Harbin, May 1.
The local Russian newspapers are raising a hue and cry about the increase of crime in Harbin since the Russian mili were disarmed by order of General Pao on March 16. With the exception of the Chief of Police and District Superintendents practically the whole of the late Russian Town Police are still in the Harbin Police Force though their uniform has been slightly altered and they have a Chinese Chief. Hence when the papers try to place the responsibility on the shoulders of the Chinese authorities for disbanding the Russian militia they are hardly hitting the right nail on the head.
The writer has in these column repeatedly pointed out that it is rather the police system that is at|' fault than the individual and that drastic reforms were necessary in order to cope with the cleverness and audacity of criminals who infest Harbin. It is, however, to the Criminal Investigation Department that special attention should be paid. This department is sadly undermanned as well as underpaid, and consequently many men qualified for positions in it refrain from joining up.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.