The Washington herald., 1920-02-22
'BANDITSTHRIVE
IN OLD ENGLAND
Police Worried Over In
creasing Number Of
Robberies.
MANY BOLD ASSAULTS
Despite Wholesale Thieving
There Are But Few
Fatalities.

London.-Were It wartime now
the propaganda factories of Berlin
would be turning out for home con-
sumption thrilling and reassuring
tales of disrupting crime waves
rampant In staid old England. Since
II Is not wartime Germany. 1t is to
be presumed, pays slight attention.
but the British press screams the
England's writing to the papers
schemes for the prevention of
crime.
Every development of crime"
says the Star in blackface type. "as
in war, is countered sooner or later
by defensive measures.
AT present the authorities in this
country are concerned to find a
means of making the hold-up of
postoffices and banks too dangerous
to be profitable.
Sir Neville Macready. chief COM
missioner of police. lays the crime
wave at the doors of young men
discharged from the army who have
no occupation but are entirely
familiar with firearms and are gen.
orally against hard work. On the
same day. however, that Macready
gives his theories regarding the
reign of unbridled crime. another
column contains his announcement
that it has been decided not to arm
the mounted police with revolvers.
Revolver Deadly.
"A revolver is very tricky
weapon" reads the paragraph
which explains the reasons for this
decision, land in the hands of an in
expert or nervous constable would
be far more dangerous to the gen.
eral public than any single criminal.
Sir Neville Macready is on sound
lines in advocating greater restric-
tion on the carrying of firearms"
They do things politely over
here.
There have been one or two
fatalities thus far in the bank and
postoffice holdups. But there have
been many more cases where the
bold young ex-Tommy has walked
in with a gun and walked out again
with bag of money, and no traces
left. The police departments fret
under such conditions. and the pub
lie asks questions. for in this COM
pact and closely patrolled country.
unpunished crime is something that
startles the average complacent
householder. 1t isn't done. The
police always get their man. They
always have. What's the matter
with the police?
To an American. who has observed
that a large part of England looks
upon America as a broncho-busting,
six-shooting, lynch-law territory.
all of IL, or almost Wild West. this
sudden prominence here of the
"hold-up man" is amusing. One
gathers that bank robberies and
such were considered things that
couldn't possibly happen in a we'll
regulated country.
Serious Side.
But there is a more serious side of
the question. There have been some
dozen murder cases in which the
guilty man has not been identified,
unso lived and apparently unsolvable
mysteries. all. This is even more
enochal in England. The police of
the entire country have had a record
for tracking down murderers that
has made a murder without convic-
llOn SO rare as 10 call tremen Qous
press and public attention.
Several attacks upon women have
been made in England's compart-
ment trains. The murder Of a
nurse, the granddaughter of Florence
Nightingale. in a railway carriage
has stirred the nation to such a
depth that suggestions have even
been made for an adoption OF the
American plan OF railway coaches,
where, IL is pointed out. a woman
can ride for five days across the
continent in perfect safety. In all
seriousness II can be said that when
Englishmen are so stirred by an
event as to suggest changing the
small railway compartments which
they love for a long, single COM
partment American coach they are
showing real concern.
Newspapers OF the last few days
have listed do" and don't" advice
to women travelling, such as:
When possible occupy compart-
ments marked for women only"
DO not get into a compartment
occupied by only one man"
when possible avoid compart-
ments in which all the passengers