Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-10-06
BY MILTON MACKAYE.

BY MILTON MACKAYE.
This is the first OF a series OF sir
consecutive articles TeDeGhng gang
don1's grip on professional boring
and disclosing the pert played bv
crooked politicians, gunner, boot
leggerS and Dic;ouS forces generally
IN the control OF pugilism and the
men in the ring.
ANGDOM dominates box
ing. The racketeers. the
beer runners, the alcohol
cookers, the thugs and
grafters and gorillas havemarched
in on the citadel of sport and
raised the black flag. Fair play
has been taken for a ride and
decency put on the spot.
Ten years ago New York State
BASED the Walker law which. after
years of intermittent outlawry ele-
Fated boxing to the plane of respect
ability and to the proportions of gilt
boxing to come into its own.
Boxing did, with New York City as
It's center The Walker law was, and
ho one can deny it, great break for
he fight profession. 1t pulled the
eport up out of the cutters and side
hlley clubs and set it down at table
With the dinner jackets. 1t made heroes
put of boys who ate with their knives
Ind millionaires out of buns. 1t led
he way to licensed and controlled
game, and other States followed.
Fortunes for Gunmen.
NT7HAT has been the result? Well, for
wv one thing, it has made fortunes
and easy pickings for gunner
Ind esperadces-gentlcmen Matched
into managers out of careers in crime.
And, for second thing, it has pre-
Esanted to the public an odorous series
e fixed fights, of victories By foul and
Eriumphs by ch!canery. There have
been events Of cdd and suspicious
character.
Ten years after, and that is the
panoramic view. There are honest
Fighters, of course. honest managers
and promoters. There are honest fights.
But the tip-off, as the police reporters
bay, is tnis-promoters lead their bally-
400 these days with the promise that
whatever may have happened in pre-
gious matches, this match Is on the
quare.
The inference is obvious, and the
facts are these: The sinister institu-
ion of gangdon has, like a repulsive
ropical plant, Powered up through the
profession until its tendriis reach out
o strange the sport. The rhetoric is
nelodrarnstic, but SO are the facts.
Big Gates Responsible.
Mooney, of couT5e, is responsible.
vi The big-time racketeers did not
- trif1e with boxing when purses
EYT1ifad fl1erTrccIypC
10 liquor ard dope and unmodifed
murder. But when boxing, legalized.
bloesomed INTO a goldpiece tree they
nuscled their way in with their little
hatchets as they muscle their way into
Everything else.
& 1t is part of the national picture.
Racketeering has corrupted courts and
The racketeers are forcing their way into
almost every line of business. And now
They have entered sport.
In the belief that the public should
know what is going on, it is planned
to present in series of articles, OF
(which this Is the first, frank picture
Df the present situation. 1t will not be
a pleasant picture, but it will be, above
all things, true one.
The purpose of this series is not to
sink boxing, but boxing. through its
Aexploiters. is sinking itself. Unless
#1IlEnQ6 Oh cHUIb Cdil JUN bAlNttlcCANLo
Into committees of rescue, unless the
gangsters. the gunner, the thieves. can
be kicked back in their own cutters,
there can be only one result-the boxing
laws in numerous States will be re-
pealed.
New York Law Twice Repealed.
=MIEw YORK STATE-and that State
~ Is made an example as so much
Of the boxing scandal arises in New
York City-has tried boxing three times.
The gamblers and takers took it over
30 years ago and the Horton law was
repealed. The sportsmen tried again.
The Frawley law was passed. Once
more the criminals splashed into the
picture and the Frawley law was re-
pealed. The third time has been no
charm.
The criminal has always been in EVIL
dence, but there has been definite
change. Petty thievery has given way
to big-time stuff.
The same forces that are behind
bootlegging are now behind crooked
boxing. The tie-up with the under
world Is definite and unmistakable. The
man who buys drink and the man
who buys a ticket to fight are often
pouring their money into the same
capacious pockets.
Bootleggers, dope peddlers, poultry
racketeerss control some of the most
important Boxers in the business. AT
least three famous fighters are owned
by men who have been or should be be-
hind bars. A number of near cham
pions are vaSsals of the overlords Of
crime. And all of these are pictured in
the more unreliable prints as opponents
of the manly art" heroes for red
blooded k'-|~'''"an youth to emulate.
Behind the Scenes.
FLAKE fights are difficult proof.
l. Gargster connections are difficult
of proof. since r1usclemen rarelv
sign contracts But this Certainly is
trr>. There is one clique now active
in New York which not only is powerful
in boxing. but which is allied with many
subversive influences there.
Pin down its personnel and you have
done mora than TO locate behind-Scenes
powers in boxing. You have also located
the musclemen who are heading the
alcohol trade, the musclemen who run
the shake down night clubs. the gentle
men who control the laundry racket.
the fiy-by-nigh taxi racket and i'm
mensely profitable trafflc in heroin
cocaine and morphine.
Just where this clique gets its power
cannot be stated. Power 1t undoubtedly
has. 1t is no secret tnat lJS poH-TS Bet
ahead Regardless of merit they are
featured in important matches and
cftentime7 they win. Now the syndl-
cate has a percentage on numb.r OF
prominent stars.
Why? Because these stars wanted
matches and weren't getting them. Now
they are getting them-they have in
fiuence and force behind them. Some
of the boxers are resentful OF thu
gratuitous split but they know bettel
than to complain.
Politics Plays Part.