The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1933-08-25

| but you know who got IL Why not
nght?"
|. I've a wife and children" ne an
swered simply. WHATS money. with
their lives al stalker"
Jack Legs Diamond was a boot
iegger. he was an interesting one in
that-to the best OF my knowledge
ne was the first of the tribe to lay
the urban problem on the suburban
doorstep. His trip into the Catskill
mountains wrought not only mis- own
death but series of crimes that left
that pastoral section In the throes of
terror.
Men were tortured on the highways !;
others were kidnapped The country
was reused to fever pitch. That sec
ton preferred applejack to the so
called liquors Of their urban broth
ers. Jack tried to control the apple
Jack traffic. Deprived of bootleg mon
ey. he had TO replace IL some way.
War broke out Jack died broke. Only
recently his widow was found muir
dered in her bed.
dutch" Schultz, beer baron of
New York's Bronx, found things slip
ping in his business. The old profits
or bOOtlegging vanished He was so
often mentioned in connection with
crimes of violence that now be Is
fugitive. cringing craven in fear for
his life and man for whom the
world. upper and under, has little
but scorn But ne was a millionaire
when the booze bouncing was good
There is another traffic In the IN
derworld which has spread immeasur-
ably during prohibition. II is the
vilest, the most despicable. the most
insidious of all illegal rackets. II Is
in narcotics.
Fundamentally, IT differs from booze
in two major features First, the av-
erage man abhOrs it and will. as de-
cent citizen, do what he can TO stop
the traffic. So narcotic laws are en-
forced with comparative ease Sec.
ond. a modest fortune in the poison
may be transported in a fountain pen.
N-dhCIS. dS are
called. travel in fine trains use light
luggage. and attract no attention. That
is lot easier than transporting bot
tied goods by the case or beer by the
keg.
But the narcotic traffic is great. II
is growing greater. The more insidious
of the bootleggers of old are turning
TO this to supply revenue. This is
the most violent crime | know. II
there is to be death penalty IL
should be for the sale of narcotics.
These cadets operate under an or.
ganized ring. More and more they
become killers Long terms are likely
to be the order for conviction of this
crime. Long terms do not deter the
criminal; they make him more des-
perate. This Is not an argument
against long-term sentences. II mere
ly explains where the violence comes
from in the narcotic traffic.
New York City today is going
through a series of murders at once
CHASTITY and grotesque. In the metro
politan area some ten killings have
occurred in a month. Four of the
men killed were to have been wit
nesses in the trial of a gang leader
charged with tax evasion. Each of
them has since been identified with
the narcotic traffic.
For several years the question most
n<rnp oSl-nd SNVhof dff-
ference does il make If gangsters
murder. so long as they murder only
each other? There you have the best
answer to that question | know. These
victims. all purported criminals of the
worst order and each presumed to be
narcotic addict and peddler. consti-
tute the only evidence the government
can use in court to destroy the vast
criminal rings that racketize the ma
ton. The underworld will tell you
that all these men were murdered for
what they knew; for what they might
testify in court that would lend itself
to confederation.
In opening this article | pointed out
that the federal charge was the wire
over which Scarface tripped. 1t was
the only one he was unable TO beat
Cook county. Illinois. was his para
disc. The state was helpless against
him. The United States put him into
prison.
| want to make a point of that
again as a predicate for statements to
follow Knowing literally hundreds
of criminals. say earnestly and
truthfully that every intelligent one
shuns federal raps" as he would the
plague. In the old days they avoided
counterfeiting because il was a fed
eral offense. They robbed no post
offices and they avoided national
banks In their robberies. The one
fear of confidence men has always
been the mails.
Don't write anything crooked and
mail It." | heard the most infamous
of them say not long ago. Getting
into the mails is getting into a fed
eral rap. That is the hardest of all
TO beat. Uncle Sam never forgets
His arm goes from coast to coast he
doesn't extradite He just locks you
up wherever be finds you"
Uncle Sam, and Uncle Sam alone.
Is the hope for law enforcement fD
this trying era of transition from pro
hibition TO repeal
&C. 1888. by North American Newspaper
Alliance. Inc--WNU Service-l