Is This a Racket or An Undercover Conspiracy?
Is This a Racket or An Undercover Conspiracy? THERE are? in the possession of The New Leader some documents that mean either another racket on a national scale or a reactionary movement that...
...That would be the "dawn" of power for him and "sunset" for the masses of suffering fanners and wage workers...
...Correspondence regarding corruption and crime is solicited...
...They hope to realize the highest type of "Civic Espionage...
...Whether racket or conspiracy, the New Vigilantes constitute just the kind of organization that would enable its followers to settle private grudges...
...What America needs today is Law with Spurs on,"declares Captain Edward Page Gaston, the commander of this mysterious outfit...
...On the other hand, "we are in unofficial cooperation with the Department of Justice at Washington...
...Is this thing a conspiracy of reaction or an attewfyi Ivic.'-s as coin.from our Babbitts by playing upon their fears of the crime wave...
...His background appeals to the romantic and the sentimental...
...Jt is true that Mussolini rooted out the Mafia but it was one racketeer rooting out competitors...
...IN AN Y EVENT ITS PROGRAIvTki-.QUIRES THE ATTEN TION OF CONGRESS...
...Our plan of organization has been largely suggested by Federal Officials," is one amazing statement...
...The New Vigilantes is either a racket or it is a conspiracy...
...Recruits of the New Vigilantes are not to carry "Arms...
...Our secret Telegraphic codes will also be changed frequently, to prevent leakage...
...It paints racketeering in vivid colors...
...Two mysterious paragraphs may mean much and they may mean little...
...For any organization to tnah$ this its private job is for it to usurp the functions of the legislative, executive, judicial and police powers of the nation...
...All such communications are treated as confidential and letters arc burned if requested...
...The "dawn" of what...
...They propose to reach the underworld of crime through bribery if necessary...
...The English of the last sentence is vague, but we quote it as it appears in the original...
...We are out to buy Information from these Jackals who hang upon the flank of the Crime-Herd...
...in the possession of The New Leader some documents that mean either another racket on a national scale or a reactionary movement that seeks usurpation of governing powers and dictation by a military clique...
...This pompous crowd takes itself seriously...
...In our National Life wc are not watching a Sunset—we art witnesssing a Dawn I" Just as interesting is the reference to trade unions...
...Who is Captain Edward Page Gaston, .the Commander...
...We are sending marked copies of this issue of The New Leader to members of lx>th houses of Congress...
...To this is added...
...He is Some Person...
...We are not watching a Sunset—we are wit* nessing a Dawn," they declare...
...Its secrecy and espionage, the potential terror it is possible to invoke, are as dangerous as the underworld creatures which it proposes to destroy...
...It may serve both purposes...
...It is as illegal before the law as the racketeer and criminals...
...The suppression of crime is s matter that Iwlongs to the governing officials of the city, state and nation...
...What is still more ominous is its frank claims that it has the tolerant sympathy of various government officials...
...It has approached governors of states to act as "High Commissioners for their Jurisdictions...
...Practically thirty National Labor Groups are today in the hands of Gangsters, Communists and corrupt Politicians...
...When General Pershing also writes to "Commander" Gaston, assuring the latter that "Weak and insufficient officials must be replaced byM0r» mined men of force and character," it is tirtJe fof Congress to make an investigation of the whole affair...
...But who will determine when government functions "are in real operation...
...It boasts of a letter from General John J. Pershing approving-its plans...
...It is no more to be tolerated than the gangsters and racketeers against which it complains...
...That indictment is true—but for one criminal usurpation the New Vigilantes would substitute another...
...He is an American citizen and was decorated by the Sirltan of Turkey and received gifts from a number of European sovereigns...
...CONGRESS MUST INVESTIGATE THIS NEST j AND WE SHALL NOT BE SURPRISED IF IT FINDS SOME VERY ROTTEN EGGS...
...We do not know...
...The New Vigilantes, who constitute themselvess a superstate, secretly organised and with a nation-wide espionage system that may well become a nest of agents-provocateur...
...It is liberal in the use of capital letters, as will be observed in the quotations above...
...Throughout the documentary material in our possession there is complaint of the dominion of criminals and racketeers and their close alliance with politicians in office...
...One may even suspect the "Commander" and his allies with harboring plans for a reactionary (evolution...
...We do not seek to usurp any of the functions of the Legally Constituted Authorities when these functions are in real operation...
...It claims to have laid its plans before President Hoover and President-elect Roosevelt whose "advice and cooperation" havaJ^ceft solicited...
...They declare that they are "not at liberty to divulge the immediate Plan" and their "Operatives are not known to any but the Director, perhaps not known to each other...
...He was a meml>er of the military forces of the State of New York and is commended by former Governor Smith for his "Patriotic Activities...
...JNsmn "The New Vigilantes of America, A Nation-wide War Against Crime," maintains offices at 45 West 45th Street, New York City...
...Is it the rise of the "Commander" to power and directing his secret geninnnes to come out into the open, to sit in judgment, to club and jail all who object, to give his personal decrees the force of law...
...He has lived among the Zuni Indians of the West and was in Europe when the World War broke out and engaged in relief work in the War zone...
...The New Vigilantes seek to enlist a quarter-million of members...
...It establishes the fact that the head of the dictatorship in Italy, the man who rose to power by wholesale arson, torturing of opponents, and by directing murder bands, is an adviser of the Commander of the New Vigilantes...
...As Premier Benito Mussolini of Italy stamped out Sicilian outlaxvs, his personal suggestions have been sought on now clearing out of America the murderous Mafia and its successors...
...Some inspiration for the New Vigilantes is derived from contacts with various reactionaries in Europe, including Mussolini...
...There are "Untapped Reservoirs of Patriotism" available and these mysterious upstarts will undertake to tap them...
...We quote: "Before the end of our Proposed 'Vigilantes FiveYear Plan' (which includes Reconstructive Citizenship as well as Punitive Measures) we should have a Nation again to be proud in every way...
...The following passage from one circular reveals this: "Special attention is being given to this factor in which various of the foreign-born leaders are advising us...
...They will match the secrecy and espionage of the underworld with their •own secrecy and espionage...
...Chambers of commerce, business firms and "patriotic" organizations are being solicited for support...
...unless officially authorised to do so on special occasions...
...They arc organizing either a racket or they are, preparing the road for some adventure that leads to the usurpation of the governing powers of the cities, the state and the nation...
...They do not disclose their complete purposes...
Vol. 15 • January 1933 • No. 2
