The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1919-07-24
IS NOT
 . SAFE HAVEN FOR !. BREAKERS OF LAW
Sanctuary Exists Only in Hectic Novels and Exotic
 Movies.

| The first thing the conscience l stricken offender in the United States | thinks about when he feels that he l must flee in order to avoid the arm
 of the law is the safest place on earth | from which there Is no apparent dan | ger of being forcibly or legally re- 1 moved.
 What, in the opinion of professional
 criminals. crooks. defaulters and ! forgers, is the haven of refuge afford | ing the fullest protection from un- ! leashed human bloodhounds whose | traditions have taught them never to 1 give up the trial until the criminal Is i finally run down and placed within | the confines of a cell?
 It Is Honduras Honduras. the l third largest of the Central American | republics with area of 46,26O | square miles and with a population 1 of nearly 60O,000 inhabitants. | In the novel one usually reads that l the villain makes his escape to Hon. duras, the land of the sarSapartlla 1 and the banana.
 In the musical comedy there is al- ways a scene showing the disguised ! scoundrel sneaking about among the 1 palm trees and the cocoanut groves. The movies in their frantic efforts | to obtain local color have made Hon l
 involving a dash across the American
 border and thence to Mexico, where i the hunted man finally boards a ship 1 to some Honduran port.
 1 Thus has the fair name of Hondu-
 ras been besmirched. The extent of 1 the damage has been enormous. | From east to west and from north to 1 south, wherever wrongdoers are at | work in devising ways and means to | beat the law 1t is common knowledge ] that the southern republic will open 1 wide its doors and receive all fugi l lives with the warmth of the tradi I tional welcome given to the Prodigal Son upon his return to the paternal
 home. Even now. according to we'll 1 informed circles, the fugitive colony ! of Honduras has grown to large pro- | portions of late owing to this long es 1 tablished reputation, and the law abiding citizens of the little South | American republic find themselves in | a very delicate position with respect | to the reception of strange individ- uals. who, for all they know, may be | either crooks of the worst kind or l well meaning and respectable Citizens ! from a foreign country. Even the l Americans in the community feel that goes with visit to that country
 where 1t is believed criminals are
 free from arrest.
 Why, If I happen to be an Amer
 ican visitor to these parts the gos-
 slippers immediately start their dirty
 work and American is quoted as
 saying on a recent visit. T know they
 are wondering I pass down the
 street how I happened to make my
 escape from "The States" and just
 for what particular crime I am want
 ed," he concluded.
 The situation is growing worse
 right along, and in order to start 1 back fire against the further invasion 1 of international crooks and their like l the Honduran Consul-General of New
 York has started a little propaganda of his own with a view of discourag-
 ing the idea that Honduras is a safe
 haven for fugitives from justice and | of encouraging American authorities
 to hunt their man even to the very
 depths of the mountains, for once
 Honduras will gladly cooperate in
 sending hiU back to the country of
 his origin to stand trial.
 i Why pick on the little Honduras?"
 inquiries this suave Latin American
 official. Why do fugitives think of 1 Honduras before any other region on
 earth as the safest place to hide from justice? Do they not know that Hon.
 duras IS not a place for criminals?
 Do they not know that we have an
 extradition treaty with the United
 States empowering American au- i tn critics to get a man out of the
 country and compel him to stand trial
 in the United States?"
 And to prove his point the Con-
 sul-General produced a treaty of ex- 1 tradition solemnized between the 1 United States and Honduras during 1 Elihu Roots term Secretary of State, which seems to indicate that
 some of our man hunters have been
 Ignorant of the status of the hunted
 man once he gained the Honduran
 border.