Very good results from yesterday's demonstration on the part of the Municipa Police and Chinese authorities, when armed robbers on their way to execution were paraded through the principal streets of the Settlement prior to going to Luyghua for the carrying out of the sentences passed upon them. There were two reasons for this action, one to show to the Chinese community that the police are} active in attacking this great evil in our midst of armed robbery; the other that there is a Chinese precedent for the parading of such malefactors, pour encourager les autres. In regard] to the first of these considerations, it was only a few days ago that we had to deplore the small} degree of assistance which the! Chinese civilian element gives to the police in_ tackling armed robbers or kMfappers at th moment of their flight from the scene of crime, and it may surely be argued that a display such as this of criminals run down by the: police at risk of life and limb will add to the morale of the populace. There was certainly no end of curiosity in Fégard to yesterday's parade of the criminals, and if the lesson to which we have pointed has been learned much good may be: in process of achievement. The armed robber, skulking in the alleyways of the Settlement, doubtless also took every chance to view the procession of cars, perhaps noting at the same time the ce-operation between Municipal Police and Chinese authorities in dealing with men of their kidney.
It is just as well that something in-the nature of a public demonstration should be undertaken from time to time, and for this reason. Never a week passes but! there are reports of serious cases of armed robbery here, and naturally, because of their sensational ature, they bulk more largely in the public eye than do the arrests which the police make. Thus a wrong impression of the state of affairs may readily be created, Yet take the figures given in the report of the Commissioner of Police for August. While thirty-seven reports armed robberies were received, shots being fired in eight instances, no fewer than forty-one persons were arrested during the iionth in connexion with these and previous cases, and on twelve) of the individuals firearms were found.
Besides these three persons were taken into custody on' charges of being concerned in armed robberies in Chinese territory, and sixteen similarly accused of such crime in the French Concession. This is a record of achievement of great worth, and it has not been accomplished without devoted service on the! part of all ranks. How far an official report impresses the man-in-the-street is doubtful, and certainly few of the rank and file, ever pay any heed to it. So it is just as well to give them a tangible instance, as was done yesterday, of the work that is} being done, and it may well lead to a real spirit of ce-operation on the part of the Chinese populace.
To emphasize the work in hand we can do no better than quote from the Commissioner's Report] for April, 1921, as published in the Municipal Gazette to-day:—Tt may not be inappropriate to all attention to the frequent visits from the numerous well armed this region and which are from time to time drawn to the Settlement for various reasons, prominent amongst hope that, if captured, be defended ifn once, sentenced to term of imprisonment in gaol instead of the hurried trial and swift and ure ex caution which follows their seizure by the authorities in territory exclusively under Chinese Jurisdiction. From January 1, 1915, until the end of April, 1921, over thousand persons were arrested and brought to trial on charges of armed robbery from houses and, from the person. Considerably over two hundred were sentenced to death and subsequently executed. Of the remainder many ar? still in prison, and yet the number at large, when. it decreases on account of arrests, does 80 for a very short period only. This brings us back to the same position as we pointed out in connexion with the kidnapping evil, with reference to which Chinese correspondent wrote us recently. There must be no half measures with these criminals: our Chinese correspondent suggested flogging, and considering' the enormity of the crimes in which these people engage it is the sort of thing that ought to) be in operation. In the meantithe, however, all that can be done is to ensure the closest ce-operation the Chinese authorities.in getting sentences of a severity beyond the jurisdiction of the Mixed Court carried out swiftly' and thoroughly. And this cooperation should be shown pub-liely in the most unmistakeable way, as was done yesterday through the demonstration in the streets of the Settlement. It must be remembered that we are dealing with an exceptional state! of affairs, and exceptional measures are called for.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.