The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1921-03-31
State POLICE /
BEGIN Their WORK
COLONEL RAUGHMAN TELLS
HOW THE ARM OF THE LAW
WILL BE STRENGTHENED. !
MAKE FAVORABLE IMPRESSION
Wave OF Crime Will Be Decreased
BY These Gallant And
) Efficient Young
! Troopers.
By RAYMOND S. ToMPKINs.

The first thing the average man
thought Of when he saw the new Mary.
land State police force last week exi
hibiting first it's military and physical
skill and next its snappiness in uni
form and drill was-"Well, here's a
fine, peaceful thing to be doing after
the war; sending a force of trained,
brass buttoned gunner out on the
Maryland roads to FRY into everybody's
business! What will the farmers and
the labor unions think about this?"
The writer heard pretty quickly
what the labor unions thought about
it, and he heard a former member of
the House of Delegates say, after look
ing the State policemen over, well.
they're all right as long as they don't
come around bothering our Carroll
county farmers" SO he suspected
what the farmers thought.
The big question was, what have
the leaders of the State police force
got to say about it?'' And that brought
about the interview with E. Austin
Baughman, Commissioner of Motor We.
hicles for the State of Maryland.
Colonel Baughman is the real leader
of the Maryland State Police. Their
"big boss" is, of course, Governor
Ritchie, and their immediate command
ing officer is Captain Roger Williams.
But whenever the Maryland State po
lice force swoops down upon lawless-
ness, drags sneaking criminals into the
light, shields women and children, or
doffs its khaki cap to the plain citizen
who is trying to be decent, you may
know that the motive power behind it
all is furnished by Austin Baughman.
The writer happens to know that the
Maryland State police force is Colonel
Baughmen's idea, and that its person
mel is hand-picked by himself; and any,
body else can learn, in 10 minutes talk
with him, that its spirit and its prin-
ciples are the ones he breathed into it.
By the same token, if it makes mis-
takes, Colonel Baughman will take the
blame. Charitable people may say,
'Well, there have got to be some bad
ones in every barrel, so it isn't his
fault" But if a single man on the
Maryland State police force goes
wrong, Colonel Baughman will be as
hurt and as remorseful as though he
had gone wrong himself. The whole
thing is that close to him.
To Colonel Baughman, therefore, the
writer went to learn the meaning of
this epochal addition to the govern.
mental machinery of the State of
Maryland.
Just what is the big idea behind the
formation of this force of swift riders,
hard fighters and straight shooters p"
the writer asked Colonel Baughman
He replied slowly and with much en-
phasis.
The idea is to extend and strengthen
the arm of the law in Maryland. Moth
ing more and nothing less than that
1t is as much of move in the direc-
ton of improvement as building up a
broken-down Jail wall would be, or ex-
tending electric or telephone wires out
to new territories. When you want to
improve and use room in your house
that you have been neglecting one OF
the first things you do is to string
wires to it and get some light in there.
The new State police force is going to
do somewhat the same thing for the
State Of Maryland. If there is single
dark place for crook to hide in after
these men get on the job in Maryland
I'll be mighty disappointed"
How does the State of Maryland re-
semble room that has been neglected,
Colonel Baughman?" the writer asked.
"In this way" he replied, that a
great part of it has been neglected in
measures to protect the people against
professional bandits and desperate
criminals. l do not mean to suggest
that the county and town authorities
throughout the State haven't been on
the job. They have done as much as
any men could do. But what chance
in the world have they against bands
of professional bank robbers who dash
in, shoot, rob and dash away again in
high-powered automobiles almost be-
fore anybody can count them?
Il want you to understand that
don't take any particular credit to my
self for the creation of this force"
Colonel Baughman added ut so hap
pened that, as Automobile Commits.
sioner, was in better position than
almost anybody else to see the trend
of the times in my own line of work.
And the trend of the times, as I saw
it, was toward the use Of automobiles
in speeding up crime.
professional criminals had Topped
minutes off Of safe-blowing jobs, hold
ups and killings, just as runners lop
seconds off of sprinting and long
lance records. But at the business of
catching them we hadn't speeded up
at all.
"On the other hand, the State was
aiding and abetting them, in way. 1t
was furnishing them broad, smooth
boulevards to ride on-highways that,