Evening star., 1922-12-31


i"t'on that the smaller murder ratio
II Great Britain. might be partially
-''counted for hy their severe re-
'rlctions on sun carrying and the
-ttainty and speed attained in the
-omtnistration of justice
criminal in America. Sir Basil
Said. had "a better run for his
money than in Great Britain. The
Srand jury system here, the eminent
crln1nologlst said, lant itself to de-
.ays IN the expedition of justice,
through difficulties in empanelling a
Jury. and the possibilities of delay
'hg motions offered on the part of the
Hetense. In Great Britain he said
the function of the grand jury
rad been reduced to a more "orna-
mental status. Criminals there he
explained, were brought first before
q magistrate, and then before the as
sizes court. and the grand jury at
The same time. with the court ready
20 act. immediately the grand jury
affirmed Il true bill Thus the grand
jury there. he said, acted more as an
approving body. to O. X. the action
"t the magistrate. and thus facilitate
me speed of justice. although there
had been instances. he added. where
the grand jury had refused to
return a true bill. against the action
of the magistrate who had previously
heard the case.
Gun-Totins Curbed.
The added speed obtained through
presentation of evidence before a
magistrate instead of waiting for
grand jury more than offset. in the
opinion of the British criminologist,
any possibilities of additional justice
through multiplied personnel"
Gun totinG in Great Britain was
described as dealt with severely. a
sentence of six months at hard labor
facing the "toter." AS consequence.
the gun evil had been greatly re-
duced. Sir Basil said. and the posi-
bilities Of crime likewise curtailed.
contrary to much popular belief.
crime has not increased since the
war, either in America, England or
in most of the European countries,
cold figures" In America, there
was an increase of crime beginning
with 1890. he said. adding that the
period between 1910 and 1916. ac-
cording to figures furnished by the
american Bar Association. showed no
those between 1916 and 1921. In
England there had been no great
crime wave since the war, Sir Basil
said. and the only crime wave ap-
parent at present was said to be in
Germany, which could easily be at
tributed to hunger"
Confer Before LegislntinR.
pdoli uOuUCSu pTOnlOlt1On
could be enforced In Great Britain.
Over there. he said. the legislative
branch of the government usually
conferred with the law enforcement
branch to determine in advance what
laws could be enforced. In England
they don't have laws which cannot
be enforced. Sir Basil said.
The drug evil. Sir Basil said, was
subsidtnS in England, but the au-
thoritfes were still working on the
restriction of cocaine. of which Ger
many was said to be producing more
than the whole world could normally
require. Drug peddlers received SEN
fences up to a year. he explained.
ShopbreakinE Prevalent.
The most prevalent Of all crime
with which authorities in England
have to deal. Sir Basil said. was .:shop-
breaking. This was differentiated
from burglary or housebreaking, as
these latter were confined technically
Concerning capital punishment Sir
Rasil explained there were sporadic
attempts in England to ATTEMPT to
abolish it, but he considered abolish
ment at best u dangerous expert
ment."
Sir Basil warmly commended the
movement for a national bureau of
criminology here in Washington.
which would be clearing house of
lntoTnatlon TOT the benefit of the ma
ton You must have. national
bureau. he emphasized An inter-
national bureau, he thought would
De too cumbersome
Scotland Yard. the famous head
quarters in London. Sir Basil said,
now had personnel of about $4,000
men, including about 500 in plain
clothes. This. he explained was
much higher average for the popula-
tion served than in New York city.