The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-03-09
PROFITS IN BRnGANDAGE.
Stimulus from the Outcome in Mist Stone's Case If the Criminals
 Go Unpunished.

Philadelphia Press.
 Miss Stones release after captivity of nyt months a period unprecedented in the annail ofs brigandage during the last century, has been succeeded by a wide range of commenl which misses the real lessons of the case Miss Stone was captured in Macedonia. . region little smaller than Massscnnstts dsvs rids from the railroad which connects Constsnti- nople with Vienna, and she has never been more than two or three days ride from large garrisens of Turkish. Bulgarian and servian troops. Her capture. imprisonment, ana the of ransom ts of Setwesn ss oDx pos, sible through the connivance of both the Bui- garian and Turkish authorities with the work to deal promptly and energetically with this case, insisting that these Governments, one or both, assume the respSnsiD,,,sy or aS Feh in the Marathon brisandage case. and as the Turkish Government has been repeatedly bursed in order to secure Miss stone.s liberty.
 But while this may render the onicials oI the Turkish Government more careful m tns future, 1t does not meet the real lack iaiu bare by Miss Stones capture. Over toler- ably wide area in the Eastern Mediterranean thSre ana IT have % been several cases of brsandage during the last forty years the English Gov- ernment having ransomed three of its subjects there is always a possibility that an Ameri- can man or woman will be captured and held for ransom. The English Government. as well as the European Powers. equips It's Foreign for ransom. This general fund Is always in turn recouped from the Government which has been derelict In protecting aliens within us boundaries In any case where brigandage is concerned the easy ransoms and prompt re- lease of prisoners depend upon the. Power tions, to offer a sum commensurate with the circumstances. and to speak with authority
 None of these things existed in the present instance. The State Department, tied up by the failure of Congress to provide Tor an 70 had m could use The American Board of Foreign Missions loudly declared itself unable to di- vert its means to this oD)eet prUdas,Jns hsr,p tions were raised. The press fin this country and England was full of the case Every possible thing was done and said by these journals to raise the demands of the brigands. who, it must be remembered. were never more than a mornings ride from telegraphic sta papers with the regularity of q Wall Street banker. The expectations Of the brigands in amount of money which they could obtain If they waited were aroused to unprecedented demands. both as to the ransom asked and the sum finally accepted
 An experience like this puts a premium on the capture of Americans the world over. It has perceptibly reduced the safety of the American engineer traveller. or missionary whose duties and plans lead him or her into a region disturbed by brigands Judging from ture of Americans will take place within six months or so. and another ransom will be tingent fund of the State Department open to drafts of this character. we shall find the Government as unable to cope with the next case of brigandage as with the last. If, in addition Congress were to make an appro- prIation to be used by the State Department brirands wherever they could be found and thus render 1t more profitable for officials in the region to bring them to justice than. to connive at their bTigandage. Americans would be left safer in all the regions where brlgand- age exists.