The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, 1902-11-06
POLICE FOR THE SOUTH.
An Unique Measure to Prevent
Vagrancy and Crime.

IL is ITOm AIlaIlld ludl
Mr.. r. B. Blackburn will father at
the present session Of the general as
sembly of Georgia a bill providing for
the selection. of about 10000 additional
! police officers in the State. AS explain
| ed by its author, the bill commands it
self to prompt passage for Georgia and
to adoption as oon as possible by
every other Southern State. 1t means
order, safety and prosperity. The bill
provides for the choice by the grand
jury Of each county in the State Of
seven men in each militia district to
act as patrolEen. Each group OF sew
en- is to select a captain, and to his call
the patrol is subject. Unde: such a
system, and wherever the necessity
arises, p~atrol1nc2 may be provided up
on a basis OF enc 70. every six square
miles oi TIE States area and for very
two hundred and twenty Of its popula-
ton. and the officers thus provided
will be specially charged with the ar
rest of all suspicious characters and in
6ividuals who may be leading a pro-
! fligate or an immoral life. The bill en-
larges the vag:ancy law so 81 to bring
within its pprylew ali persons who
have no fixed abode, and who may be
| found tramping through the country
with TO visible of support.
The proposed measure seems to seek
\ revival Of some Of the features OF
me old patrol system OF the South. and
should it succeed it would not only
! prove a deterrent of crime and misGe-
| meanors costly to the State In many
| WAYS. but would also be an effective
means for the prompt administration
of Justice. and hereby effect q saving.
II strikes at the root of many evils.
! social, economic, industrial. agricul-
! tural and financial, in reinforcing va
! srancy laws. One of the curses OF the
! South IS vagrancy. increasing with the
| means. for improper schooling o.
! negroes. and vagrancy is the parent Oh
| divers offences against persons n
/ property and a constant drain upo1
the strength Of a community. This IS
especially the case in rural districts,
! Of others. the inevitable criminals OF
wheretieidlersan drones. living upon
| the honest and dishonest exertions OF
! others, the inevitable criminals OF the
future, are not as easily restrained as
they may be in the cities whittier many
OF them drift. The knowledge that at
any moment the country patrolman
may appear will have the effect OF
checking the tendency to vagrancy,
with all its possible dangers. There
! fore, the law as proposed will be OF in
! estimable value to the country neigh
borhood, making more secure life and
property there, and will do much to-
ward a settlement Of many Of the diff
| cuties which have cultivated the I'M
healthy migration of valuable elements
of the population from country to
town. 1t will not only induce stability
in that class of the population, but will
add to it's numbers.
The author Of the bill believes that
the law as framed by him may be ex-
ecuted almost without direct expense
for the State. That feature will un-
doubtedly make it popular. But the
expense should be regarded Of minor
importance. Georgia could we'll afford
to spend for a few years half a million
dollars annually upon such a police
system, and every other Southern State
would do we'll to make a similar In
vestment in proportion to its needs.
Such an expenditure would have the
immediate effect of enhancing farm
values and of increasing the density OF
the country population Of the South,
and those of ultimately increasing the
ability Of the State to make the ex-
penditure, and at the same time Of re-
ducing to a minimum the necessity for
It. It is an investment which will be-
gin to pay interest Immediately, and
which will require ~ sinking fund for
the extinction OF obligations arising
from it.-Manufasurer's Record.