Evening star., 1918-12-02

necessary to the full performance by
the library OF its useful function,
whether in war or peace
collection numbered 206.994 volumes:
q net increase of 11.576 volumes. and
about 45.000. mounted pictures. The
library; circulated into homes S65.-
$50 volumes and 1882 mounted pic.
lures, utilizing for the purpose 178
different agencies. These included
the central library. the Takoma Park
branch. Jig schools. ten stations.
grounds and twenty-five mfscellane-
GUS agencies. The persons registered
as borrowers Of books from the
library numbered 65,2 ,22S; these ng-
through the library service In the
public schools, .E
- Metropolitan Police. -.
F,.whsnr the United States was thrown
Into the, war. the District Of c,olum<
bla was found with the smallest po-
iicei force Of any world capital In
sxtsnt the city is much larger than
is commonly supposed. having an
area ef nearly seventy square miles
!'open Streets and twenty-five miles Of
water front Throughout the period
for the war the population has been
l.fncrea sing constaprly, with a CORE
fsponding increase In the demands for
Rohce service Of all kinds.
As a result of the influx Of people
into. the District Of Columbia, the
most Important problem presented to
the people Of Washington has been
the housing of war workers. The
police department has assisted in
every way possible in the handling
horr riHor do
Gus oensuses OF vacant houses, OF va
cant rooms and apartments, and TAX
ing an active part in directing stran-
| gers to the various agencies having
charge OF the work of locating rooms
for newcomers -
l.. AS activities have Increased. the
constant aim of, the police depart
ment has been to meet these new
calls for service by a rapidly dwin-
ding force. numerically greatly weak
ened by'rnen going into the military
service and war industries
+ AT one time the department had 100
Vacancies out of q force Of only $50
men. With such. heavily depleted
ranks. the necessity. for the federal
fEovernnieht to give aid to the police
bia was considered. and following a
series of conferences and communica-
| tfons. OF the major and superintendent
with tho War Department, q plan was
worked out by which men in the
| limited service Of the National Army
have been and will be furloughed to
the Metropolitan police department Of
| the District OF Columbia during the
period OF the war for police service
This arrangement Of furloughing
partment, the first of the kind ever
worked out in the history of the
United States Army, made It possible
Tor the district Of Columbia to be as
sured of a. full. quota in its police
! force during the period of the war.
To the members of the department
VINO stuck to their posts and who
worked day after day during the long
periods when the force was greatly re-
duced too much credit cannot be gi yel.
THESE men. assured by both the Secre-
tary of War. and the, Secretary of the
Navy that nothing was more important
dxrinG the war situation than the pro-
lection Of the National Capital. per.
formed ,s;.,ls their duty with fidelity and
dear them. forever to the hearts of the
cittzenS Of. Washington and the people
OF the nation. Many of them were
men who in some cases were offered
| twice the salary they were making IN
the police department. Some of them
found 1t Shard to stay and give police
service when 1t was almost impossible
to keep body and soul together on the
old scale Of police salaries.
| During the past fiscal year rho TO-
| lice department has given to the mill
tary and naval service of the United
States eighty-flve men. These raen
have not only gone into the military
service through the draft, but 4 num-
ber have completed the course in tho
|. training Camps and have won commits
sions, while others have been given
commissions directly from civil life.
and still others have voluntarily EN-
listed.
T. At one period the number of-.volun-
tary' enlistrnents was so heavy that
the matter was brought to the atten-
ton OF the War and Navy Depart
ments. and the Secretary of each is
active service should be voluntarily
lnducted into the Army or Navy.
With the cooperation OF thu heads
Of departments and chiefs OF bureaus
sands Of clerks themselves, law VIOLA
| tton has been kept at the minimum and
there has not been recorded a single
instance Of a riot or marked disorder
OF any kind. ).
Besides looking after the regular po-
the members Of the police department
| have taken an important part in every
fpatriotic demonstration and every
campaign in the government inter-
est, including the third liberty loan.
the war savings stamp and Red Cross
campaigns. In the third liberty loan
I campaign members of the department
for the first time made a drive on SELL
| ing bonds as well as purchasing them
and disposed of nearly S1,D00.t00
| worth.
On Sunday night, June 80. 1918. at
12 O'clock, the Metropolitan police
closed the most successful year in
| the history OF criminal investigation
| in the District Of Columbia, and
creditable and unique record OF any
large police department in the United
| States, having finished the year with
every murder occurring during the
year: cleared up and the parties
! charged with the crime arrested.
Washington during the fiscal year
l19lS had twenty-seven murders, the
second highert number in the history
OF the city.
| -The large number of crimes COM
mitted during the year by ire
sponsible people. particularly by
bootleggers and poolroom hangers
| on carrying dangerous weapons. en-
! phasiz the need for increased police
lauthority to regulate more strictly
| the sale of firearms of all kinds.
| 1t is not believed by the police de-
partment that persons should be pro-
| hibited from purchasing firearms, for
| the protection Of their own homes.
| but it, is believed that all persons
! owning firearms should be registered
and that unregistered firearms which
are found should be objects for con-
fiscation, and that where person has
} possession Of an unregistered firearm
that the same shall be considered
\ prima. facie evidence of having the
same with wrongful intent. and such