Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1910-09-09

nations, and this refuse furnishes
large proportion of the crimes which
so swell the homicide statistics.
They have few safe crackers and
bank robbers nowadays. America is
the field for that sort Of operations
because its population is diffuse. its
stores and banks are less safely guard
ed. its habits are more careless. and its
criminals. nevertheless, are of the clev-
crest. England is a compact country,
well settled. well protected. a place
where all the means of prevention have
been developed to the highest degree.
In that word prevention is the key to
much of the work of Scotland Yard
That wonderful police machine bends
all its energies TO prevent crime. so
that it will not have TO go to the effort
of hunting down the criminal after the
wrong has been committed.
Stool Pigeons Always There.
Scotland Yard has Il huge number Of
stool pigeons and informants. None
of these are ever known as being in
the employ of the Yard but they go
their accustomed way. mingling with
their own sort. be they murderers.
thieves. anarchists or what not, and
from time TO time they give the police
hints Of what is going 70 happen. and
the police see to it that the plot is
| frustrated.
| Meetings are held in Hyde park. and
Socialists make violent speeches. There
are always a few agents of Scotland
Yard in the audience. They are not
those tall. square shouldered. square
toed fellows. such as a sophisticated
New Yorker can pick out of almost
any street crowd as plain clothes
men," They look like all the others.
Perhaps one of them is that very hot.
head who is going TO get up presently
and make speech suggesting that the
king be banged and that the parlia-
ment building be burned to the ground.
He is the fellow who. if plot ever
is formed to put his advice into effect,
will inform superintendent Froest Sc
cretly in time TO have the ringleaders
clapped in irons
There are hundredS-indeed. probably
thousands-of these infOrmants in the
pay of the crown. although their names
never appear on any payroll. The ex-
istence of this great staff of stool pi-
geons is one important difference be-
tween the London and the New York
police systems.
If Scotland Yard were operating in
New York city it would have half
dozen bartenders on the Bowery, it
would have a dozen foreign born in
formants in every foreign quarter, it
would pay somebody in every circle of
criminals or putative criminals to con-
tinue his associations with those GRIM
inals, take part in their crimes If nee
essary. but keep their confdence-and
betray it.
The italian squad in the New York
department was an attempt to mingle
with people of a certain class and
learn their intimate ways. Joe Petro-
sino before the Black Hand got him
in Italy used to put on a SLOUGH hat.
take a chair at some corner table in
some Italian dive and spend whole
evening apparently doing over his
liquor, but actually listening unsus-
pected to the conversation around him.
partment is I'll equipped with men who
are fitted for this sort of thing, and it
never will have the wonderful corps of
underworld assistants that London has
until sufficient money is provided
Promoters Bother Scotland Yard.
There are fewer defalcations and
inside jobs" In English banks, be-
cause the system Of inspection is more
rigid. On the other hand, England is
afflicted with glittering promoters of
the Whitaker Wright class, and one
of the most difficult problems which
Scotland Yard has to face is the gen.
teel swindler. Europe produces this
variety of gentleman" par excellence,
and the figure he makes as a polished
descendant of some time honored fam
lily is frequently so good that America
must hope in vain TO produce his like.
The Scotland Yard man often goes
about In a top hat and excellent
clothes. In order to look like the aver
age Londoners with whom he must
mingle. He Is probably. on the whole.
better dressed and OF better appear
ance than the New York detective He
takes his work very seriously. almost
solemnly. When he calls on fishwife
to elicit some information he candidly
hands her card on which is engraved
perhaps. Inspector Smythe Creighton
O. i d.