The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1921-03-18
POLICE
BEGIN THEIR WORK
COLONEL BAUGHMAN TELLS
HOW THE ARM OF THE LAW Il
WILL BE STRENGTHENED.
MAKE FAVORABLE IMPRESSION
Wave OF Crime VIII Be Decreased
BY These Gallant And
Efficient Young
Troopers.
BY RAYMOND s. ToMPKINs.

a
The first thing the average man
thought Of when he saw the new Mary,
land State police force last week ext
hibMing first its 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 pry into everybody's
business! What will the farmers and
the labor unions think about this?n
The, writer heard pretty quickly
what the labor unions thought about
1t, and he heard 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
lsgot to say about II" 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 WilliamsI
But whenever the Maryland State poS
lice force swoops down upon lawlessa
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 Baughmans
The writer happens to know that the
Maryland State police force is Colonel
Baughman'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 prin4
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 II 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 tho
formation Of this force of swift riders
hard fighters and straight shooters ?'y
the writer asked Colonel Baughman,
He replied slowly and with much EN-.
phasis. y.
"The idea is to extend and strengthen
the arm of the law in Maryland. Moth!
ing more and nothing less than that,
It is as much Of move in the 'direc-
ton of Improvement as building up q
broken-down jail wall would be, or ex..
tending electric or telephone wires Out
to new territories When you want to
improve and use a room in your house
that you have been neglecting one Of
the first things you do is to- string
wires to 1t and get some light in therej
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 a 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. 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?
II want you to understand that 1,
don't take any particular credit to my
self for the creation of this force"
Colonel Baughman added. sit so hap