"STRATFORD EVENING POST" MONDAY, AUGUST 20, 1928. BREAKING AND ENTERING.

Stratford Evening Post, Issue 21, 20 August 1928, Page 4

"STRATFORD EVENING POST" MONDAY, AUGUST 20, 1928. BREAKING AND ENTERING.

THE number of cases of breaking and entering which 'have been brought before the courts in the Dominion recently have been very large, and this state of affairs is most unsatisfactory. Time was when such a thing as a house being broken into wa :s a rare occurrence, and then it wa's almost exclusively (confined to the cities and larger towns. Now however, it is almost an every day event, and even the smallest hamlet well off the beaten track, is 110 ti immune. In addition to the cases which arc reported in the press, and which come before the courts, there are others which* are not made public. for various reasons. In Stratford during the last few weeks, places'"have been “broken into and articles stolen and the same state op affairs is notified from other towns. In cases like ting the police are often blamed for not catching the offenders quickly, but it must be remembered. tha t the fi t sic of laying suchpeople by the heel s is not by any means an easy one, and it must also bo said, that the authorities do not always get as much help as they should from, the public in cases where the offences are of a minor nature. A notable instance of this occurred iff Tar]an)tiki tPot iS)o vffrj) long ago when a person was caught taking property which did not belong to him. He was compelled by the owner to return it, and) no further action was taken, the case never hewing reported to the police as it should have been in the public interest, so that they could have taken action. Other instances have oc-* curved iu which misplaced sympathy is extended to the offenders, because they happen to be acquaintances c* those whom they rob and the latte* are not always as ready to place the matter iu the hands of the law ns they should bo. There is such a thing as public fluty, and in the interests of the community no sviih pj-ithy should) be wasted ’on people who break into premises. Another factor which tends to nvike this class of criminal less fearful of the law than he should he, is that Judges are frequently too lenient - in the sentences they impose. Xs the Chief Justice Sir C. P, Skerrett once remarked, breaking and entering could easily lead to violence there beina the. chance licit a householder, finding an unauthorised person in his house may be attacked and injured or perhaps even worse. Sir Charles Bkerrott showed scant mercy to people convicted of breaking and entering, and if in all eases they were given [ho severe sentences which he imposed there would he less of it. Wo hop© that in the Stratford eases any one knowing of any facts tbit will he of any assistance to the police in tracking down those responsible will not hesitate fn do the right thing and communicate such facts to the proper quarter.