CRIME IN NEW YORK.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 72, 12 August 1912, Page 6

CRIME IN NEW YORK.

DESPERATE GANGS. Accordiffg'Vo Mr. WaJliam Flyiin, chief of the Secret Service of New York, the American metropolis beats Paris and • ■very other American city for organised gangs of criminals, and London., by comparison, is the most virtuous ci ty "in the world. He considers (says the correspondent of the Daily Telegraph) that 'the apaches of Paris are mere puling infants by the side of such monsters in crime as the Lupomorello band of blackmailers, counterfeiters and' assassins, with headquarters in New York. This gang he describes as a sort of American "Mafia," which, to his personal knowledge, is guilty of 00 murders. "On an -average," says Mr. Flynn, "they kill one man a week, and there is no villainy they will not commit. Usually you find the victims of this gang in a barrel or hid in a drain, but I have ascertained that they have a private -burying ground, the locality of which I hope to discover." Flynn (fays this terrible gang h'as influence with troth. political parties in New York, and it is impossible to combat it. A decision to investigate New York's secret service prompted Mr. Flynn's outburst, to which the American press give great attention. Mr. Flynn is indignant, because, he says, sucli an enquiry must lay bare the names of five members ot the Lupomorello band who have been working for Mm as investigators, and subject them to assassination. "I would sooner rot in prison," says Mr. Flynn, "before revea'ting their names. These men never make affidavits or appear as witnesses, but they are high in the councils of the Lupomorello crowd, and have given us most valuable information, for which I am very thankful. John Lupo and Cologero Teranva are suggested as witnesses before the Congressional Committee to investigate the secret service. This is nothing hut a covert threat bliat the identity of the Government's informants will be revc-aled to the members of thb Lupomorello band of assassins, blackmailers, and counterfeiters."

Despito Mr. Flynn's protest, the secret service will be investigated. The charge made regarding "political influence" means that the leaders or representatives of the criminal gang have access to the favors of the political bosses in New York, and theiir influence in preventing arrests is admittedly great.