arc Made.
Sometimes the boys who make up
gang are bad; they come from bad en-
virOnments, and the people who nave
formed their minds have been bad eX-
awples. More often the boys are simply
full of healthy mischief. mere indirect
ed energy. 1t Is very rarely that they
have an absolutely vicious character
at the start. That is grated upon them
by the sort Of leadership under which
they come.
Nine times out Of TO- the older boy or
the man who has gained an influence
over the gang becomes active directly
or indirectly in politics The older boy
is most likely to grow up and take
place in his ward or district organize
ton. So he Is almost certain to be an
agent of the machine. carrying out its
policies indirectly. The man who more
than any other has been interested in
the protection Of the machine has been
the keeper of a saloon or gambling
house or some other sort OF vicious re-
sort. He depends also on the intimacy
of the boys who are becoming young
men, and so the circle is made com
plete.
He has learned by experience the
value OF one thing-sOcial relationship,
the appeal to human nature. He knows
the value of doing favors for people
That is why the refOrmer, later on,
finds it so difficult to thrill political
audiences with a call to Righteousness
and really make it work in the life Of
the district. He is fighting a subtle as
ISOLATION, developed gradually and very
much by chance, Of men banded to-
gether under a boss who has done them
good turns, helped them out of sCrapes,
got them things they wanted.
Criminals in the Making.
Take the case of the gang under the
influence of the man who runs the cor
ner saloon, because the citizens with
better ideals have neglected to take the
trouble to get hold Of the boys. They
begin to develop wants according to
the environment Of their daily life.
Practically every one of these wants
represents a need for money. Where
do they get it, What they cannot get
at home, the saloon man may begin &C
casionally to supply them in small
amounts. He knows he can afford it.
Then perhaps the desire. for money
brings one of the boys into trouble. He
has tried to steal the thing he wanted.
According to his experience, it is only
his misfortune if he gets caught. His
early offerings from the sidewalk fruit
stand have simply grown to a form that
attracts the attention of society. So he
becomes a legal offender.
The saloon man, the new controller of
the grownup gang, is the man who gets
him off. He uses his influence for the
boy. or he pays the fine and bushes the
matter up so that the family does not
hear of it. Immediately he gains
place in the mind not only of the boy
in trouble b11f ne ayrnT-rr Of