Evening star., 1932-06-19
BEER RACKET FOUNTAIN
OF ILLICIT GOLD In n. Y.
Conditions Prevailing in New York Are
Revealed in Story of Under.
world Rule.

are still feature of ward politics, and
countless are the variations played by
I these racketeers on the old chowder
party.
| Today the popular chowder party Is a
/ glorificaticn of the ball of other days,
and is usually described on the pro-
grams as reception, supper and
dance" 1t is sometimes held in the
ball rooms of the city's largest hotels.
These are graced by men and women
of fashion, who take politics seriously.
Here they meet on a common level
with other men and women of wealth,
the leaders of our aristocracy and their
bejeweled companions Pearl studs
match pearl studs. and one powdered
back is not different from another. 1t
takes more than a glance to tell them
apart.
admit Gentleman and Lady"
There is an indication Of cultural
progress in the tickets for our prohibi-
ton chowGers. They now read Admit
gentleman and lady" There has also
been an advance in price Ten dollars
is not uncommon. Box seats fetch
more. Here tie sky is the limit Most
owners of speakeasies buy a table seat
! ing 10. This is S100. He pays for a
card in the program. This is $25 or
$50 more. Sometimes the name and
address, den or speakeasy, of the ad-
vertiser is printed: but the modest and
knowing fellow is masked behind the
/ line: Compliments of a Friend" And
there are often 20 and more Friends"
represented by the same card.
During the first year or so Of prohi-
bition, while the Democrats had con-
troll of the greatest boon to organized
crime and corrupt politics, tie patrons
! OF choWder parties were still sought
within the boundary lines of the dis
trlct. With the passing of the Wilson
regime, many wheel horses of the Re-
publican machines in some of the five
counties within the City of New York
| began to make up for the eight lean
years. Right and left they passed the
hat, and the chowder boys of one dis
trlct invaded adjoining bailiwicks. If
TIA boys come from a distant part of
TOWN. the speakeasy owner might escape
with S25 levy for real or imaginary
ad. Eight or ten such payments in the
course OF year is not unusual. And
IN Manhattan many speakeasies paw
5000 and more for chowder tickets in
y months. The owner of a small East
SIDE speakeasy who spent nearly $500
IN this way in 1881 said: 1T was
money well spent. These chowder bows
chum with the Feds" In the white
I!ght district another said: Il pay $500
easily Tor tickets and ads for outings
and balls and at least another $500 for
dinner tickets. That means that this
Httle place gives up more than a thou
SAND bucks each year for this sort of
Inlng' Ig Some OF the still smaller fel-
lows part with $3.50 and more for
! ciloWoer partleS-Which few of them
attend
The Democratic "chowder BOYS" still
ccntlne their activities to their own
balliWicks. The annual tribute average
500 for each speakeasy.
The distributors and brewers are the
elite of the beer racket. They are free
from police interference; and it is rarely
that the prohibition agent makes even
pretense OF squirting at a brewery.
Inc brewer and the distributor eniovs
the highest of political protection. IN
nuentlal men in both political machines
are the fronts or flXers, for these two
divisions of the beer racket
The net profits of the distributors
on the 100000 half barrels delivered
annually in New York City are at least
S26,400,000. The brewers make s44,-
100000 or more.
What proportion of this $40 800. 900
goes to the political partners and pro-
tectors of the gangster- r-breWers and the
distributors is beyond approximation.
The distributors, after loading, cart
the barrels to garages, called drops.
Each truck holds 120 half barrels.
The distributors are many. There are
but few large organizations in New York
City. In one OF New Yorks police pre-
clncts at least eight distributors supply
I the Speakeasies. Another precinct is
known TO have seven. A third has three
or more
Special agents of the Government
not prohibition agents. as the honest
ones are uninformed and the corrupt
ones are untruthful-are authority for
the declaration that most gangster
killings in New York have been due
to personal feuds AS a rule, the slain
gangster had put the doub1e-cross on
MS bOss-to use an underworld phrase.
Sometimes threat to squeal, or an at
tempt to blackmail means death. New
Workers may thank the quadruple al
lance of the twin underworlds of crime
and corrupt politics, the police and the
prohibition agents, for the compare
lively few gangster killings. Save for
n,
cago, would have led our cities in gang
murders. as the beer racket is the chief
source of gangster feuds. 1t was only
in lack of organization that Chicago
surpassed the metropolis.
Wildcats Popular.
There are smaller rivals, called Wild
cat and alley breweries. Their num-
Der is a closely guarded secret. The
talk in the industry is that the Wild
cats produce at least twice as much
beer as the big breweries. Some esti-
mates place their output at 100000
half barrels The wildcats are housed
in old factories and garages. They have
become 50 popular throughout the coun-
try that one manufacturer specializeS
in making these miniature plants. Some
can be installed in small room.
The old-time brewers tried to crush
these illicit plants which have reduced
the annual consumption of near beer
from 5O,OO0,O00 to 100000 barrels.
Under the leadership of the Brewers
Board of Trade they began the fight
in 1920. Year after year they submitted
afidavits summarizing the evidence
gathered by detectives of the existence
of the beer racket with names, dates
and addresses. In 1927 they were about
tired of the empty promises of local
prohibition directors and the real
powers in Washington. 1t mattered not
who was President. But year before
the Coolidge administration came to
an end. they began to see results. Maj.
Mills, the prohibition director of New
York State. in Office less than a year,
was beginning to stop the flow of beer.
As Mills was getting in his swing. local
Republicans pleaded with Washington
to remove Mills. arguing that the party
in New York City could not survive
if Mills should dry up the town. This
was twaddle The party in the metropolis
has been only a shell for IS years or
more. Many Republican district leaders,
following the example of their Tam
many masters, turned bootleggers and
gamblers: some district clubs were used
to violate the law, as raids under two
no1ice commissioners disclosed Those