BATTLE OF WITS.

Western Star, 1 April 1920, Page 4

BATTLE OF WITS.

SCIENCE AND THE CRIMINAL. F<ir ages there has boon a war constantly in progress between the powers that prey and ilie powers that protect. The criminal on the one hand and the police on the other. In the long ago the methods of both were crude (says Mr H. L. Adam, author of “The Story of Crime,’’ in a recent article). But the criminal was ever a menace. The police have always been hard put to it to 1 beat them. As the law advanced in its methods of prevention and detection, so also did the erimnal advance in his predatory methods. The law had recourse to science, hut the ciimimd proved himself equal to the occasion. The very means the law adopted to subvert and unmask the criminal, the criminal himself has adopted to anticipate and confound, the law. How dors the contest stand to-day f Well, nnfortuna tely, tho criminal is as far from being beaten as ever he was. In some instances lie has been t’ e leader instead of the plagiarist in adopting scientific method-. The law lias unconsciously helped him in, the way of education. He has not beein slow to improve upon the uncouth procedure adopted by his illiterate ancestor, Bill Sykes. Let us take a passing peep at a few of his scientific achievements. What one may te:a» the professional criminal is migratory—a citizen of the world. He recognises neither laws nor nationality. A country represents to him a huae “crib to crack.’’ Too wo:Id’; sciuilM; are bio men-

tors. Ho closely follows the achievements of his confreres, and avoids their mistakes. He perceives where, and how, their acts led to denteution, and ho is cartful to avoid committing similar errors. - Thus Devereux, the trunk murderer, copied and improved cu tire methods of Grossman, the English “ Bluebeard.” But the law beat him in tho long run. Up to the present time one of the most successful criminals of any age or country, so far as the public records are concerned, is the French criminal Laindru, also known as “ Bluebeard.” Here law and justice have a very hard nut indeed to crack. vSo far, no corpus delicti can bo found* so that, according to the present condition of the French criminal law, no case can .he formulated against tho prisoner.

This man ' would appear to have copied, and improved upon the methods of Cripp.cn, who very nearly ‘succeeded in effectually disposing of the corpus. In the case of Landru it would, of course, bo possible to pass, a special law to deal with him. The law is allpowerful and adaptable, as the recent war demonstrated. —Secret Poisons.—

Tho two great obstacles to the successful perpetration of murder have always been the weapon and the disposal of tho body.- In this connection the contest between the scientific achievements of the law on the one hand and the criminal on the other has been fiercest. Tho multiple murderer Smith, of tho “baths murders,” is the only criminal within my knowledge who overcame both obstacles. His wcaipon was water, and the body bad not tc be destroyed or hidden. Had he held his hand sooner he would never have been discovered.

The throe crimes in which science lists made the greatest headway are murder, forgery, and burglary, the first-named' being the greatest. The most formidable murderer the law has ever had to deal with, is the secret poisoner. The weapon he uses had always been so subtle. At, one time the law was well-nigh helpless against the secret poisoner, who then invariably bad a long career. Subsequently scieir'e stepped in with infallible tests,” and the way of the poisoner was henceforth for a time beset with plti'a’ls. But only for a time. A few years* ago Sir James Cricbtcn-Browhe, the eminent toxicologist, made the following observation to the writer; “ The: poisoner of the future will not resort to any of the' old blundering methods i it eluded in. Schedule A. 11s 1 will eschew alkaloids altogether; he will never be discovered through the mecliinm of the test of Marsh, Reinsch,. anil otliers, lie, will even defy the law! of circumstantial evidence, for Ins weapons will be microbes.” This foremost was confirmed shortly after by the Continental case of Count Inturlin, who was poisoned by the administration of disease germs. Every disease has its particular bacilli, and the e may be cull ivale ! and i’.dmin-isieixcl-ih plain water without any

fear of detection. When one considers that cremation may mJso be: resorted to as an aid to immunity from discovery, one is impelled to the conclusion that the law is far from having beaten tho homicidal criminal. The Seddou case was a conspicuous example of the triumph of sicenco over crime.

—Forged, Cheque Perforations.— To-day the motor oar is being used with the greatest success in boldly conceived burglaries. It is also helping the murderer speedily to dispose of the body of bis. victim. The remains of a. woman were discovered in a, wood at Wincbfield, and it is believed that they were brought there by motor car. A similar case occurred a few y e «ra :, g° at Yarmouth, where the body of mi young woman was found on the beach, it having been brought there by motor car. In neither case has the culprit been, traced. Tho _ scientific forger can, still “ work' in spite of special vegetable ink, perforations, and the penetrative eye of the cannera-lens, which is capable of making manifest that which would escape: the human eye. I know of a case where a forger filled up theperforations on a cheque with pulp, and re-perforated it for a sum many times larger than the original sum. And so the battle of wits goes on, and is likely to continue.