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Andrew Davis: THE SCOTTISH CHICAGO? FROM ‘HOOLIGANS’ TO ‘GANGSTERS’ IN INTER-WAR GLASGOW 

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P511 the rapt attention paid to the American 'gangster' in the British press served to indirectly to reinforce an image of the British themselves as an orderly, law-abiding people which had been vigorously promoted by commentators on both the Left and Right in British politics in the wake of the disruption of the social fabric, and fears of brutalization, engendered by the First World War. This confidence was spasmodically punctured by reports of violent crime during the inter-war years. Clashes between racecourse gangs in the south of England attracted sporadic headlines throughout the inter war decades. The American 'underworld' provided the most compelling demonstrations of crime in the modern age, in which the methods of big business were infused with lethal violence, and the racecourse gangs were almost axiomatically accused of bringing American crime methods to Britain. P512 growth of cinema and immense popularity of 'gangster movies' provided further means through which such aberrant, 'un-British' outbreaks of violence might be explained. Debates on crime were laced with fears of imitation. By 1930 Glasgow the British city most widely associated with the 'gang menace' Here it appeared sectarianism fused with dense poverty and chronic overcrowding to breed a catastrophic level of violence in the city's slums. Glasgow was to acquire an unwelcome and enduring notoriety as the 'Scottish Chicago' Taken literally, comparisons between Glasgow's gangs and those of Chicago were nonsensical. Chicago reportedly saw 500 gang related homicides during the 1920s Glasgow's gangsters seldom inflicted fatalities - only six 'gang murders' were reported in the city's newspapers during the inter-war decades. As opposed to those in Chicago - they seldom used firearms and fought instead with broken bottles, knives and on occasion razors. Not economic organizations - mainly territorial and/or sectarian fighting gangs. Much lower economic stakes in the city's gang conflicts The profits enjoyed by Glasgow's gangsters were paltry. P513 Prohibition was as 'gangster's paradise' in the British press Al Capone's life story was endlessly retold through a combination of news items and feature articles. P514 Whilst Capone wintered in Florida his soup kitchen in Chicago blurred his status as 'Public Enemy' Glamorised him To readers of British press the gangster or 'racketeer' was an emblem of urban America British newspapers had a number of strategies for bringing events in the United states closer to home. They highlighted the stories of individual Britons and their involvement in the American underworld. In April 1929 Glasgow Weekly Record told the story of Al Capone's Scottish bodyguard. March 1930 Weekly Record ran a series of articles by James Gilzean entitled 'A Scot in Chicago's Gangland.' included a gangland glossary, peppered with terms such as 'Big Shots' and 'rackets' which were to be increasingly deployed in newspaper features on Glasgow's own 'gangsters' as the decade progressed. Most urgent threat was signalled by reports of 'gunmen' decamping from the United States to Britain. In Oct 1932 the Glasgow Herald claimed that more than 100 criminals

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deported form the USA and Canada returned to Glasgow and the west of Scotland in the previous 12 months. P515 the result in Glasgow had been spate of 'smash and grab' raids and armed hold ups. The police clearly feeding this story to the press for their own ends (someone with a gun) On this occasion, the Weekly Herald made a graphic case for new police powers of supervision of deportees under a 'ticket of leave' system. On one level, commentaries on the American underworld were used to highlight the profound cultural differences between the US and Great Britain, thus illuminating the supposedly essential virtues of the more 'peaceable' British. However, they simultaneously pointed to the danger of contagion. Violent street gangs in Glasgow was not knew - the city witnessed a localized moral panic sparked by reports of 'hooliganism' in 1906 and suffered a renewed wave of anxiety during 1916. Umbrella term for many different forms of youthful crimes and disorder- from robbery with violence to vandalism He resided in the slum districts adjacent to the city centre, and reports of trials in the city police courts provided frequent reminders of his use of weapons and his tendency to hunt in packs. P516 newspapers and reports provided very little info regarding the hooligan's social background or economic circumstances and gave few detailed insights into the pattern and range of his activities. Not invited to speak for themselves Concerns about gang activity within Glasgow escalated from 1926 in the wake f reports of frequent and bloody skirmishes between sectarian gangs in the city's East End. Throughout the late 1920s and for much of the following decade, the local press was rife with accounts of conflicts between rival gangs in the East End and in the Gorbals district in the South Side. Billy Boys vs Norman Conks in the East End district of Bridgeton Generated more intensive coverage with reports of court hearings frequently augmented by editorial commentaries and feature articles. American term gangster increasingly adopted from 1928 onwards. Connotations of the term gangster were subtly different from those of 'hooligan'. Gangster used to suggest heightened degree of menace and a greater degree of organization. P517 cross references to Chicago became a central feature of press coverage of the Glasgow gangs from around 1930 That Glasgow was turning into Chicago, claims that Chicago-style 'gangerstdom' was already rife in the city, and attempts to deny the validity of the Glasgow-Chicago parallel, this reasserting the conventional view that the violent ways of the American underworld could never take root in Britain. References to Chicago were used to inject urgency into calls for harsher sentences for gang members convicted at Glasgow police courts. Against this backdrop, considerable publicity was devoted to a visit to Glasgow in June 1930 by Marcus A. Kavanagh, a leading Chicago judge. His arrival in Glasgow coincided with intense local debate on the 'gang menace' in the wake of the fatal stabbing of 20 year old Alexander McClellan in the city's East End. He called for crusade against these 'heavy, relentless, and formidable opponents to law and order' P518 According to the Mail films like Scarface, provided explicit instruction in the arts of 'gangsterdom'

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Glasgow gangsters were equally keen students of press reports of the American underworld - made American gangsters their heroes John Dillinger, America's latest 'Public Enemy No. 1' attracted intensive coverage in the British press during the spring of 1934. Escaped from prison in Crown Point, Indiana Became a romantic outlaw of international renown precisely through the contrast reports of his exploits in the world's press after rumours circled he was going to Glasgow. P519 Reign of Terror - protection rackets and witness intimidation Not just journalist cross-referencing. Police superintendents who led prosecutions in the city's police courts, frequently deployed similar rhetoric both to help to secure convictions and then to persuade magistrates to impose harsher sentences. 'Gangsters' freely deployed by police officers seeking to invest disorderly or violent youths with a heightened aura of menace. P520 those labelled gangsters by the police were likely to suffer disproportionately severe punishments, irrespective of the crimes which they were convicted. A common rhetoric circulating among the press, police and judiciary from the late 1920s onwards, in which the rhetorical twinning of Glasgow with Chicago served to demonize gang members, rendering them simultaneously more newsworthy, easier to convict and more fitting targets of stringent sentencing. Did not go unchallenged - editors and senior columnists in the local press began to fear that the notoriety of Glasgow's gangs was undermining the city's prospects of economic recovery during the 1930s. Senior police officers resented the allegation - frequently voiced by their own superintendents - that local gangsters exercised a reign of terror. P521 commentators seeking to highlight the difference between Chicago and Glasgow stressed that G-town gangs were not economic organizations. Reputation rather than fortunes at stake. Need to refute the Glasgow-Chicago parallel became much more urgent from 1935 in the wake of the publication of No Mean City, a fictional account of a Glasgow gang leader and 'razor king'. Graphic accounts of gang violence shocked readers. Widely reviewed in the press, cementing Glasgow's reputation as Britain's 'gang city' Police depictions of the Glasgow gangs were never uniform or static. Whilst superintendents tapped into Chicago imagery and consistently deployed the term gangster to secure convictions, senior officers found this rhetoric deeply problematic. Senior echelons of the Glasgow force embarked on periodic attempts to news management, selectively feedings statistics and anecdotes to sympathetic journalists. P522 Magistrates and city councillors frequently invoked the label gangster, but they in turn came under sever criticism from those who contested the Glasgow-Chicago parallel. Glasgow already notorious by Red Clydeside To outsiders Glasgow's 'gangsters' and 'labour malcontents' were frequently synonymous by the 1930s. Widely believed that the city's economic prospects were severely damaged by this notoriety. P523 Mail - businessmen elsewhere were 'naturally reluctant to sink capital in trade with Glasgow, where they believe gang terrorism is likely to unsettle the labour market. Frankly, they will not employ men and boys who are razor-slashers, bottle fighters and mob rioters.' It was perceived as boosting the prospects of mobility among the city' gangsters. (moving to England and becoming King in that area) Notoriety persisted throughout the 20th century

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The civic rebranding of Glasgow launched during the 1980s under the slogan 'Glasgow's Miles Better' explicitly set out to overturn an image of the city, symbolised by poverty, squalor and especially violence, forged during the inter-war decades.

 Why was the press so interested in portraying this? Rivalry between tabloids Convenient metaphor already large body of pre existing imagery in popular press about gangster and crimes  Popular image of gangster - key images of Chicago Civic corruption the cancer at the heart of Chicago Everyone in pockets of Gangster Feuds trying to control liquor trade Violence was central to this image - unprecedented levels - why they gripped worlds imagination at the time Use of guns Al Capone key figure, a celebrity Newspapers wrote about his life in great detail constantly He was romanticised to an extent, turned into outlaw hero Devoted family man, Soup Kitchens - rags to riches story John Dillinger made out similarly Press try to get British dimension of what was happening in Chicago Almost sense of pride in discovery his main body guard was a Glaswegian Looking for Scottish connection Fear that they would criminals being deported would come back to the West Coast in 1932  Role of cinema in bringing this over Scare face, Public Enemy James Kackney, George Raft big stars gangsters As a genre extremely popular in both countries Particularly young males attracted to it That they would study and learn from them Creating cultural heroes - how to intimidate, how to use violence Investigation in Britain as to the link between cinema and crime - doesn't find link But rep of cinema as negative force persists right through Because image was so strong, the press were so keen to use parallel Shift from Hooligan to Gangster problem  Pre 1928 image of hooligan An Irish family in east end London infamous for violence 1906 and 1916 moral panics about them Hunted in packs, used weapons, gangs Difference between gangsters - Gangs more motive, more vicious, use guns - the term carried increased degree of menace - used by police to get harsher punishment - seem to be more organised In practice, not that much different going on Changing terminology  Chicago and Glasgow parallels nonsensical Scale of crime, Because of weaponry, level of violence, nature of gangs Glasgow hardly used gun but razors, and broken bottles, knives Even girl gangs in 1916 'Amazon gang' of girls in Glasgow Not talking about murders as opposed to Chicago More about territorial as opposed to protection rackets

They were still violent and rackets in Glasgow Folk image of the gangster in Glasgow was they were inter-gang thing didn't effect local population institution that looked out for local population - far from the truth Did terrorise communities  Why was there gang problem in Glasgow, why did it appear to be growing Sectarianism and increased immigration from Ireland One of Biggest causes of violence was sectarianism Catholic vs Protestants A lot of Irish immigrants moved to Glasgow for industry Expansion of Glasgow - 'the workshop of the Empire' Manifested in Rangers and Celtic, before that Hibs in Edinburgh Landlords and employers discriminated against Irish Racial element - in magazines and newspapers images of the Irish as primitive and lacking in culture and civilisation Emergence of anti-Catholic Political parties in 1930 First was Scottish Protestant League in 1931 by A. Radcliffe Main policies were to stop Irish immigration and deport Irish people on welfare and repeal Education Act 1918 made Catholic schools part of state school system - indication of how serious sectarianism was 1933 Scottish Democratic Fascist Party with same aims Also wanted to eradicate Catholic church from Scotland Impact of mass unemployment too - makes people stay in gangs for longer than they would have done before, made street gangs organise into protection rackets and property crimes Crisis of masculinity also encourage them to join gang - comradery, displays of aggression, violence In gangs own interest to promote violence  Impact of Chicago and Glasgow on city People don't wanna invest, negative economic impact - skills shortage because workers didn't wanna move there

Culminate effect of all these issues - race course gangs, Glasgow etc.  Racecourse wars Heather shore argues not straightforward anti-alienism, but also what it meant to be English  Anti-alienism growing after WW1 why was this heightened in 1920? Growing number of immigrants coming into east end of London, Jewish immigrants - coming largely from eastern Europe and Russia Revolution Impact of Russian Revolution causes new influx but also associates them with radicalism and radical ideas seen to be threat (they are Bolsheviks) Heightened sense of nationalistic feelings and patriotism - generally dislike of Germans, Italians Tendency to conflate foreigners as the same and the causes of the war Economic dislocation - great depression leads to race riots in port cities, foreign seamen seen as undercutting British by offering cheaper work Pre-existing notion of criminality of foreigners Seen as anarchists meeting in London due to its relative freedom compared to rest of continent Drug scandals - Eddy Manning (who is black) association with drunks, also Chinese So association with criminality Some racecourse gangs had foreign gangs Also seen as un-English because of the violence Actually got gun crime - its exaggerated in press but still existent Camden Town Shooting

Shore says fear of gangs cause they're mobile - linked to modernity and mobility- cars and fast train links that criminality can spread and invade areas previously free from it Shooting in Mornington Crescent involving race gangs so its coming into people's everyday lives Mobility leads to expansion in territory means more rivalry Many of them had been soldiers and the press highlights this  War had created more rowdy and violent society? People were unclear as to how dangerous war was - how big the psychological scar would be Amputations, shell shock - would lead to numbing of their morals and lead them to be more violent Violence was going to be more armed after the war (the fear) people had been exposed to such weapons, trained mass civilian army of men who had been brutalised and trained to kill that were now demobilised Large no, of weapons (service revolvers) kept by servicemen - in chaos at end of war - large no, of weapons had escaped from military 1920 Firearms Act - to restrict them Press obvs exaggerated this  Nightclub campaign Police rep was damaged, under scrutiny and great deal of public mistrust in police Why? No, of high profile scandals wrong doing on part of the police - Helen Dell case wrongly accuse her of crime cos one of them tried to assault her. Police questioning came into doubt Issues of How reliable was police evidence - they could just make it as these had shown The use of plain clothes policemen The methods they use to question Nightclub policing methods - they wore plain clothes and got the evidence of they needed without a warrant, entered without a warrant, asked for a drink after licensing hours Used under cover men - broke the law themselves to get the drinks Seen as un-English Being used by metro police - also used plain clothes to target guy men in parks, public toilets. Seen as entrapment - therefore, controversial Royal commission investigation into these scandals Queen of the nightclubs Kate Meyrick - hounding of her seen as victimisation and again bullying police methods. Sent to prison 4 times. Fined numerously. Clubs closed down, reopened them. Very persistent - became symbol of freedom against state interference - greeting by supporters coming out of prison Ngihtclub campaign comes crashing down as police were taking bribes from nightclub owners - high ranking 'Godard?'  Why were nightclubs considered devious? Drugs Lower class criminals and lazy upper class aristocrats mixing together Morality concerned Gender issue - sexual association of dancing Dance instructors - some were prostitutes. More escapable of lesbian, gay, cross dressing displays in more avant-garde nightclubs  Key moralists? Social hygiene movement - concerned with gambling , prostitution, more public private behaviour in 1920s National Vigilant Association - meeting girls off trains The public morality council The British social hygiene council Pseudo scientific language somehow cleaning up the county

Carry out no. Of campaigns as well as nightclub - ports and railway station do with prostitution and the so called white slave trade - wide belief that females were being drawn to London and picked up by white slave traders shipping them off to the middle east to work as sex slaves (anti-foreign feeling) pretty much unfounded Also going into parks and toilets to look for homosexuals Churches united too, in these causes Pressurising police and politicians to do something about nightclubs - have the ear of Home Office Home Secretary Jicks - evangelical Christian, racist, a censor (books on lesbianism and birth control) very receptive to moralist lobby Keen to launch nightclub campaign Strong sense of religious duty like Stanley Baldwin (PM) deliberately appeal to religious vote. Middle class values key part of their appeal Conservative party position themselves as defenders of morality - nightclub campaign good way to show this Populist aspect to this.

Heather Shore - Criminality and Englishness in the Aftermath: The Racecourse Wars of the 1920s The core objective of the racecourse gangs was in securing control of the protection business, which basically took the form of offering 'protection' to bookmakers and intimidating their rivals, and then taking a share of the earnings f...