The daily morning journal and courier., 1898-01-11

Ing very tluCIl anu was u BIedt iOSS lo
 all the towns in which roads had to be constructed.
 THE NEED OF SELF-DEFENSE The New Milford Gazette, speaking of the frequency of murderous crime in the l rural districts says:
 "We believe it is in the country, at | their own firesides, not in the city, that
 respectable people run the most risk of being murdered or robbed. So much
 crime also adds to the already too great public expenses. Indeed, 1t may finally | be necessary to bond the state to raise | money to pay for murder trials instead
 of to build good roads,"
 | There have been a number of crimes | in this and some contiguous states of l late which go to substantiate the view l of the Gazette as to the insecurity of l human life in the country, and much | discussion has been evoked about the I best means of changing these unfavora- | ble conditions. The matter of expense | is a secondary one, although it would | doubtless become primary matter ] were the rural districts required to 1 themselves pay for any effective polic- ! ing. such as would be necessary to 1 bring about the changes desired, The l Springfield (Mass.) Republican has not | ed the unusual prevalence of crime | through the remote rural districts and | has asked that some means should be taken by which it can be repressed. The
 Lowell (Mass.) Courier responds that
 crime in Franklin, Hampden and Hamp- crime in Franklin, Halnpden and Hamp- | shire counties and draws the Following
 suggestive conclusion:
 There is certainly Gin the counties mentioned) an abnormal proportion of | offenses in which women and children | were the victims. Middlesex county, with all it's cities and cosmopolitan UT
 ban population, seldom if ever shows
 such docket as any of the counties
 named presents this session"
 The proximity of the big cities and towns is not thought, in these cases, to l be productive of increased crime, but | the reverse, for there is more or less l police protection over all these subur- ban regions, while in the remote west l ern districts of the state there is ab- l solutely none A man could not be less l protected in any distant western or l northwestern state, and unless he is 1 able and prepared to protect himself, l he must take his chances, which. the | records show, involve murder, outrage ! and robbery for himself and his family. I Were the people of these remote rural I districts to realize that their depend- l ence must be on themselves and to arm. l themselves more generally, and then to l familarize themselves with the use of I arms, and, in short, take the directast ] means for self-protection that lie with I in their reach, they would soon beget a | feeling among criminals that would de- l crease the number of murderous crimes.
 When in any section of the country ev- l cry mans house Is known to be his cas- | tie and to be defended so that the man who enters as thief and robber l takes his life in his hand in so doing, | then that section will be tolerably l safe. The crimes committed are nine | times out of ten against unarmed and l defenseless people and when, as a gen. | eral thing, people are known to be arn- ed and able to defend themselves, there | will be fewer chances taken by preda-
 tory criminals. The Fitchburg SenIi- l nel, commenting on the condition of af- fairs in western Massachusetts, makes the following pertinent suggestions:
 One cause of the insecurity of life and property, especially in rural districts,
 has been lack of cooperation between state, county and local officers. The de- sire of some officers to take all the glory | when a noted criminal has been cap-
 tured through the joint efforts of sev-
 eral officers has had a tendency to ere
 ate jealousy and prevent that hearty
 and earnest cooperation which is abso- 1 lutely necessary to secure the arrest of
 such daring and expert criminals as
 have infested some portions of the com
 monwealth of late The criminal classes
 are not slow to learn where their oper-
 ations can be conducted with the least
 risk to themselves. It is to be hoped
 that the legislature, at it's next session
 will take measures to remedy some of
 the evils which hinder the successful
 administration of law, and will adopt
 measures that will increase the security
 of life and property There is so much
 lawlessness in some sections of the state
 that women are afraid to go out with
 out an escort after dark.--Bridgepor Standard.