The producers news. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1918-1937, 1934-05-31

The Dillinger case is a serious
affair and should be handled In a
serious manner but unless you APP c
nroach if with solemnity and c
sincere spirit of public concern you /
are likely to get laughing. Inns
is particularly an error from the
radical point of view because what
ever Dillinger may have been, ne
is definitely a public menace now
and any attempt to make INN a
modern Robin Hood will only play
into the hands of those who are
anxious to connect Communism
with rowdyism and general dlsre-
spect for the law. But even the
general press with all its cries Tor
vengeance has not been able to
keen straight face. The spec /
tacle. for example, of the Ohlo |
State penitentiary barricading 1t
self lest Dillinger break in is
obviously something which would
happen only in a Silly Symphony
1t is literally true that for weeks
tails and station houses in the
Middle West were guarded day and
night for fear of Dillinger raid.
Police headquarters at lndianapo-
lis were something like a beleag-
ured sector at st. Mihiel. There
were machine guns trained at the
entrances and a visitor underwent
an examination calculated to DIS
courage these from ever again
E annoying their public protectors
The real mystery of the case is
why there haven't been dozens OF
{ deaths from jit' cry patrolmen.
Of course the point of main in
= terest is what is responsible fol
Z Dillinger. If we hint that gang
;; sterism is only a lesser phase Of
u the gansterism of Big Business
which governs our American life
: we shall be accused of dealing IL
4 the usual black and whites. Th'
fact that it happens to be true i
n also no excuse and we are throw
le back on the customary explana-
h lions. (a( He was always toug
guy. a crook, a killer, (b) The sc
m we're sentence after his first OF
= tense soured him on Law and Oh
T. der, (c) His present state is
IN natural rebound from a very stric
= Quaker upbringing, (d) He JUS
ii wants the publicity.
,r Dillinger comes from the tow
no. of Mooresville, Ind, about eightee
~ miles from indianapolis. His fathe
- was first a grocer, fairly wsll-tc
do, and later a poor farmer. II
elder Dillinger, also called job
still lives on the farm with tV
children of a second wife. He is
Quaker and young John had
careful upbringing. At the tin
eek of the War, when jobs were plent
in full and wages good, Dillinger lie
re- grade school to become a machI
list. He was also a star first has
AN man and one of the young bloc
iii of the town. He got married, h
~ a car and lived the customa
nd small-town life. After the wa
in work was scarce and he did o.
,re jobs around Mooresville. He al
nee hung out at the poolroom and dr.
5ed store. His first burst of criI
mo took place within the space of O
week. With an older man nam
and Ed Singleton, the town ne'er-C
INV well, he broke into a filling 81
and ton, tapped the till at the fe
store and finally held up Fra
ilv Morgan, grocer, as he was CO
and ing home on Saturday night w
live the stores proceeds. 1t was
! amateurish job, with DillinS
rem humping Morgan on the head aft
ives first giving him ample opportun
to see who was hitting him. I'll
ter were caught in a few hours q
,car taken to Martinsville for trial.
DIN Singleton had lawyer and {
support of various females W
EN-, felt sorry, for his wife. and q
son dren. He was given two TO TO
Ar teen years. The elder Dilling
Mil had no knowledge of courts +;
18th was assured further that the
ada plan in first offenses was to thu
the oneself on the mercy of the col
mer Dillinger, therefore, had no law
Mrs. and pleaded guilty. His sente
for was ten to twelve years, with
second sentence of two to fourt
the which ran concurrently. He '
Ion sent first to the reform school
pea, later transferred to the Mich,
hing City Penitentiary in Indiana, WI
was is held to be one of the finest
leges for crooks in Amer
son, Singleton was out of jail in
4 OF years; Dillinger served apprt
g in mately nine years before he :
paroled. At Michigan City he
en- the men with whom he was |;
ion to be connected-Harry Pierpc
lfe. Charles Makley, Russell Clark
n. John Hamilton.
and Pierpont admittedly domino
the this group as he dominated
int. prisoners at Michigan City. H
will a good-looking man with a m
cum netic eye and there is no disI
about his brains. After his pan
sdaN- Dfllinger went back to MooresV
,oley and worked as hired man OF
avor farm. Later there was the
berry of the Massachusetts
May nue. Bank in Indianapolis, car
,cial out by Dillinger and Hilton Gro
the once famous racing dri
was Dillinger is said to have wo1