Oct. 22, Im the review of the kidnapping situation which we publish led yesterday it was made clear that, lacking some courageous Jeooperation on the part of the victims, it would be impossible for any police force to prevent abduction and blackmail in this Settlement and even more difficult, after the event, to find and capture the criminals, The best land most active detective force is of no avail if, in a reported ease of kidnapping, the family of the man who has disappeared will give no information and the victim himself, when tele ed, will not tell how he was taken, by what, sort of persons, where he was held nor how the ransom was arranged and paid, For years the police have fretted lover the same Chinese attitude in cases of armed robbery. The resident of a looted hous cannot get up courage to report his losses to the police until so long after the event that there is no hope left of finding the This often makes it possible for a band of armed criminals to perpetrate two or three raids jin rapid succession in one istrict and then get away, long before any case has "been reported. Nothing but the very strongest sense of duty in the police can keep alive any enthusiasm for the prevention Jand detection of crime in defence fof such people who do not seem to have enough courage to call for help. The very human inclination in most of us would be, when a Known victim of robbery, kidnapping, or blackmail refuses to give information, to let the case drop with the remark that the person question had got what he deserved. This the police naturally cannot afford to do, for several good reasons, nor can the community take such an attitude since the criminal elements would be tremendously emboldened by it and would feel that if they could only terrorize their victims sufficiently in each case that no information would be riven for fear of a return visit, they could go on with their careers without let or hindrance, their only risk being an actual collision with the police in the act of committing a crime.
There is also another excellent reason why none of us can afford to say that if the Chinese are ready to fleeced without complaint they should be allowed to take their medi; cine, and that is that the Chinese themselves expect protection whether they ce-operate lor not. The great majority of, the wealthier ones have come! into this Settlement trusting in the foreigner's ability to pfoteétion, and expect to' sheltered like lambs in a
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.