"CROOKS" IN SOCIETY.

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXII, Issue 2560, 10 April 1928, Page 3

"CROOKS" IN SOCIETY.

QUEER SIDELIGHTS OF AMERICAN LIFE.

Writing in the "Wide World Magazine," Mr. Shaw Desmond throws some remarkable sidelights on American crime. "Despite all denials," he says, "well-educated crooks of both sexes do sometimes gain entrance to the best American society. As a matter of fact, American 'smart society' is now so elastic that it is infinitely easier for clever criminals to gain an entree to good houses than it would be in Europe, where the barriers are still rigid and impassable. A queer side-light upon this elasticity of feeling and moral in modern American 'society' has • recently been afforded by the accusations that the name of a European princess was misused by some of her hosts in connection with charity for ' their own ends. These accusations were probably groundless, but the very fact that they can be flung about and statements made that royal names could be used for personal advantage 'tells a great big story,' to use an Americanism, it is a fact that during and after the war, 'smart society' in America was the happy hunting-ground of all sorts of bogus 'princesses,' 'dukes,' and 'counts' galore; and society dames who ought to have known better tumbled over one another to get these 'notabilities' to accept their invitations. The existence of social 'climbers' gives the crook his chance of an entree to circles that are supposed to be exclusive, but which, as a matter of fact, can be fairly easily penetrated by anyone with the necessary assurance."