The Guardian And Evening Star, with which is incorporated the West Coast Times WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 3, 1930. CRIME IN AMERICA.

Hokitika Guardian, 3 December 1930, Page 4

The Guardian And Evening Star, with which is incorporated the West Coast Times WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 3, 1930. CRIME IN AMERICA.

Oxe of file most ivmiu'ka.Oie de-velop-ments of American social file in recent years lias been me mcrciuiing .prevalenco of violent crime. At one time, oouiuicuts <iii it wus tiic fashion to attribute the Jiomicidal tendencies of America’.s ‘mad men” lo tli© influence or tradition from the nou- distant days when the bowieknife and the revolver were the inseparable companions of every man who desired to live long on. the western 1 rentier. But more recently crime has become an organised occupation—in fact, it lir.is been termed the greatest industry of the United States—and the contempt for individual rights and human life thus engendered has produced a. condition of things which is a disgrace td American civilisation ti 1 icl ft most dangerous menace to the future safety and happiness of the American people. iNo doubt tins tin rent ricbed influx of destitute aliens, the growth of municipal corruption, the low ethical standards of American publio .life, and the abortive attempt to impose Prohibition upon the American tpeople’ have all played a part in producing these deplorable results. But however the phenomena are to he explained, the fact remains that racketeering or blackmail, brutal violence, and subsidised murder are now permanent features of social life in the great American cities. In Chicago, it is asserted, there is not an industry or a business man entirely free from the tyranny of the racketeers, wlmse receipts are estimated at £30,003,000 a year. A striking illustration of the audacity of these criminal organisations is the fact that they have threatened to homb the Californian grapejuiee factories because their product interferes with “boot-legging” in which the racketten- are so largely engaged. It would take much space and time to describe the intricacies of criminal life in the American underworld, the methods of the gangsters, and their elaborate offensive and defensive equipment. Machine-gun-ning is now a favourite form of murder, and, in fact, the numerous vendettas between rival gangs are conducted with all the minute attention to deadly detail that characterises modern warfare. Obviously, it would be impossible for the gangs to make such a success of their nefarious operations if they had not many friends and allies in high places. A month ago. Aiello, an influential racketeer, was “put out” by a machine-gun fusillade, and among his papers were found records of bribery and corruption involving senators, judges, lawyers, policemen and office-holders in everv walk of life. Gang-leaders like Al Capone and his great rival Moran have wealth and power that, many a king might envy. Yet the mere existence of these criminal organisations is a challenge to the American oroide to rise up in defence of all the rights and liberties that civilisation is supposed to secure for. rich and poor alik l . President Hoover has at last resolved to initiate a. drastic poliev of repression and extermination against the American criminal, and the whole civilised world should wish lum success in his undertaking. I niortuuatoi’v, scrim'ls crime is also on the inc.re-i.se in Australia, where gang vendettas seem to flourish, and open a it cm of s at robbery under arms is ivit. Infrequent. The number of cases of late suggest that this kind of serious crime is an increasing rather than a dorrewvng quantity. Tt I s not good for the reputation of tin* country to find this so. Tt evidences a looseness in public morals and an undermining of character which is indicative of a declining public spirit. The t.rouble-s of Australia are manifold of late, and it is not a plmvang

prospect to have this evidence of the prevalence of serious crime "an increasing quantity at this stage of the history of the Commonwealth.