LONDON LETTER.

Auckland Star, Volume LXV, Issue 138, 13 June 1934, Page 10

LONDON LETTER.

THE NEXT ELECTION. POLICE OFFICERS AT SCHOOL SMUGGLING IN FOREIGNERS. (From Our Own Correspondent) LONDON, May 3. Tliero has been renewed talk this week of the formation of a National Party. The idea (which has its advocates even inside tho cabinet) is that the present i "emergency coalition" of Conservatives, ; National Liberals and National Labour- ' ites should become a permanent party. Though the proposed party would be almost entirely Conservative, most of (ho Tory leaders are against the plan. They argue shrewdly that the present National Government is sure to become unpopular with the electorate eventually. When that time comes, the Conservative party can break up the coalition, resume its independence, and disown any unpopular acts of tho National Government. To form a permanent National party might win votes at the next election, but they believe that it would provo a short-sighted policy in the end. Election In 1936? Until a few weeks ago many, observers were prophesying a general election before the autumn. It seemed to bo the Government's best chance of getting returned for a fresh term of office. But now it is stated in circles in close touch with tho Cabinet that there will be no election until the spring of 1936. The nows is distinctly -welcome to the Labour party. They cannot- afford to fight a general election at present, and tliey fear that the National Government is still popular enough to get a majority, if it were to "go to the country" now. But in two years' timo the Socialist leaders hopo to have filled the party war-chest again. They also believe that the present Government will have so discredited itself that Labour will sweep back to power.

Another party which welcomes the delayed general election is Sir Oswald Mosley's Fascist party. At the moment it seems to be making more noise than progress, but it is certainly going to be a factor in future elections; and the longer it waits the more important will bo its role. Teaching the New Police. Journalists this week were allowed a preliminary glimpse of the new Police College at Hendon, which the Trineo of Wales is to open on May 31. This is where the new "officer class" will be given 15 months' training before .they take up their duties with the London police. The building used to be a country club, and it still seems more like a club or hotel than institution concerned with the stern work of crime prevention and detection. The budding inspectors will have 10 tennis courts, a number of squash courts, football, cricket and hockey fields and facilities for many other games. Each man's room is fitted with running hot and cold water, and there will be one valet for every six students. More like school are the classrooms, where experts in various branches of police work will lecture. One of the rooms is fitted out as an exact replica of a Folicc Court, with magistrate's bench, witness box, dock and so forth. Another room represents a model polic? station. Outside are a number of old cars which will be used to test tho students' presence of mind in street accidents. More Young Criminals. There is an alarming increase in the number of young criminals in Britain. The 1933 report of the prison commissioners, just issued, shows a rise of 40 per cent in the number of youths sent to gaol for serious offences. Nearly half the young men sentenced were first offenders. There is also a big increase in burglary, theft and various forms of fraud. The average daily population of the British prisons is now about 13,000, having been steadily rising for several years. That is the black side of the picture. The more favourable aspect shows there are far fewer murders and crimes of violence. Drunkenness has also declined a great deal. These crime figures — especially those relating to young oifenders—reflects the tragedy of unemployment. Many of the youthful criminals have never had a job since they left school. What may be called the crimes of want (burglary and theft) have increased; while the ofiVnees of the violent professional criminal have grown fewer. Smuggling People Into England. Tho watch kept on all English ports is so strict that it is asttonishing to learn that no fewer than 300 foreigners are believed to have entered the country during the past year without passports. Needless to say, people who enter Britain thus "by the back door" are generally "undesirables." Usually they are fleeing from justice in their own countries.

One of the easiest ways to get into England without a passport is to land in Ireland first. The Irish Free State is less strict in admitting foreigners. Once on Free State soil, it is comparatively easy to - slip across the frontier to Northern Ireland. From there, of course, anyone can cross to England without a passport. Another illicit "gateway" to Britain is the Thames estuary. Here, it" is said, people can transfer from a foreign vessel to a small British coastal boat without attracting atention. An international gang is believed to bo organising this traffic, charging from £0 to £20 to smuggle a foreigner into England. Bees in Warfare. German military experts—who are j pursuing their science even in these days of disarmamanet talks — have turned their attention to bees. Bees, it appears, can do other useful things besides making honey. They can carry messages in wartime even more effectively than homing pigeons. A German who has been experimenting on these lines reports that it is a simple matter for bees to carry tiny rolls of paper bearing messages. Another of his suggestions is that the bees should be sprinkled with various coloured powders, according to a pre-arranged system of signalling. Thus, if the forward observation post released a blue bee, it might mean that the enemy were concentrating on the left; while a red bee would indicate a movement on the right wing. Bees, says this expert, are even more reliable than pigeons; they always return to the hive.