Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-10-08
AMATEUR POLICE READY
FOR LONDON'S NEXT ROW
Special Correspondence of The Star.


LONDON, September IS. 1911
AT the beginning of the recent railway
strike when London was thoroughly
scared and didn't know what the next
ten hours might bring forth, call was
sent out for special constables to as
sist the regular police, who were busy
keeping the strikers in order. About
5000 men-society men, Iaborers and
business men-volunteered in a couple of
days and 1900 actually were sworn in
and equipped. with badges and clubs.
Fortunately the strike came quickly to
an end and there was no necessity for
their services. The incident, however,
furnished Winston Churchill, the half
American home secretary, with an idea
which he was quick to put into practice
an amateur police force which wouldn't
cost anything and which would be avail
able to maintain order in times of eX-
traordinary trouble.
A few days after the strike was set
tied. Churchill sent out a confidential cir
cular to the chief constables of the big
English towns and cities asking them to
report on the possibility of organizing
such an amateur police force in their
districts. Since then the chief constables
have been quietly enrolling men who are
willing to act as special constableS and
they have been instructed to keep these
uStS up TO GATE ana TO keep IN uoucn
with the volunteers. This probably is
as far as the scheme will go at present,
for an act of parliament would be re-
quired to permit the formation of a regu-
larry enlisted force. 1t is thought that
such an act is unnecessary, as the law
at present authorizes the Swearing-in of
special constableS for limited time of
emergency. and the enrolment will be
quite as effective as a regular enlistment
would be. The great advantage Of the
enrolment scheme is that it gives the
authorities time to investigate carefully
the records and sympathies of the volun-
teers. 1t would never do, for instance, to
call on an ardent trade-unionist to pre-
vent peaceful pickering but the same
man might de excellent service in quelling
a religious riot in Liverpool.
1t is not proposed, however to use the
specials for riot work unless ii should
prove absolutely necessary. The idea is
that this duty should be performed by
the professional police. while their regu-
lar beats are patrolled by the amateurs.
This will prevent such a state of affairs
as obtained in London during the rail-
way strikes, when there was an epidemic
of burglaries in the suburbs from which
the police had been withdrawn for strike
duty.
Another result of the strike has been
the preparation by the home office. which
controls the police. of an elaborate war
map of London. 1t seems hard to be-
lieve that the police didn't have such a
map. Military officers are now at work
marking down all the electric light and
power stations and gas works, the big
food stores and coal depots and survey
ing the routes from dock and railway
stations to strategic points. A few
desperate strikers could have paralyzed
London by cutting off the light and stop
ping the electric cars, while they might
have looted granaries and stores and
burned warehouses. When thesfext strike