St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-01-15

Scotland Yard detective who watches
them, and who personates, for the
moment, the anxious father, could point
them out to you. But you will say:
What are you driving at? Who are
these prodigal sons to whom you allude?
Why Is the detective watching them, and
why should he make notes in his little
book about them as they alight at the
station, their rugs on their arms and
their grip-sacks in their hands. Are
you not imagining some fctiOn-conjur-
ing up some nOnentityW No, gentle
reader, am talking of real persons. the
offspring of our modern extraditiOn
laws, English prodigals: nay, criminals,
who, living abroad most of the
year for the purposes of systematic
Yillainy, keep their families and
frequently their wives, too, in England,
and return to them now and then, aud
nearly always at ChriStmaS-unlesS de-
tanned by the jailers of the countries in
which they commit their crimes-under
cover of the eXtraditiOn treaties which
we have concluded with various friendly
governments. Briefly, they keep in
England place to which they can fly if
detected in crime abroad.
Once here they cannot be touched by
the police, for no government can give
up (under the extradition laws) its own
subjects to another power. Think for
moment how much better off they are
than English criminals who elect to
commit rOguery at home. Benson and
Kerr, for example, if they break into the
Bank of England, or forge its notes, may
fly to other shores; but wherever they
are caught. they are liable 10 be sent
back-under the extradition laws. Yet
Benson and Kerr may rob the Bank of
Belgium or France and come to London
with the proceeds of their crime, and no
one can touch them. Only the En-
gliSh criminal who breaks the law
in England. He, at least, has an
asylum "a city of refuge. Yet it
will surprise you to hear that these
gentry, who look upon mankind as a
sort Of oyster into which they may
plunge their knife without any hesita-
ton or IemOrSe, are anxious to return.
Still. it should not aStOniSh you, for
you ought to remember that no men
or, at any rate, very few men-are
wholly bad. Many of them have young
and rising families, who are
brought up quite respectfully here.
sent to boarding schools, nicely edu-
Gated at Summaries and academies, and
taught the piano, French, dancing and
about their paterDal relatives, "Oh,
papa is in business in Germany" or.
MY father is a commission agent in
France. He does not come home often;
we do not see much of him, but he is
very good. He always comes home to
see US at Christmas time"
recOllect one evening-it was Christ
mas eve-waiting at Charing Cross sta
ton to see the prodigals return. The
detective whom l was with pointed out
now one and then another as they
passed, as he made note in his book
just word to enable him to report
their arrival at Scotland Yard
and as we turned to leave,
L said: "Well, they all looked
more or less like criminals. | think it
was easy to distinguish them, for in
stance. from the man who was met by
six little ones and nurse, as well as
his wife" ''Ha! ha! hap roared poor
Vom TOrnow. for it was he-now dead,
l am sorry to say. "Why, I've been hav-
ing little game with you; that man
with the large family is the one for
whJm, of all others, / was waiting.
He's the biggest rogue of the lot. Three
times he has been convicted, always
abroad, however. and each time in diff
ferent counties, and there is not an
other such scOundrel loose on the face
of the earth. But he comes every Christ
mas, and l had particular orders to look
fol him this year, as bill he forged has
been presented in LondOn.a and we think
we can, perhaps, make him amenable
to English law after all. purposely
refrained from pointing him out, to see
what you would say. He? Why he
ought to be locked up for life immedi-
ateiV.'