The sun., 1916-12-03
CRIME IN LONDON
DECREASED BY WAR
Many Of the Thugs, Thieves
and HOldups Enlisted
in Army.
MEN IN PRISON HELP OUT
Drunkenness Wanes, Women
Alone Now Safe on Any
Street.
MEN IN PRISON HELP OUT
Special Correspondsnce to THs srS.

anxieties and sorrow they are welcome.
Among such indemnifcations Is a de-
crease In crime. That this decrease has
been considerable In Great Britain Is
shown by the report for the year ended
March 81 of the Commissioners OF Po-
lice and the directors Of convict prisons.
Prisoners received under sentence were
64.16O. al compared with 114,2sS In the
previous year-a decrease Of 50.l23.
The report says that three main causes
seem to have contributed to this great
decrease:
I. The enlistment Of many habitual
petty offenders.
2. The restrictive order Issued by
the Liquor Control Board and those
made by the justices and by military
authorities and
3. The great demand for labor. rem
dering employment easy and well paid
and resulting In ability to pay fines.
One Of the notable effects Of the war
on the prison population. say the com.
missioners. fRs been that the excep-
ions are now for the most part the
physically and mentally weak. There Is
every reason to believe that the coun-
try's call for men appealed as strongly
to the criminal as to other classes.
o~"
A young burglar. one OF a gang Of
five. told the chaplain OF a London
prison that his four pals had enlisted
W a been killed and two others
wounded. He said he meant to go and
do his Bit as soon as he got out OF
prison-a promise which he faithfully
observed.
The decrease In the case OF females
committed on conviction for drunken
ness was not so marked as in the case
Of males. An inquiry made by the
lady inspector Of prisons during the year
into the character OF the population
committed for this offence TO Holloway
prison showed that during 1913. 1914
n 1915 10.sss committals on convic-
tions Of drunkenness were recorded
against 1928 ome who, including the
above convictions and those incurred in
years preceding 1919. had on their com.
bined records a total Of a0.9s6 convic-
lions.
The average convictions for zach In.
dividual rose from 2.6 In 1913 to slightly
over 5 In 1915. Though the figures are
inclusive. they show. II the same proper
ton holds as ut HOLLOWAY. not only n
considerable decrease in the total re-
ception into prison but a decrease OF
over go per cent. In the individuals re-
sponsible for the convictions.
In spite OF the fall in the prison popu-
lation. the manufacture OF war stores
has been conducted In prisons with I'M.
abated v!gor. During the twenty months
ended March 81 last orders were placed
for nearly seven and a quarter million
articles for the use Of the navy and
army.
Inmates Work Overtime.
The prisoners have even cheerfully
worked overtime. at is no small thing
the inspectors Of prisons say. ito call
on prisoners for an addition of some rs
per cent. TO their ordinary working
hours. but this has been accomplished
without n murmur, and though due al
lowance must be, made for the fact that
a reward is given in the shape Of an In
creased supper ration. yet this cannot
he regarded rs the only reason for their
increased exertions."
II IL stated that one prisoner offered
as an economy to forge the extra sup.
per ration. On this a chaplain writes
Finder the broad arrowed garments
there beats many a heart still responsive
to the loftiest sentiments OF loyalty and
patriotism"
The enlistment OF lads has also re-
duced by half the male population Of the
reformatory institutions, and a number
of old reformatory boys have done well
at the from. Two Of them rave won the
Distinguished Conduct medal.
In other directions the home peoplc
benefit under war conditions. The
Bishop Of London In the course of a
street preaching campaign has been de-
~nourcing the sexual immortality which
he declares to be rampant In the metrop.
oils since the wal and he has called upon
"the women to purge the heart OF the
empire"
Girl Takes Tn Challenge.
The challenge is taken up by one who
IL described as "a girl worker en-
ployed in a war industry and it's now
her word against the Bishops. Under
the name of Margaret Munro she writes
In a newspaper:
surely "A good deal of that change OF
mind and spirit the Bishop so rightly
demands has come about.
who are more quickly able TO Judge
or the city's morals than the rded
girls who walk London's streets nj ali
hours Of day and night who must. per-
force. while their men folk are abroad,
dwell. dine and play by themselves? The
streets grow daily darker, yet l and my
fellows, many Of them country girls, ig-
- ~ ''s WY :. " UP 10 40 tne
nations work in this London OF ours.
! and m. like walk unmolested through
the city.
III indeed London were a sink OF in
iqulty could We young women take up
mems work, labor by their side unham-
pered. one girl alone with one man per-
ham all the day?
yet these are the things we do. Could
we serve at midnight canteens, sur
rounded by the toughest men, from the
toughest parts Of he city, una ssailed
by NO much AZ a phrase that twangs OF
familiarity? Yet there we stand all night
in the midst Of these workers; we travel
to the canteen Just before midnight
on omnlbuses. on foot. and no man stays
US.
Times Have Changed.
even In "A very few years OF London
experience most OF us can remember
n time-a pre-war ~time-when to loiter
In the streets was to be spoken to, when
To frequent tubes theatres. restaurants
alone was TO invite familiarity. ! almost
laugh when ] remember. Those were
the days when few men wore the Kings
uniform II WAS every man for himself.
not every man for king ana country.
NOV. work over. We take our soil
tary dinner In n crowded restaurant
where once a walter would politely but
firmiy hsv. asksd ~ at once II we we're