South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1922-05-28
NO CRIME WAVE IN
ENGLAND, DECLARES
FORMER DETECTIVE
Papers Give False Aspect of
True Conditions, Says
Thompson.

LONDON. May 27.-Great Britain
is in the midst Of a crime wave. or
al least in the midst OF wave OF
criminal news.
The press o. London fairly Drist,es
with murder stories. suicide tales
sensational court cases Of one kind
and another
Yet. sir Basil Thompson. formerly
a Scotland Yard chief declares that
there Is actually no crime wave over
Great Britain.
IF one were to judge from Ger
tain superficial indications a wave q
criminalty has swept over the coun-
try" declares Sir Basil Probably
at no period i'm our history has there
been so brisk market for detail of
criminal trials.
Just before the armistice there
were gloomy forebodings about wha-
would happen when men accustom-
ed 10 hold human life and property
very cheap came home There was
10 be an epidemic Of murder and
robbery by violence. and when a few
cases were recorded they were hall
ed as fulilment of the rather obvi-
Gus prophecy.
Morbid Interest in Criminals.
But in fact. there was no such
epidemic. Both during and Imme-
diately after the war there werA "a
few sensational murders but there
was nothing ar an resembling the
conditions during the wars OF the
last century. when thousands of dis
charged soldiers roamed the coun-
try as homeless Migrants. commit
ting crime. and executions and
transportation seemed 10 that gen
Grafton the only possible remedy.
The statistics Of crime are sensi-
tive instruments for recording the
fluctuations in the social health of a
community, and an examination of
these statistics Is reassuring Per-
haps the morbid interest which is
taken in criminals is actually =
healthy symptom. There is nothing
interesting in phase of life with
which one is in daily contact
The prevalence of crime is i'm
mediately indicated by a rise in the
prison population. We do not know
what the next two years may bring
forth. but we do know that three
years after the armisuce. when we
are at what we hope is the lowest
/ level Of depression. we have been
able to reduce the prisons in the
country TO the smallest number at
any time i'm our history.
Crime Fills Newspapers.
q. D D.
| is no crime wave, but merely wave
( Of interest in crime The fact re-
mains that crime md court news oc-
cupy the greater part of the space in
/ the London press AZ the moment.
I The newspapers are featuring the
case of Horation Bromley NJ. p,
charged with converting the funds
J of a bond club TO his own uses. Next
/ in importance is he case of Capt.
and Mrs. owen Peel. scions Of a we'll
known family. charged with irregu-
/ larities in betting on the races. To
add a bit of spice 10 the days news.
! there is the case of IbTahim said
FAIL. an Egyptian prince. who is the
central figure in divorce case, the
case of Ronald True. an aviator.
! charged with responsibility for the
death OF beautiful Gertrude Yates,
| the case Of a Liverpool Curate who
I drank poison ia champagne with a
young woman in q hotel room, and
/ the headline. New Murders in Ire
4 land" is always kept standing
4 Great Britain may not be in the
/ midst OF a crime wave. but its news
papers indicate 10 the contrary.