THE PURSUIT OF CRIMINALS.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXIX, Issue 149, 24 June 1908, Page 4

THE PURSUIT OF CRIMINALS.

A 1 IfEIECIiyE'S EXiPEEIENCES. MASTS GpOD TRAITS. (By Xelegrauti.—Press Association.) f CHRISTCHURCH, this day. Alter pursuing the elusive criminal for more years than' ii 6 fcares to think of, and battling-against all classes of the genus, cunning, desperate and commonplace, Chief-Detective Chrystali has, on the eve of'-severing his connection'with the Detective force of New Zealand, a good word to say for the class against which he had to wage constant war during the seven years Mr. Chrystallwas in charge of~ a gaol in Ireland, and while b.e : has been a detective in this country, a vast number of criminals came into contact with him in a professional way, and his observations, based pri Tbhg' "experience, should have some interest attached, to them. There is one side of their character that is never seen by the public," Mr. Chrystali began, "and of this unknown side I have to speak with feelings of gratitude. I have found that where criminan are treated justly by a police officer they invarably appreciate it, iand do not bear malice against the' officer who, in the course of his duty, lias' to' appfeben-1 them. I-have had to do with men of violent and desperate character engaged in every departnient of crime, but I have never yet bacn accused of doing a dishonourable action or of acting unfairly by'any of them. There are very l niany traits of character to be found in" the criminal classes which atone, -in great measure, for their faults. Their faults, however, are blazoned forth to the world, while their virtues are ignored and unrecognised. I have had frequent arid serious conversations with criminals' of deep dye, and I know of my own know 1 ledge that many of them have acceptel the word in season' gratefully, "and are now leading p™>-nplary lives. "Criminals," jKr. Chrystali continued, remWscentiy, "arc theniost forgi-ring'of anyVlass of men I have had to deal with: They forget a 'hiding , when they know that they deserve it, and I have never given a 'hiding' except when I could not carry out my duty without doing sp. I never molested any criminal except in self defence, and where there hae been a physical contest my man has never shown any animus after things were settled to my satisfaction; in fact, they have never met mc afterwards without a smile, as if the recollection of'the encounter was a pleasant one. I have been in dens of thieves and criminals in every centre of New Zealand at every hour of I the night and\ early morning, and. though ! these criminals by the force of their numbers have 'had mc in their power time after time, they have never shown yindictiveness or made any attempt to abuse, insult, or annoy mc in any way. I am satisfied, also, that this applies to the members of the force general*-,- as well as to the detective staff, whbh is brought more into direct conflict with the criminal class than the police ' ' " I knew the criminal class in the Cld Country," Mr. Chrystali continued, "and compared with those, we hav<> no criminal class at all. In my experience here I have known very few men who we should class as cracksmen in the Old Country, probably not more than a couple of dozen! "The Habitual Criminals Act—l ami satisfied that nothing could be better. 'It is a knockout blow to crime. Legislation, which makes it an offence to habitually 'consort,' is a most humane enactment, as its tendency-is to prevent criminals conj sorting with each other. Bad leads to worse, and there can be no questibn'that when criminals consort together'it' is for the purpose of planning tlie commission of a crime. The mischief one does not think of the other'will; if they are kept apart they will no doubt meet with people who are honestly'disposed, arid they may fall into some decent employment. Of all things, consorting among the criminal classes is the last which should be tolerated, and the clause wnich makes it an offence strikes at the root of the evil. There is an adea" prevalent that the object of inserting it was to give the detective power over the criminal, biitf that was not the purpose; the object was to stamp out consorting infinitely more for the sake of the criminal himself than for any other consideration. It is the best and most humane clause in the whole line of criminal law that I know of. As to the indeterminate sentence, I think it is a first-class thing for incorrigibles. The only sensible 'thing to do with them is to shut them up until- they show some unmistakable signs of reformation, impress upon them that if they'do not show these I signs they have no chance of being set at I liberty. The criminals know all about I the indeterminate sentence, and it has already had a deterrent effect.