Where Decent Citizens Pay To Live

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 319, 5 September 1932, Page 7

Where Decent Citizens Pay To Live

L. W.

Holmes

By

ALONG a richly earpstod corridor you go, until you stcp before c door marked "East SMe Potato Dealers Protective and Benevolent Association." A worthy concern, decides the stranger. How mucb bettov to invost one's surplus cash during good tiznes against the evil days that may come! What a nice little nest egg the prcvident potato dealer will have in the event of trouble! Little does tlie visitor guess that iuside the copifortable ofiicos a bril liant gang chief is plotting frfvli coups against society, and that the so-eallod "protection" it one of the vilest forms of criminal extortion known in this world, Tradesmen know that unless they join the association, their business premises, and very likeiy their homes, will be bombed and destroyed by unseen attackers. Perhaps their children will be sbot down on their way to schooi, or their wives kidnapped and brutally outraged, unless they meet the iniquitous demands of the gangsters who make a profitabie living from their evii work. I first came into contact with the extortion gangs in the city of Detroit. when I received an urgent message from a friend who kept a barber's shop in a fashionahle quarter of the city. "This morning," he said, "I recoived a yisit from Toni Cramonte, representing a big Italian gang boss who advised me to join the Barber's Protective Association. The charge is 1000 dollars a month, and in the pre sent state of business I cannot possibly pay such a sum. I offered a smaller nmount, but was told that it wa-s insufficient. Holmes, I am in fear of my life." I advised him to communicate with the city police, and made a personal call on the chief. This ofiicial was as anxious a? °nyone to stop extor-

tion ;u uie chy. b«tt he ieared that my i friend wc .ld on.y be xnnking trouble . 'or h. vself i hc pa' 1 up. "Holme ," he su d. "W?Ve tvied avery pcss.ble u.er.ns to check this avtt, but tuna and arja.n we've iost, ril do cvor.'ih'r.g t can, br.t don't blrrre nie if I fa'l." Accord r.glv a uniformed cfficer w^s stat.oned in my frionn's saloon, r.nth ord u s to uco hls r;un if he was .xt t.ll snp. ueiis of any callors. ' Several days pasoed, r: d nothir.g happened. Oue d.~y the "hamess bull"— the popalcr tmvus by T.hi*h Amerioau umformed oOeors are kv.own- -f eli asleep in one of the vac.nt chairs. A fow minntoa later a b'g car drew up cutside, something fiushod th rough the air, and the salcon was f-lled with dence srnoke. The gangsters had thrcwn a smoke bomb! When the clouds had cleared, it was found that the grng.~tors hau de atroyed the entlre salcr.n, causing tliousands of dollars worth of damage. No one was ever brought to justice for the crhne, ana next tane my friend decided to pay. Things have reached a terrible stage in Arner'.can ciiies to-day, whare decent citizcns have to pay to live. One morning a rerpectable business man .receives a note tellir.g him to forward a large sum of money to a certain address. Usuaily he doss co, when he faiis his business premises are the scene of a groai fire cf roysterious orig'n, and tbe rr.en rcrponsible are rareiy trooe'i. One of tlie worst sicLs to tbio evil is the corrr.pt. on of scrre oi the Araerican city polieo fcrecs who receive large rmns in brihes from the gangsters. When tho request to join the protective assoeirbcn is sent out, it is usuaily aecompanied by a nolite hlnt not to inforra the p .lice. It very often hrpprns that the n a:i who receives it is an Amerioau with a strong apprecir.t.'on of his clvic rer-pon sibilities, and who is prepared to

sacrifice himself if necessary to cause of justice. He accordingly reports to the chief of police, and one of the officers handling his case mentions the matter to a gang leader who is paying him. Result — the citizen is not troublad until eventually the police protection is withdrawn, Then sudden death for the man who has had the courage to do his duty by the State. So ram.pa.nt is this evil in some cities that business people are compelled to exhibit signs proclaiming that they are under the protection of — a certain association. Unless they do so, they will find that customers boycott their premises for fear of being around when the gunmen strike.- ^ Years ago the racketeers, inspired by many successes, attempted to force bankers to pay ransom money on pain, of robbery or destruction of property. A few banks capitulated and paid up, but the majority relied on the Bankers' Protective Association, one of the greatest organisations in the United States, to look after their interests. The result was that the gangsters had the choice of fighting. the redoubtabls Y/illiam J. Burns Agency — which is subsidised by, the bankers of America — or quitting. They found the determined resistanpe too m.uch foi: them, for no further atteinpt was made to hold the bankers of the United States to ransom. "Protection", like all other American gangsters' rackets, can be stopped if the authorities will only handle the matter determinedly. But before they can hope to stamp out the evil, they must first show the citizen that the police are a' match for the gangsters, and that the decent man under their protection will either be perfectly safe, or, if he suffers, his sufferings will be more than avenged by authority. There is a grave danger that with gang crirnes on the increase, the puhlie will become afraid, and their fear is the greatest asset that the criminal can have. It gives him power.