The Coolidge examiner., 1933-09-08
KIDNAPERS AND
RACKETEERS
ARTICLE No. q

an underworld character now
-A repoSes in Atlanta federal
prison. He is the notorious Scar
face. He went to prison not for
bootlegging. or for racketeering, or
for narcotic trafficing, or for
gambling and vice rings, or for MUIR
der. He went to prison because he
refused to divide with the federal
government the proceeds of these
modern activities. In other words,
his crime was evading the income
! tax.
1t Is common knowledge that this
man had a revenue in good years
not far from $1J0,O00,0OO. or this
he kept vast sums and paid vast
sums. 1t is the experience of this
writer that the crook who saves 20
per cent of his gross revenue is a
fortunate crook. No crook operates
without protection IL he operates
with success. The cost of that pro-
lection Is invariably his largest in
dividual item of operating cost. My
guess would be that. 1t will average
70 per cent Of the gross.
With the passing OF this master
gangster one man was reported to
have assumed his place in the sud-
denly darkened sun. This man be-
came public enemy No. l as soon as
the original possessor OF that du-
bious distinction reTnquished it
for regulation clothes and a less fat
tening diet. So, presumably, the
new public enemy No. l should now
be financial giant He should, lit
orally, be rolling in millions. He
took the place of Croesus Al Ca
pone.
But prohibition is just about gone.
The galloping gold of the "alky"
fountain is missing. What becomes
of the successor to the millions of
his majesty the Scarface? Late re-
ports had him fleeing toward Mex
leo while in his clutches writhed the
victim OF a sensational kidnapping.
Bootlegging fails of its old profit.
The king bootlegger turns to kid
naping. 1t seems rather obvious
that our earlier suppositions are
borne out by the facts.
There is Chicago. There is Bos-
to. A look at Detroit is interest
ing. Detroit became a gang center
because of the proximity of Canada
and handy liquor. The infamous
Purple gang took root there and
gave to history some Of its most
desperate bandits and killers.
Detroit's real start as an under
world haven was the business of
running booze over the roads to Chi
cago. Then, as organization and
protection conspired to the more
complete rout of law enforcement,
1t ceased to be necessary to run
the booze. In Chicago they cooked
alcohol in tenements and brewed
their own beer. Almost Immediate
ly the Purple gang became a MUIR
der trust. They hired out their kill
ers to pull jobs in other cities.
Take st. Paul, MINI. There is a
city never accused of harboring or
ganized gangs as we have come to
know them. Yet one of the recent
sensational kidnapings took place
there. Why? Mark my words, it was
not local talent that perpetrated
that crime. THE boys" were called
in for that. These "boys" were
recruited from the ranks of the
hungry bootleggers of Chicago.
Their appearance in these new
crime centers prove7 that. They
are commercial criminals. They will
pull Job at a fiat rate.
Kansas City is a case in point.
Pretty Boy" Floyd, who terrorized
the West as Jesse James in mod
ern dress. started as a petty booze
peddler in Kansas City. He attract
ed the attention Of local police and
left town. Shortly after he took to
the smoking pistol and went violent
by way Of replenishing a vanished
bootleg exchequer. He kidnapped
sheriffs and used them as hostages
to enforce his maddened will upon
the people.
Police in many cities, alarmed by
the spread of violent crime, are
equipping to meet this condition.
Armored cars, trained machine gun
ners and radio equipment are being
adopted. These will win in the long
run, not because they are efficacious
In the extreme but because violent
crime always defeats itself. The
willingness to protect violent crime
Is lacking. The same cop who
winked at a bottle of liquor will
stand his ground over a deck of
heroin or a callous murder for profit.
People know nothing of kidnap-
ings that never get into the papers.
This writer knows Of three cases of
successful "snatches' in New York
city. In each case the victim Of the
kidnapping was a criminal himself.
He was caught by others of his
kind, ransomed for whatever he
had, and turned loose to pile up an
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