The Press., 1910-11-16
ALEGAL DILEMMA
TangIe of Red Tape In an Eng-
 fish Extradition Case.
GETTING AROUND THE LAW.

Only ths Quick Wit of the Canadian
 Police inspector Kept a Notorious
 Criminal In Custody Whom In Realty
 He Was as Free as the Air.
 The manner in which a prisoner ex- tradited to England from foreign country is treated while on the voyage home depends very much on the de tective who has him in charge and also on whether or no there is any suspicion that he may be contemplat- others. Ess
 For instance, In the case of Jabez Balfour. who was taken to England all the way from Buenos Aires, there was a strong suspicion probably. i'll founded-that he contemplated conn hitting suicide. Consequently Inspec- tor Froest. who had him in charge, de- cided to take no risks that he could possibly avoid.
 The regulations do not permit of an unconvicted prisoner being handcuffed on board ship once the vessel has left port, and he must be allowed one hours exercise on deck each day. These indulgences, if indulgences they may be called, were therefore not withheld from Balfour.
 But he got few others. For twenty three hours out of every tweEzy four he was immured in a locked cabin. He was not permitted even to enter the public dining room, his meals being brought to him by MT. Froest himself after the rest of the passengers had fed. He was, besides, constantly watched and was subjected to a most rigorous search immediately on com ing aboard.
 His only relaxation was an occa- sional game of chess with some of the passengers who kindly came to his cabin to play with him by permission and in the presence of his keeper. This sea imprisonment lasted exactly one month and a day, and Balfour afterward declared that it was the most trying experience of a captivity that was destined to continue for nearly twelve years.
 One of the longest and in its later stages one of the pleasantest voyages ever undertaken by an unconvicted criminal was that which Charles Hyl- ton Davidson, the notorious forger, made some years back in the custody of Chief Inspector Murray of the Ca nadian department of justice.
 Murray tracked the wanted man to Mexico and secured his extradition to Canada. But then his difficulties be- gan. He could not bring his prisoner to Canada by the direct route through the United States, for immediately Davidson set foot in that country he could have demanded to be released. There was therefore nothing for 1t but to convey him by way of Jamaica and England and thence back across the Atlantic to Quebec.
 On the voyage Murray kept David son under close observation, although allowing him considerably more free dom than Froest allowed Balfour. When, however, he had got safely as far as London he was both mortified and astonished at the likelihood of his having had all his trouble for nothing.
 The law was, he was told, that a prisoner extradited from foreign country to British colony could not be kept in custody in England for longer than twenty-four hours, nor could he be taken as a prisoner on board a British ship sailing from d British port
 Here was dilemma. Davidson was free as a1r-had he only known it. But Murray was equal to the occasion. Look here, Davidson" he said, Eve got you safe. There is only the last stage of the journey to complete. If allow you to travel saloon with me as an ordinary first class passenger will you give me your word to play me no tricks?''
 To this proposition Davidson, know ing nothing of the real state of affairs, was naturally quite ready to agree. And so 1t came to pass that one of the most notorious criminals Canada has ever known came home in state; free, yet not free, voluntary prisoner. and yet an involuntary one.-Pearson's Weekly.