New-York tribune., 1921-12-04

the name Of Basil Thomson
doesn't mean anything. But te
Americans who lived in Eng.
land or ever wanted to get out of this
country during the war up to the time
the United States came in; to Irish
men resident or visiting in England
during or since the war; to any kind
of postwar foreign visitors; to any
British subject even remotely suspected
of communistic leanings--to all these
(and the Jumping of them all together
is his doing), the name Of Basil Thorn
son means quite lot.
1t belongs to the late Director of the
Special Branch at New Scotland Yard
British police headquarters in London,
who has just rslinquished the post un-
Ger scheme of reorganization which
involves the merging of the department.
The Special Branch of which Sir Basil
Thomson was the head took charge of
what might be called generally political
crime. 1t looked after the safety of
royalties and ministers, it was con-
cerned with spies and secret documents.
Under that name it has only existed
since 1919, but it has functicned for
half century as sub-department of
the Criminal Investigation Department,
and for the past eight years--perhaps
the most difficult in the history of
Scotland Yard-Thomson has been In
charge Of it.
No man IN England to-day probably
knows more state secrets. Bnt no man
in England ever has revealed less. Sir
Basil-he was knighted in 1919 for his
war services-is shortly to publish his
"reminiscences; but about the most in
teresting episodes of the most interest
ing years Of his career they are likely
to be discreetly reticent.
Once Served as Premier
OF the Fiji Islands
r Before he went to Scotland Yard he
Ind had more romantic career than
most civil servants. He was once
actually Premier, though very little
I one. Son of au Archbishop of York,
who married q famous Oxford beauty,
when he came down from Oxford he
entered the colonial office and was sent
out to Fiji. Some trouble arose in the
Islands, and Sir John Thurston, the
Governor of Fiji, felt himself COM
PEELED to depose the Rev. Shirley
Baker, a Methodist minister who had
made himself Prime Minister and vir-
tual dictator of the Tongan archipelago.
Basil Thomson, at the age Of twenty
nine, found Himself installed into the
vacant Premiership. In his entertain
ing Diversions of Prime Minister
nc tells the story Of this early phase
of his career
From Fiji he came home to be in
succession governor of Dartmoor con-
Wet prison, governor of Wormwood
Scrabbs prison and finally secretary to
the prison commission. In this latter
post especially he learned much of the
ways of criminals which he was after
ward able to turn to account. He was
made assistant commissioner of police
IA 1cLO diU iIldiiy uliSCCUT OF Cu6
special branch now to be absorbed.
His idea of the work of the 900
criminal Investigation department men
was not that they should be Sherlock
Holmes experts, but that they must
know how TO utilize the great ma
chine Behind them and when to call in
the aid of experts. AS an instance of
method, he cnce told how the identity
Of murdered woman was established
by sending to every London laundry
copy of the laundry mark found on
her clothing. The vastness OF the
machine enabled inquiries to be made
all over the country if necessary. OF
the methods Of detection adopted by
Sherlock Holmes Basil Thomson was
anything but an admirer. In humor-
GUS speech he once pointed out that II
his staff followed the Sherlock Holmes
method they would more than once