The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-02-19
BOSTON DISMAYED BY REVELAT|ONO OF
 ITS WICKEDNESS
District Attorneys Said to Have Protected Systematic Scheme of BIackmailing.
 Citizens Shocked
ny EpMuNp HART
Special Correspondent of The AEe-Hera
 Copyright, 1929. by The Age.Herald)


 Special Correspondent of The AEe-Herald
 Copyright, 1929. by The Age-Heraldl
 Boston, February l8.-In the days when the muckraker thrived, pictur- ing the moral and political degrada- ton of other great American cities, Boston leaned bacf complacently and thanked the good Lord that she was not as others were. But times have changed, and now, reformed New San Francisco may point the finger of scorn at the Hub of the universe, writhing i'll it's own shame and cor ruption.
 Bostons condition today Is pitiable. Her troubles are not alone political and financial. It has recently brought to light that a coterie of unprinci- pied lawyers. working in colIusion with the district attorneys of the surrounding counties of Suffolk and MiddleseX, the former democrat and the latter a republican. have for years carried on systematic black mail on a scale hardly believable, cleaning ID a million from its dupes.
 The "Plunderbund" employed at tractive women of the underworld to ensnare wealthy men. They also had in their staff injured hus- bands and fake detectives" ready to appear in sensational raids. planned and timed by the gang, when evil dence was manufactured to be used in threatened suits. Most of their victims settled rather than face the shame of publicity, for amounts ranging from s1O.000 to s100,000.
 Threatened Indictment
 If the man or the woman in the case refused to come across" they were threatened with indictment and a public trial. The leaders of the crowd stood in with the prosecuting officials and they seemed to be able to use the district attorney and the great power of his office to force the payment of huge counsel fees which the evil doers divided. The dirty mess with clean hands. but 1t least one high police official 2f Cambridge was implicated and has been dismissed from the forces.
 Auto thieves, highwaymen. plum derers of widows and orphans, de- faulters, burglars, fake stock pr3- motors of the Ponzi type, inclueing Ponzi himself who mulcted the pub lie to the tune of millions in a few months, were allowed to go scotfree, provided they held them as a plum
  brought out in the trials of the dis trict attorneys transgressers were steered up against the gang and shaken down" for thousands of their ill-gotten gains.
 For a long time stories had been going the rounds of the way the gang were holding up public men. some of whom are known far and wide. The bigger the man and the l. the members of the group to get him into their clutches. The boldness and ostentation of the leaders was amazing. Some of them lived like royalty. spending lavishly. The pub lie smiled and refused to believe what 1t heard.
 Allen Elected
 Two years ago there was q lively contest for the republican nomina- ton for attorney general of Massa- oh usetts. The plunderbund was ac- tive against the nomination of the successful candidate, John Weston Allen, of Newton, a Yale graduate. who had worked his way through college. Mir. Allen was not long ir office before he began to move on the gang. His first bombshell which hit the center of their camp was the appointment of Kenry F. Hurtbut, prominent democrat and one of the leading lawyers of Boston, as spe- cial deputy to investigate why auto thieves were not tried by the district attorney of Middlesex. Mir. Hurtbut was not long in finding out and lay ing the facts before the court. In a short time some of the thieves who had settled and felt that they were secure, were convicted and sent to jail.
 Bomb Number two was fired when the attorney general filed long complaint against District Attorney Nathan W. Tufts of Middlesex coun- ty, asking the supreme judicial court to remove him from office. charging malfeasance, misfeasance. and non feasence in office. It caused a great sensation, rocking the old Bay state from the Berkshire to Cape Cod. Tn the hearing before the court, last ing several weeks. the rottenness of the district attorneys office was laid bare and the testimony offered by the attorney general made 1t plain that his next move would be in Suf- folk county. The corrupt gang stood in with both district attorneys.
 Removed District Attorney
 The court found Tufts guilty on several of the charges, disbelieved the latter's explanation of his large bank deposits. almost always in bills, and removed him from office. With the Tufts case out of the way, attorney general Allen moved on Joseph c. Pelletier, district attorney of Suffolk county. asking the court to remove him from office on prac- tically the same grounds as Tufts. After several delays, Pellitier was put on trial United States Senator Reed, of Missouri and Louis C. Boyle, formerly attorney general of Kan sas. were brought to Boston as coun- scl for the defense. The trial lasted several weeks. The decision has not