CRIME IN SYDNEY

Taranaki Daily News, 14 November 1930, Page 7

CRIME IN SYDNEY

NEARLY “ANOTHER CHICAGO.” GUNMEN AND SANDBAGGERS. Sydney, Oct. 30. To say that Sydney stands a fair chance of becoming another Chicago, on a miniature scale, if its gunmen, eandbaggers and other desperadoes are not checked, is no exaggeration. Hardly a day now passes without the report of yet another daring hold-up, usually in broad daylight. The police are unquestionably handicapped to some extent, by loose State firearm laws, which play into the hands of individuals with vicious criminal tendencies, and also by their compulsion to do a lot of work extraneous to the fundamental and all-important task of protecting life and property. v There can be no question that Sydney’s underworld is in liaison with others outside the State, in getting illicit possession of all sorts of hideous instruments of onslaught on peaceful citizens. Customs seizures in Sydney tell their own story. These include stupefying o-as pistols, which render victims unconscious while their pockets are being rifled; “knuckle-dusters,” bludgeons, some of which, telescopic in design, can be concealed in the pocket; walking sticks concealing rapier blades . and other ugly weapons; pistols ingeniously hidden in walking sticks, and. so on. Many of these weapons are seized or. the customs front, but many others must inevitably escape detection. That they are not smuggled through merely as playthings is certain.