Mafia

CONTINUED

the same time systematically exclude the black underworld from a fair share of the spoils? You bet it does, and frankly this is about as bad an example of racial injustice as I've ever encountered. My boys are going to have a field day."

The head of the Antitrust Division tried to break in, but his colleague in Civil Rights refused to give up the floor. "And there's another thing," he said. "the law clearly states that it's illegal for two or more persons to conspire to violate somebody's civil rights like killing him. After all, doesn't a man have a civil right to live?"

In the general hubbub of voices that followed, the head of the An. titrust Division, who at first had been hesitant about these admittedly novel uses of the law, finally managed to be heard.

"There are a whole bunch of statutes that haven't been mentioned yet," he said.

"I'll give you one example, the Robinson-Patman Act, which was passed in 1936 as a supplementary measure to existing laws against illegal restraints and monopolies. It lays it on the line that nobody engaged in commerce shall, in the course of such commerce, be a party to or assist in any transaction that discriminates against competitors by selling goods and services at an unreasonably low price.

"Well, my eyes have really been opened this morning. The Cosa Nostra does this every day. Why only last month its Family in Newark took over a bagel company and started practically giving bagels away all over New Jersey. Pretty soon there wasn't another bagelmaker left in the state. As soon as the Casa Nostra company had a monopoly, you can guess what happened. The price of bagels went sky-high."

"I've got a juicy tidbit you can start on right away," the head of the Criminal Division said. “A couple of days ago one of our informants reported that the grand council of the Cosa Nostra had decided not to use the services of an enforcer or hit man as he's called, on the grounds that he was a homosexual. This means that the poor fellow can no longer earn a livelihood because of a secret cabal against him.

"We didn't know what to do about it, but I now see that it's obviously a direct violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act, to say nothing of the man's civil rights."

Enormously pleased at the reception given his idea, the Attorney General concluded the meeting. "Gentlemen,” he said, "there's no question that we finally have a

VIOLATION

THE CLAYTON ACT, Section 7, frowns heavily on monopolistic positions, notes Peter Maas, and finds it somewhat illegal for "two or more persons to conspire to violate somebody's civil rights--like killing him!"

VIOLATION

GAMES THE MAFIA PLAYS... By taking 100% of the action, it violates Section 2 of the Sherman Antitrust Act, among other bills. "Organized crime is America's biggest single industry," says Peter Maas.

game plan that will work. This is the dawning of a new age in the fight against organized crime. Keep me informed of your progress, so I can report it immediately to the President."

The Mafia has an intelligence operation of its own that rivals anything the FBI or the CIA can come up with, and it was only a matter of hours before word reached the

brotherhood about what the Attorney General was going to do.

A meeting of the Cosa Nostra's grand council was promptly called, and bosses from every part of the country gathered at their favorite restaurant in New York, The Sign of the Black Hand. The atmosphere was glum to say the least, as man after man rose to complain bitterly about the unfair tactics the Justice Department planned.

Their leader, the boss of all bosses, Vito the Fox, listened impatiently as each one spoke his piece.

Finally Vito could stand it no more. "Don't you guys realize,” he snapped, "that this is the best thing that ever happened to us? We're like all them other big corporations now. From now on we're legit!" (*1971, Field Enterprises, Inc.)

.A....

SUNDAY, APRIL

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