GANGSTER POLITICS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 25 August 1938, Page 7

GANGSTER POLITICS

SENSATIONAL EVIDENCE * IN NEW YORK BEFORE RACKET AND VICE INVESTIGATION ‘ .INDICTMENT OF TAMMANY LEADER By Telegraph—Press Association. Copyright. NEW YORK, August 23. Evidence was given today against the Tammany Hall (Democratic) lead-, er, James Hines, who was recently indicted by Thomas Dewey, New York’s Special Prosecutor z for the Racket ; and Vice Investigation. George Weinberg, giving evidence, declared that Hines not only received a regular stipend of 1000 dollars from the racketeers, but that “Dutch” Schultz, the policy and vice racketeer who was shot by rival gangsters in 1935, gave him an extra 1000 dollars a week in order to reduce the number of arrests. Weinberg declared that the policy racket netted 45,000 dollars a day for the leaders. Wienberg’s evidence was the most incriminating: of the trial and caused the ; witness and Hines to glare fiercely at each other across the court room. The witness declared that the gangster Schultz was extremely satisfied with Hines’s protection and described how Schultz was troubled with the activities of Vinceqt. Coll, his deputy in the policy racket. The latter, however. was shot dead. After that, during 307 days, gross policy takings amounted to 20,000,000 dollars. “Dixie” Davis, another of the racketeers, gladly supplied additional thousands with which to keep Hines '“sweet.”

Weinberg was particularly illuminating when he declared that he overheard a conversation between Hines and Judge Capshaw, in which the latter was assured that Hines had never failed to “take care” of arrested policy racketeers.

When an important case arose, Judge Capshaw dismissed the defendants. Judge Capshaw is one of the judges named in the indictments, and he subsequently denied ever being influenced.