BURGLARS AND RECEIVERS

Evening Star, Issue 19000, 23 July 1925, Page 12

BURGLARS AND RECEIVERS

HOW FACTORIES ARE BOSSES " HYSTERICUS Me X" ; MELBOURNE’S WORST GANG. There are criminals in Melbourne i (says a writer in the ‘ Argus ’) who do not know whom they rob, or tor whom they rob. They take their orders from the nameless agent of the name- ■ less “Mr X,” who is the leading receiver in the city, and whoso operations are behind the city’s worst gang of factory and warehouse breakers. There is only one such gang, really, in the city of Melbourne, and when it needs men it obtains their services just as a large industrial concern obtains day laborers—by engaging men (in this case criminals) as cassia I laborers, Qetectives declare that the receivers who operate on the grand scale in Melbourne sell the stock of the man whom they make their victim actually before they engage the men to steal it. The name of the loading general receiver is quite well known to the police, and has actually been mentioned in Parliament, though they have never managed to convict him owing to the astuteness with which he works. It Is only on rare occasions that ho personally appears in any transaction with the underworld, the detectives declare. His method is to business houses, either directly or indirectly, and offer for sale certain lines in softgoods or hardware which lie knows he can employ men to steal from factory or warehouse as the case may bo. Having placed, say, fifty dozen of a cer tain line of hosiery in one direction, and perhaps an additional fifty dozen in another, ho employs a “go-be-tween ” of the criminal classes to ar range with “ the gang ” —Melbourne’s worst criminal organisation—to obtain it for him, indicating where it may be obtained and the method which it would bo best to adopt. The gang itself is a limited criminal organisation, some of the members of which are well known to the public, their names having appeared in some of the most notorious cases which the police have brought to light. Two members of the organisation are now in Pentridge serving long sentences. They were arrested in connection with an attempt to break into the promises of a large softgoods firm in the city. A third 'member of the gang was arrested on that occasion, but absconded from bail, and a warrant is now out for his arrest, though the police admit that the prospect of laying him by the heels Is remote. The lender of the gang Has never yet been convicted- of a criminal offence, though the police state that ho has been concerned in robberies, the proceeds of which ,total many thousands of pounds. The gang itself contains few members, and the names of criminals which first occur to the mind of members of the public are associated with it. When more men are required to eni gage in criminal pursuits at tho instance of the ultimate receiver, “ the gang” obtains these men and the “ hangers on ” of tho underworld. They never deal direct with the principals, and often do not know the ultima to destination of the goods they steal. They are paid sometimes only wages, sometimes a wholesale price for the goods, sometimes, a commission for the work which they undertake. Their hire is decided according to the nature of the men that are engaged. The motor car appears to a great extent in the grand scale factory and warehouse robbery. More than one man who is now serving a term in Pentridge is the owner of a valuable motor car which has been used in such depredations. In other cases cars and taxi cabs are hired for tho purpose. In some of these instances an honest taxi cab driver has found himself at the mercy of the lawless individuals, and has not hesitated when he has got out of their reach to give information to the police as to the nature of the work on which he has been engaged, and of the men who have been concerned. For the most part, however, though the police have their suspicions, | they have been unable to prove nnyi thing definitely against the actual factory or warchnn.se breaker, the driver a of the car being either in their pay 0 I or afraid to speak.

INTERSTATE CRIME. Sometimes members of this organisation nave been concerned in large crimes in Queensland, Now South , Wales, and South Australia, and oe- | casionally their agents have been con- i victed in the capital cities of those | States, where they have been engaged, probably by tho mysterious “Mr X, , whose headquarters are in Melbourne, I to steal stocks which are unobtainable in this city, and for which he has found a market The greater number of convections have occurred in New South Wales, where the InspectorGeneral of Police has the power to refuse without a reason the Issue or reissue of a license to drive a motor car to either an owner driver or a hire driver. The result, the police say, is that drivers of hire cars in Sydney are more willing to assist tho police in such cases. There is nothing in the Victorian Motor Car Act to give the police such control. The result is that a motor car is more frequently used as a rendezvous. One car takes the tac- | tory-breakers to and from the scene ot i the crime, and to some out-of-the-way resort either in the country or at the I seaside, perhaps thirty to forty miles from the city, where another car meets them and takes over the booty from them. The week-end is usually chosen for these operations owing to the large traffic on the roads, which affords excellent .cover for them. At 1 the same time the fact that shops, fac- ' tories, and warehouses are deserted, except for the watchmen, if one is om--1 ployed, on these occasions, gives fur- ’ thor opportunities to tho malefactors. 1 The police allege that there are many 1 men who on occasions do an honest day’s work, but for the most part ’ subsist b-v crime. These men, they ' Isay, arc able easily to produce evidence that they have earned money in honest employment, and thus when charged ’ under the present vagrancy laws, are 1 able to evade prosecution because of the fact that either their hank books or some wealthy friend offers tho,_ evi--3 i dence that they have lawful visible 1 ! means of support. Actually these men 1 for the greater part of the time conL | sort with thieves and convicted per- ■ sons, and take their engagements as * | casual criminals from them, so that 1 I they are as great a menace.to the com- ’ ' inunity as any other members of the ' j underworld. To deal with these the 3 ' police have at present no power. They ' allege that their greatest difficulty at r present is tho lack of power to convict ' on a vagrancy charge an unconvictcd J person, no matter what his status in ’ the community, who consorts with cri- ' minals, and the lack of authority to i cancel the license of or refuse a license to a person who is suspected of allow- | ing a motor car to be used for crinii- | nal purposes. ! When there is no work offering in ! factory-breaking or kindred activities those men subsist by blackmailing ami 1 other lawless operations. Sometimes associates of the criminal underworld whoso services are utilised by “the -gang” are arrested by the police for shop-breaking or other crimes. Though the men when questioned, confess their guilt the fact that they are unaware of the ultimate source of their orders makes tho conviction of little use to the police in sheeting home the actual responsibility for what is known as “grand scale” crime.. The mysterious “Mr X ” knows enough never to let liis own name appear in the transactions and to instruct his agents so far as possible to reipain anonymous and to work by signs ami passwords.