Evening star., 1932-06-05
SHALL THE UNDERWORLD
OF u. S. RULE NATION?
Rising Power of Gangdom May Lead
to Undermining of Cher
ished Ideals.
fContinued From First Page.)

knocking at the gates of hell by
asSassinS.
Since Merlo died the national toll OF
slain gangsters, including Malta chiefs
in Chicago, New York and elsewhere,
exceeds 5000. This Is the accepted
estimate. Some place it far higher,
but none below 5000. The endless dis
pute on crime statistics in this country
is due to a lack of complete informa-
ton in any centralized agency. The
best data is in the Bureau of 1nvesti-
cation of the Department OF Justice.
To this clearing house heads OF police
departments and sheriffS. representing
only 81 0O0,00O of the country's popu-
lation of $4,000 900, make monthly re-
ports. But it neither receives adequate
financial support from Congress nor
proper cooperation from the police OF
the Nation.
Doubled in Generation.
The most comprehensive statistics on
homicides are gathered by the Pruden-
tial Insurance Co.. and DR.. Frederick
L. Hoffman, famed scientist and sta
tistician. complies the CORY record. His
compilation for 1881 shows that the
homicide death rate has more than
doubled in a generation. In 1900 the
In 1881 it had jumped to 1908. The
rate in 164 cities was a point higher,
1909, nearly three times higher than
the average of So European cities, where
the ratio was 35 per 100000 popula-
ton. In IA of the largest cities OF
Canada the homicide rate was only
16. In London this was halved, the
rate there being O8. The three Italian
cities reporting showed the following:
Turin. 20; Milan, 35, and Rome, "A.
Now let us return to Merlo and the
Unione Siciliana section of the under
world; and listen to George E. @.
Johnson. United States attorney for
the Northern District of Illinois. To
hear him we must go back to the
morning of Tuesday, March 20, 1882,
when Senator William E. Borah. as
chairman of the United States Senate
Committee on the Judiciary, called him
to the stand The scene is laid in the
room of the Committee on Foreign Re-
lations on the Senate side of the Capt.
tol where the Senators are inquiring
into protests of leaders of the American
Federation of Labor against the ap-
pointment of Judge James H. Wilker-
son of the United States District Court
to the United States Circuit Court of
Appeals. Judge Wilkerson had sem
fenced Alphonse Capone, alias Scar
face AL" to II years Imprisonment.
Some of these protests were honestly in
spired because of injunctions issued
against labor unions by Judge Wilker-
son: others represented the subtle ways
of the underworld. especially that part
where the racketee-ing labor unions OF
Chicago dominated by the Capone
gang hold sway.
Johnson abandoned lucrative law
practice in February 1927. to accept
the appointment of United States
attorney. He has only his meager
salary now. When he took office-let
us quote his testimony-"The gang sit
uation in Chicago was about at
its height. = Organized crime was
a business, and the gangsters worked
with a great deal of arrogance. Some
of them posed as political leaders and
they had the temerity to go to public
banquets where public men were. and
1t seemed as though they had rec
ognized business. With it all there were
a great many murders. Just at this
period there was a gang headed by
Hymie Weiss. He was the leader
In one part of the city and Al Capone
at that time had established himself
in a suburb known as Cicero, adjoining
SlllCdRO
feuds. A number of men were asSo-
ciated with Capone in the early days,
men like Dion OBannion, Merlo, Lo-
lardo and Lombardo, all of whom had
wide notoriety-they were all murdered
in these feuds. They were leaders.
Hymie Weiss would not make peace
with the Capone organization. He was
a man peculiar in some ways. He
would have nothing to do with prostl-
tuition and scorned the Capone crowd
for that reason. ="
Small Part to AL
Hv1nie Weiss was just a dealer in
beer whisky and other intoxicatln
liquors. He was not pander. And the
same was true of OBannion.
A few minutes later Johnson told
Borah and his colleague how the Gov
ernment traced nearly s2,0oOOOO TO
Ralph Capone. a brother of Scarface
Al; more than sl,OOO,OOO to another Of
AIS associates and 100000 to still an
other. The amount traced to Scarface
AL in a three-year period was COM
paratively small-$67l OFT.
Here it should be explained that Al
Capone seldom dealt in traceable funds,
so that this sum does not represent his
income for the years 1925-27. At the
time of his arrest Government agents
estimated Capone's wealth at 0,000,-
OOO
The Lombardo named by johnson
was Antonio Lombardo, who succeeded
Merlo as head of the local Malta. After
Merlo died-the reader will note that
johnson had temporarily forgotten that
Merlo had not been aSsasSinated-the
oath-bound criminals of his race di-
vided into two factions. One wanted
Samuel Amutana, surnamed Smoots ;
another supported Lombardo. The fol-
lowers of Lombardo said, and quite
properly, that Smoots had little else to
recommend beyond his betrothal to the
clined to listen to reason he was slain
by the squadristi of Lombardo, where
upon Lombardo was elected head OF
the local Malta And Capone became
q lieutenant of Lombardo, as he had
been to Merlo. Capone was always
somebody's lieutenant. Many in Chi
cago, both in the service of our Govern
ment and that of Italy, never regarded
him as the dominant leader of the
racketeering aristocracy he has been
pictured He was, until his arrest. in
the opinion of some, the front man and
fiXer-nothing more-Of John Torrlo.
Let us leave Torrio and Capone for a
brief moment.
Knew He Was Marked.
Lombardo was still king of the local
italian underworld when johnson be-
came United States attorney. When a
superstitious Italian saw Lombardo a
prayer was silently said, or the Neapoli-
tan horn, which guards the wearer
;,,et f1o
clutched Many knew in February,
1927, and even earlier, that Lombardo
was destined to be shot down in the
street.
Four days before johnson testified,
Senator Borah read a letter to his col
leagues which had prepared them for
this declaration. The letter was from
Frank j. Loesch president of the Chi
cago Crime Commission. civic body
expressive of an aroused public trying
to free great city from the maEgli