CRIMINALS AND CRIME.

Evening Post, Volume LXXIX, Issue 74, 30 March 1910, Page 8

CRIMINALS AND CRIME.

'SHERLOCK HOLMES' BANNED BY THE SWISS. CURIOUS~REASONS. Sir Aithur Conan Doyle is the latent author to come under the ban of the book ccn«or». It is imported that, •'owing to ft inuider committed lccently by two Sv. in, fnrm hands, who nearly exterminated the whole faint hfju»euold, it has been decided by the Sv.ibh iail«ay authorities, ah a beginning, thdt no litcmtuie ot a tragic son, especially of that kind dealing with detective j-toiwt, Khali be on public bale. Among otheic, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's 'Sherlock Holmes' book* aie on the Swim index, and cannot hencefoith be bought at Swit* lailway stations." It appear* that the faun lads declared that they were led to commit their crime through Laving lead lancinating stories oi how murueis were committed. "If Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's books are going to incite the Swiss people to minder, tliun the Swiss will not be without ii not her ready excitM* for their action.*, even though they are unable to lead 'Shei lock Houues.' " 'ih'u- was the comment made upon the action of the Swiss railways by bir Robert Andenson. onco had of the Criminal Invotigation Uepaitment at Scotland Yard, and hinijsell author of the book, "Criminals and Crime. " Sir Robert added : "Tlieie is not the slightest doubt that a certain bort of literature lias a thoroughly evil efiect upon growing lad*. We have d-ealt with this in London in many \say-. The bookb 1 am s-peaking of are, of Louise, tho.-e of the 'penny dreadful' type. At one time I issued orders that the police should call my attention .-pecially to cases in which lite'.-.tuie of thi* Kind was found upon youthful oHcndeu-. Our woik in this direction was the outcome ot our attention being drawn \o the Mibject by certain public bodies and public men, though it in impossible to eitiinale the good effect of our cttorin towauU -..topping tho circulation of ihe 'penny drcndiul' literature. But woiks of tho type of Sir Aithur Conan Doyle'>, which always point out how the ileveicit criminals arc biought to justice, would, ot cour.-e, not be included iv the «vine category." •it is too caily to say whether thi> older of the Swiss railways will have any effect upon our sale? of 'Sheilock Holmes,' " said th« publicutioW manager of Messrs. Smith, Elcicr, ;tud Co., the publishers of "Sherlock Holmes." "As yet, we have had no notification of any thing of the kind. We do not publish Swiss translation). ; they would be produced in Switzerland by Swiss publi-,h-ers, who have paid a louud cuni down for tho privilege. We tell thousand* of 'Sherlcx k Holmes,' but enn hardly be expected to give a fair estimate of the number ttold weekly at a moment's notice. Con » n Doyle i« always with ut>. With regard to the ceneoixhip of crime stories, there has often bwn a lot of t.ilk about the necessity of wich a practice. A nds we oc-ca*ionnlly hear police court Rtorien of how v youngster who did something terrible was found' with a book of the 'Burglar Bill' type upon him. But Sherlock Hilmos' is rogaided e^iy where as of the virtuous typo." A stven yeim' lease of the Club Hotel, Suva, it advertised for «•!•,