The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1903-06-23
PUBLICITY or CRIME.

One Of the Suggestions hiANS ~
Rvstander" in Sundays issue that the
interests OF justice would be helped
rather than harmed by immediate pub
,icitv of crimes committed in Honolulu
and Hawaii. makes this leading article
in the Saturday Evening Post (Phiia-
delphia) OF timely local interest:
4 diamond necklace that cost many
tens Of thousands was stolen from a
; w york residence not long ago. AS
soon as the detectives arrived they
! cid. say nothing of this to the re-
porters. Don't let anybody hear OF II.
II n gets out we can do nothing
/ After they had worked for several
weeks without accomplishing anything
4he newspapers happened on the facts
and published them. The same day
pawnbroker came forward with some
OF the Jewels: the next day the thiet
was caught and the rest of the 1eWeis
were found. Why? Because with the
newspaper publication the search tor
thief and plumber began to be MADE
not nv two or three thick-headed
"sleuths'' but by millions upon millions
of human beings. each casting about IN
his own neighborhood for some clue 10
the mystery.
several years ago Russia began to
move into Manchuria. The diplomats
Of the other European Powers began TO
tunnel under Russia's tunnel. Not a
word of this must get out The pubic
makes a mess of everything. Just let
rs alone to burrow in the dark and
Russia will soon be retreating. Final
" the matter was uncovered accident
slIv. But il was too late. Russia, calm
w disregarding the silly little mole tun-
mel of the diplomats, had got her long
claws we'll planted, and though pup
licity has made it impossible for her 10
move as rapidly as she was doing as
long as the diplomats let her work IN
secret. diplomacy's blunderings cannot
be set straight.
There are no exceptions to the rule
that honesty and honest purposes of
every kind seek the light and thrive
best in it. while skull-digging is never
better pleased than when it can induce
honest men to say: Eyes, publicity is
dangerous thing. Let's tumble about in
the dark"
Let us suppose that a thief enters
Honolulu home and escapes with valu-
able Jewels. If the detective put on the
case has his way, not a word will be
said about the matter in print. This
reduces the affair to game OF hide
and seek between an officer of the law,
who is known, and a criminal who is
comparatively unknown, with the
chances all in favor of the criminals
getting away with his plumber.
Now suppose the lose of the jewels
and a full description Of them had been
at once made known to the public by
the press. Then the thief could not
have shown his booty anywhere or
tried to sell it, without taking great
risk of giving himself away. Instead
of one pair of eyes looking for him
there would be a thousand. II re-
ward for recovery were offered, the
criminal would have his difficulties
multiplied. Every form of publicity
would embarrass him. Secrecy, on the
other side, would play into his hand
If he saw nothing about mis- crime in
the PAPERS he would know that he had
but one man lLSlcel0 VI q
contend with.
Another reason why Honolulu should
have prompt news of crimes, DUR
glaries in particular, is that it may be
led TO take more precautions. People
not knowing how many burglaries are
going on, leave their windows unbolted
or doors open at night, living in a fools
paradise and tempting the midnight
robber to do his worst. Were the truth
told. the householders would be more
particular than they are and successful
robberies would be fewer.
Publicity is the best remedy for a
great many public ills and while it can
not claim to be a specific for crimes
it is one of the things which any de-
tective can use TO advantage in his
trade of catching criminals.