p. 15 | SHOPLIFTING IN NEW YORK by Springfield Republican

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Mountain View, California · Jan 16, 1907

SHOPLIFTING IN NEW YORK.

By Springfield Republican

SHOPLIFTING in the big department stores of New York is not only on the increase, but it has become an organized matter. There are fifty shoplifting cases pending trial, and it is complained that the courts are too lenient in dealing with this class of offenders. A legal representative of the retail dry-goods association asserts that detectives in the employ of the merchants have discovered that there are at least three organized gangs of shoplifters in the big city. One is composed of thieving Syrians, another is an Italian gang, and the third is made up of Spanish Jews.

Each gang is composed of both men and women, and goods are stolen by one of the thieves and secreted on the person of another. These gangs are organized upon business principles. Each has a sinking fund, out of which bail is furnished, and counsel retained and paid. It would seem as if the bar association might take a hand in the exposure and expulsion of lawyers who do such a business as that.—Springfield Republican.