To the Editor of the font-Cunxa Darts News'
Sut-—The crime situation in the International Settlement Is fast assun ing alarming proportions. Not single day will' pass now without some prominent residents of the city being taken away from their homes or off their cars by the gangsters. The strange point is not that kidnappings should be so frequent, what is strange is that the S. M, P. are not adopting some. strict' measures to combat this rising menace. In almost every ease, the victim was taken to the badlands and held a prisoner there. Why not, then, barricade off all roads lending into the badlands, eaving only a tew openings where constant. searches of traiMle can conducted Buses, trams, rickshaws, fand pedestrians may be' allowed to pass these barricades more or less Treely, with occasional searches po hops; but all passenger cars, ith hire or private ones, with more than two male passengers should be halted and searched, If the thugs cannot smuggle their victims out of the Settlement, kidnappings will, cease instantly. Perhaps other major crimes will diminish also, for no perpetrators fof major crimes' will rely on_ their logs for a quick get-away nowadays. They all "use cars, mostly com= mandeered hire cars, The 8. M, P. are certainly no less efficient than their French colleagues, yet for every armed crime. that occurs in the Concession, there would be usually ten in the' Settlement, Why Simply because "the Settlement authorities Teave the area stilt under" their jurisdiction "invitingly open to all outside bad elements who want to try a hand, Admittedly, the barticading " system will cause a great deal of inconvenience to road users, but weaving through congested trate at the openings and being late at the office "is certainly much preferable to being taken for a ride and never arriving at one's office at all, Most of the kidnappings are devoid of political complications, so any mea sta taken to combat them will not cause the S.M.P, any" embarrassment One more thing, the ¥. M. P, have been doing rather well' with their bieyle patrol, why do not the 8.M. P. ive it a try-out? A bicycle patrol can patrol a given aren at least three times as frequently as a foot ppatrol_can do in the same period of Lime, Phe initial cost and the subsequent maintenance for one oF thousand bicycles could not be more than' few hundred thousands. of dollars, We are ready to pay a quarter of a million dollars annually to enjoy the luxury of having a municipal orchestra, are we not ready to pay" a little more to treble the eMeieney of the police force?
Action Wawreo Shanghai, Oct. 10.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.