CRIME AND WARFARE

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 20168, 9 June 1928, Page 6

CRIME AND WARFARE

JF THERE is such a thing as civilised warfare presumably there is such a tiling as "civilised crime”—the sort of crime which is practised by civilised men who have taken the wrong turning. A good deal of it eomes from America, and in America Chicago is not unjustly credited with a particular proficiency in this modern black art. But Chicago must be careful or Detroit will take the lead-—for there is news that Detroit is now the unfortunate possessor of bootleggers whose cars, when they are chased by the police, are equipped with apparatus for releasing a cloud of poison gas from the rear, so that the nearer the pursuers come the more certain it is that they will be overwhelmed. Civilised crime seems, therefore; to model itself very closely on civilised warfare. Revolvers and automatic pitsols have long been a commonplace; bombs are no novelty; and machineguns have been tried in Chicago. Howitzers or trench mortars are comparatively clumsy weapons, which is probably the only reason why those, too, have not been given a trial in U.S.A, by the more desperate sort of criminal; but poison gas released from the back of a motor-car is so sweetly simple that it is almost surprising that we have had to wait ten years from the close of the Great War in order to hear about it. It is, on the whole, abundantly clear that the Great War has been a great inspiration to criminals—and if so much can be learnt in ten years it may be that in 20 the pupils will be ready to instruct the perceptors. When the next example of civilised warfare arises perhaps the General Staffs who are managing it will be found applying to the exponents of civilised crime for a few hints on how to conduct their larger but not very different enterprise.