The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1939-06-02
AN OPEN LETTER
To The Law Enforcement Author
tiles of Cecil County And State
of Maryland

Within the past week or SO some
police authorities have been con-
scientious enuf to inquire as to
what the public thinks about the
Taylor case. Any official concern for
the feeling of the public is welcome,
be it motivated by lcontrition or
attrition.
BY the Taylor case we refer to
the death and incineratioh of Ro-
bert Christie Tayor early on Tues
day, May 2, in his automobile ON
country road below Rising Sun, and
subsequent suicide of his brothers
wife, Doris Taylor.
AS a matter of fact, the public,
speaking of those who live around
Colora, as young Taylor used to,
have thought about this case great
deal. At least most of us have reach
ed the uncomfortable conclusion
that Bob Taylor was murdered. For
obvious reasons that --conclusion is
not comforting to us. We all use
the public roads more or Jess, and
this episode apparently took place
on a public road. AS members of a
so-called organized society we have
in large part voluntarily surl ender-
ed our natural rights of self-defense
to the agencies created for the pur-
pose. We look to them for protec-
ton, no doubt just as Bob Taylor
did. While we have no way of know
ing whether Taylor got more or less
protection than he was entitled to,
we do know that obviously he didn't
get enough. The same could be said
about Ted Cox, Hasel Burton, an old
man named Howard Johnson, Cef
Dalton, a man named Burkins, and
a man named Strickland, all more or
less worthy citizens who met violent
deaths within a radius of ten miles
of Rising Sun during the past ten
years or so. In most of the above
cases the circumstances may have
been bit less than obvious, and
some of them may have been suicid-
es. But unquestionably some of them
were murders. Yet no one was ever
executed, nor is there, so far as we
know, any one serving time for any
of them at this still close date.
These facts, on the face of them,
seem to describe upper Cecil County
as a fairly safe place to commit
murder.
The public around Col0ra is
thinking that in the case OF Bob Tay-
lor, boy who wasn't so very we'll
known and who was not conspicu-
ously addicted to travel, it ought to
have been a fairly simple routine
matter to check every place he had
been for perhaps week or two back
and nearly everyone he was with, at
least twenty-four hours prior to his
death. So far as any of US knows
this has not been done too well.
Almost all the people around here
think Bob Taylor was murdered.
And their reaction to the expressed
desire of the State Police to call
his death suicide may be described
as somewhat less than kindly.
Exactly the same thing can be
said about their reaction to the i'm
preston that is spreading that the
authorities are postponing the in
quest to allow the public to cool off
sufficient so that verdict OF suicide
might be returned without creating
too much stir.
Up to the present time the efforts
made by state and county officers to
solve this case have been insuffici-
emit, Intellectual, and awkward in the
extreme. Our States Attorney is
supposed to be trained lawyer, and
the State Police trained officers. Yet
it is difficult to imagine how any of
us could have bungled the Taylor
case more or accomplished any less
in the way of solution. Our police
are deadly when confronted with
broken tail lights and illegal race
track books, both of which no
doubt are grave menaces to social
safety, but when our automobiles are
stolen flour or five were stolen in
and around Rising Sun last summer
during one week. and QUE citizens
are murdered, the lions of the law
are not around. Indeed, practically
speaking, it would seem that they
never arrive.
A Resident Of Colora
n.