"RAZZIA” CURE

New Zealand Times, Volume LI, Issue 12023, 29 December 1924, Page 4

"RAZZIA” CURE

BERLIN NIGHT CLUBS (By’ lieonetd Spray, in the “Daily , ‘ Chronicle. ”) What is called iu London a “Raid” is known in Berlin as a “ Razzia, t 'lime was when netoller capital knew the terai in its present application to the process oi “cleaning up” illicit night clubs. But a year or two?:ago, when Berlin anticipated London —ridt ' had to—“Razzia” was a frequent headk line in the morning .newspapers, and a “Razzia,” a carresptojdragly frequent event in the city’s night lire. Ia the German capital the evil was infinitely more vicious and much bigger than that with which the authorities of the 'West End of London are now coping. It was a symptom and a consequence of, the moral degeneration - that followed—first, defeat, and, later, oppression and exploitation by an apparently merciless enemy. When a handful of “real” money honght a suitcase of paper marks beasts of prey from ail the dens - of Europe and the Neat East hurried to Berlin to batten and raven on the miseries of a helpless people. / THE VULTURES. Demand creates supply. It was rot the “delectation” of these vultures, add not for the Germans themselves, except » jiny minority of profiteers, that “Night Clubs” sprang until -they were* numbered by hundreds in eftcb of the. city’s ■ two centres of midnight mirth. Most of them were sordid dens whose chief “attractions’*' were heavy suppers , and light women, and copious quantities of a vile liquid misnamed “Champagne.” As they increased in number control becamp impossible. Many of the beaats of prey were themselves preyed upon. - Innocent visitors, merelv curious to see Berlin’s “Night Life,” were decoyed into them, robbed and sometimes murdered. Initial attempts to tackle the evil failed. Arrested and fined,'the propriatons of these haunts of vice merely “moved on" somewhere else, “taking their “champagne” and the tawdry lit. , tings of . their "clubs” with them,-The ■police tried, to ebalemate tbis iu the game by seizing the entire furniture of the raided dens, ever, to the electric light fittings and wires. , This waft only partially successful The furnishings were gone, but the fnr. nishers remained. Their profits—in foreign currency obtained from foreign guests—were adequate to make a fresh start in business. And often they managed to slip through the fingers of the raiders. THE SPREADING NET. Determining to get at the root ol the evil by removingrfhe people responsible., the authorities instituted what came to be known in popular parlance as “Razzies.” Characteristically thorough, the pro. cednrs was simple yet effective. Some time after midnight, and without any warning, the "Green Police” oom pleteely surrounded a “Night Club” area. Inside the cordon every suspected house was searched and the reveller? arrested. The inmates might slip out by secret exits, but there was no escape from the surrounded oroa. Every streei wae blocked by “Green Police” armed with' revolvers. Casual and perfectly innocent passers-by who happened to be insidetbo cordoned area could only pose to their homes or hotels after producing full proof of identity and respectability. All others wero hurried off in waiting motor-lorries, with armed escorts, to th( central police station. Once enmeshed in such a wide-fluna net, there was no escape for vbe fish. “Razzias” finished most. <nd all the worst, of the “Night nubs,” and Berlin became a cleaner, and rot a sadder r:tr