The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1933-08-18

Il
ably advertise "bootleggers for
- sale" Not that they are sala.
ole. II Is simply that the good Uncle
has q great many of the breed of
which he soon must make some dispo-
sition.
The problem Is not only real, II Is
acute. To understand II, and gather
an idea about what must be done TO
solve it, we should analyze the boot.
logger. We should know whence he
came, determine whittier he goes. If
he goesi
He was, broadly speaking, product
OF the prohibition era That is, the
millionaire bootlegger" came with
prohibition. Before that we always
had the bootlegger. But he was a
small-timer. He was nothing but a
tin-horn tax evader. II is not exag-
gerating to say that the advent of pro-
hibition saw the passing of this art
of tax evading from the hands of the
original mountaineer and dry county
bootlegger into the hands of others
presumably more respectable.
But let no one tell you that prohi
Dition made the gangster. America
had gangsters just as vicious as pres
ent-day gangsters long before the dry
era dawned as national condition.
What prohibition did was 70 finance
the gangster through making the
small-time business of OOOtlegging a
national industry. The notorious old
Hudson Dusters' of New York, were
a gang They plundered and pillaged;
they fought and brawled. But they
were constantly In trouble with the
police. They served gOOdly portion
of their lives In the penitentiary for
comparatively minor Offenses They
were, in the language of the gay
nineties. buns" They had no polit-
zeal influence, they controlled no prof
liable commercial activities. and they
utterly lacked influence In the courts
Prohibition changed that With a
nation suddenly gone drink-minded a
source of supply was necessary. The
gangster, being naturally-inclined
criminal, undertook to supply illicit
booze. Suddenly he supplied it In i'm.
measurable quantities for immeas
urable profits. He lost none of his
thuggery; none of his criminal pro-
pensities: none of his strOng-arm
methods of operation. He merely be
came rich, and riches are power.
1t quickly developed that the great
metropolitan areas wanted liquor and
would pay well for it It naturally
followed that no one was particularly
interested in enforcing an unpopular
law. The danger of prosecution was
negligible but the danger of arrest
was mighty. The difference is graft
A bootlegger caught plying his trade
could pay his illegal fee" in advance
to the arresting officer instead of to
the court. This made him immune
Prosecution was nothing but persecu-
ton. and persecution was little
enough so long as you passed its cost
along to the consumer of booze.
Millions rolled in. Petty gangsters
passed out because the Bookkeeping
business attracted cute lawyers in
search of great fees. Their ability to
do this had more far-reaching results
1t attracted to bootlegging competing
gangsters.
They were still gutter rats; still
thugs; still human vermin as con
scienceless as serpents. They brought
to the commerce their usual CONNER.
cial methods: blackjacks, brass
knuckles, pistols finally machine
guns. Bootlegging became a mighty
business with mighty profits. 1t was
a simple business, easy to learn. A
brawny arm. stultified character and
a sodden understanding were worth
millions.
The whole thing grew with almost
magical speed The only fundamental
change In the old-time gangster was
the lifting of him from the status of
an alley rat with blackjack and a
sweater to boulevardier with a bou-
tonniere and a limousine. Under the
seat of the Limousine was a machine
gun. In the background was a shy
ster lawyer with habeas corpus and
fCuoi JuuSC vi TIC ldl VI Tie
land through bootleg bribes.
Now the change. Sentiment is rout-
ing prohibition. If 1t passes, the United
States will have an array of the most
murderous bandits of modern time
without work" No more the endless
stream of gangrenous gold; no longer
the overlooking Golfers of beer and
booze wells; no more the "alky-cook-
ing" millions which offered profits of
1900 per cent drink and sold for
anywhere from Is cents TO two dollars
a gulp. That is gone
Inevitably the gangster reverts to
his old status. But here is the chronic
and acute angle: he is now a gang