Smashing Gangsters

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23109, 6 August 1938, Page 13 (Supplement)

Smashing Gangsters

Chief of Americas G-Men Reveals His M

NOTABLE BOOK BY A REMARKABLE book that will be read with interest in all parts of the world is "Persons in Hiding," written by J. Edgar Hoover. Mr. Hoover was appointed Director of the United States Federal Bureau of' Investigation at the age of twenty-nine. The inefficiency of the State police forces had created a situation in which crimes of violence had been "put on a business basis"; the Department of Justice realised that the moment had come when law-enforcement must be given a similar foundation. " Mr. Hoover was able within a few years to render the Federal Investigation Bureau second only to Scotland Yard; the powers and responsibility of the Federal Government were thereafter increased by legislation; and Mr. Hoover and his G-men spread terror in "the ranks of the gangsters of the Middle West. Appeal to Conscience Mr. Hoover was admirably adapted to the task; he was young, brave and incredibly hartl-working. He had one mission in life, to convince the American public that crime was not only dangerous but boring. "Our waste of young lives through crime is so futile," he writes. His book is interesting for three reasons. In the first place, it is an appeal to (or rather a criticism of) "the conscience and common sense of the people of the United States." In the second place, it is a study of modern mechanised crime. And in the third place it records many, and exciting, case-histories. Mr. Hoover does not agree with those who argue that crime is a product of slum conditions, unhappy homo life or education. He shows that most of his criminals came from small towns or farms; that in almost every Case they were adored and spoilt by their parents; and that their education was often abovo the average of that of , most decent citizens.

J. EDGAR HOOVER He attributes the prevalence of crimes of violence in the United States to the effect of local conditions upon the extreme egoism of the criminal type. Firstly, there is "the American habit of surface thinking, regarding success wholly in terms of money, no matter how obtained." Gullibility of Americans Secondly, there is the traditional pioneer spirit, with its idealisation of adventure. There is also the lack of centralisation and the gaps left between law-enforcement in the several States. A fourth difficulty is the American tradition of revolt and hero-worship of the rebel. And, finally, there are such causes as the gullibility of the American public, their facile sentimentality and the low standards of their municipal life. . j\Jr B Hoover's purpose is to strip crime of its romantic glamour. He wishes to "create apprehension and to show the American public that their present attitude of entranced indifference is a civic fault. He considers crime "a state of mind," proceeding partly from extreme egoism and partly from a sense of invulnerability. He tries to prove that such invulnerability is an illusion, that criminals seldom "get away with it," and that the sentimentality which enables hardened criminals to obtain parole and resume their practices is a mistaken and anti-social sentimentality. He is particularly fierce in his denunciation of the parasites of gangsterdom—the sly attorney, the plastic surgeons who try to alter the fingerprints and physique of well-known criminals, the middle-men and the politicians. And he has no sympathy for the well-meaning sentimentalist who obstructs the course of justice. The Parasites So much for his theory. ' It is important and well defined. For many readers the illustrations of his theory will be the more interesting section of his book. Ho tells us in great detail of the numerous cases which lie has been called upon to handle. There is Ma Barker, her four sons and the veritable school of crimo which

they instituted. Ma Barker met her end in a little house at Ocala, Florida, where she was found with three bullet wounds in her body and a still hot machine-gun across her knee. There is the tale of Alvin Karpis, who betrayed himself by his passion for fishing and fishing stories. Tl|ere is Dr. Joseph Moran, the abortionist, who would operate upon the finger-tips of his friends only to find that the whorls formed again. Dr. Moren experienced a very nasty end. We have Piquett and Mrs. MachineGun Kelly, and Bentz, the numismatist, and William Dainard, the kidnapper. We have the amazing life history of Gaston Means, who actually bluffed his way into the employment of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and who finally strained the gullibility of the American public beyond even its capacity.

Infamous figures such as Dillinger, Hauptinann and Baby Face Nelson flit through the pages. As a rogues' gallery this anthology is beyond compare. Yet it is something more important than a' rogues' gallery. It is a serious contribution to modern criminology.

"Porsons in Hiding," by J. Edgar Hoover (Dent.)