CAMPAIGN AGAINST RACKETEERS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 80, Issue 123, 27 May 1938, Page 7

CAMPAIGN AGAINST RACKETEERS

YOUNG ATTORNEY’S MOVE SENSATIONAL NEW YORK ARREST POWERFUL LEADER INDICTED (By Telegraph—Pres-fi Association—Copyright] Received May 26, 8.40 p.m. NEW YORK. May 26. That Mr. Thomas E. Dewey’s relentless campaign against racketeers will continue, no matter how influential are those whom he accuses, was indicated by the arrest of James Hines, the most powerful individual district leader in Tammany Hall, on lottery charges. Hines is charged with attempting “to influence and intimidate judicial officers and others charged with the duty of administration of the laws of New York.” Hines’ arrest has caused a sensation. It was made possible through the confession of three members of the “Dutch” Schultz gang indicating that Hines provided protection against the arrest and prosecution of this most notorious racketeer, whose gains are estimated to total a hundred million dollars from the numbers lottery, in which even schoolchildren’s pennies were raked in. Hines was released on 20,000 dollars bail. Dewey, who engaged in a bitter word battle witii Hines’ attorney, in which the latter came off only second best, intimated that the Grand Jury indictment would show that Hines consorted and shared the profits with some of the most vicious gangster figures in recent years, including the Bedises, Schultz and the notorious Dixie Davis, and that he actively intimidated judges and other law enforcement officers who attempted to bring these figures to justice. The arrest marks the first arraignment of serious charges against a Tammany figure in many years. Mr. Thomas E. Dewey, District Attorney for New York city, came Into prominence when he was given a free hand to get rid of racketeers.