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AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



December, 1908 



Monthly Comment 



• HE open season for rural burglary is now 

 about at its height. It begins toward the 

 end of October, the actual date varying in 

 different localities and being somewhat de- 

 pendent on the advent of cold weather. 

 The burglary scare generally arrives with 

 the first hard frost, or shortly thereafter, 

 and remains with the residents of the country side until 

 spring has well opened. It is true the country has no mon- 

 opoly of this disease, plague, nuisance — call it what you 

 will, for the cities seem to afford rich pickings at all sea- 

 sons. But the person living in the city is surrounded at all 

 times with a multitude of fellow beings, many of them close 

 at hand; moreover, he has, supposedly, an expert police force 

 and a costly detective bureau which are his for the asking. 

 He has burglar alarms, telephones, electric light switches, 

 burglar insurance, and a host of other means, modes, ways 

 and methods of protecting himself, some of which he is sure 

 to avail himself of, while all of them are pretty certain to 

 receive more or less attention from him — after he has been 

 burglarized. 



But the position of the country resident is very different. 

 He is very much alone, and never so much so as in the 

 winter months. Mere inaccessibility is no detriment to a 

 thrifty burglar, for he has frequently been known to travel 

 a considerable distance, and even to undergo hardship and 

 personal inconvenience, if the fruit of his toil promises a 

 lucrative return for his industry and ingenuity. The victim 

 is, in most cases, utterly helpless. It is true he may not be 

 without resources in the way of protection. He may have 

 electric light; there may be a burglar alarm at his bedside; 

 each member of his family may have his or her own re- 

 volver, or even a shotgun; but of outside assistance or 

 exterior protection there is scarcely any at all. 



This is the crux of the whole matter. The whole country 

 side, almost from one end of our great land to the other, is 

 almost completely without police protection, even of the 

 most primitive kind. The rural constables and marshals 

 in the sparsely settled regions, while in many cases the best 

 men to be had, and often excellent men of their kind, bring 

 no trained intelligence and little familiarity with even the 

 rudimentary nature of their work. Even the officials of 

 the various boroughs, townships, villages and communities 

 are similarly deficient in practical matters of this kind, and 

 while it may be assumed they are both willing and anxious 

 to render every possible assistance and to afford the utmost 

 protection at their command, they are so greatly handi- 

 capped that the sum total of their efforts amounts to hardly 

 anything at all. 



The problem as to what shall be done under such difficult 

 conditions is enormously complicated and difficult of solu- 

 tion. As a matter of fact it is one of the many problems 

 surrounding human life for which no single solution can be 

 proposed. There are, however, a few general principles 

 that are applicable everywhere. The problem must, at the 

 outset, be treated with intelligence. It must be studied and 

 considered in all its aspects. It is often a good thing to find 

 out what other communities are doing or what has been the 

 result of such efforts as have been made elsewhere. The 

 methods adopted in one place may not yield the expected 

 result in another; but it is always wise to ascertain what 



other people have done in a certain line of work before em- 

 barking in it, especially if it is, as rural police protection 

 must be to many, a new subject for thought and activity. 



There must, also, be co-operation among the residents of 

 a given neighborhood. The country resident is dependent 

 on himself and his own resources to a much greater extent 

 than even he supposes. In the matter of police protection 

 he cannot act alone. Neighborhoods must unite in such 

 work, unite in a friendly general way, without personal 

 rivalry and for the common good. The timid man who 

 thinks only of himself is not only abominably selfish, but a 

 source of real danger, since his views and ideas will be con- 

 fined to himself alone and he will have no word or help for 

 his neighbors who may need both quite as much as he, and 

 who are quite as much entitled to them. Some States make 

 provision for the organization of local protective associa- 

 tions, and the co-operation that is needed may better take 

 advantage of such opportunities than to depend upon verbal 

 agreements or neighborhood courtesies. Associations are 

 bound to be more effective than individuals, and a formal 

 organization will invariably accomplish more than the best 

 of separated interests. 



Many rural robberies are traced to house and farm ser- 

 vants, or at least are often attributed to them. The re- 

 sponsibility of the employer in such cases is very clear and 

 evident. It is often difficult to get accurate information con- 

 cerning such employees, but it should not be forgotten that 

 they are brought into the neighborhood and maintained 

 there by the very people they turn against. The promptest 

 of punishments should be meted out to such miscreants, but 

 the person who is responsible for them cannot hope to 

 escape at least a partial responsibility himself. Too much 

 care cannot be taken in examining into the antecedents of 

 rural employees of every sort. If the employer can be 

 brought to feel the full extent of his responsibility in such 

 cases the source of many rural robberies will be quickly 

 eliminated. The same care should be taken in the designa- 

 tion of local police officials. Incompetent and faithless men 

 must be instantly dispensed with. Lawlessness is promoted 

 quite as effectively by inefficient police as by the importation 

 of criminals. 



Nor should personal means of protection be omitted or 

 ignored. Every household should be provided with some 

 effective weapon, with the use of which all adult members 

 should be familiar. To be without firearms is in many 

 instances a direct invitation to the burglar to come in. The 

 use of weapons in the case of such visitors is a matter that 

 each man must decide for himself. The chief of police of 

 one of our largest cities, some time ago, recommended the 

 underside of a bed as the best withdrawing place for any 

 householder in the event of a visitation from a robber. It 

 is a suggestion of real merit. The burglar who comes into 

 your house is often a desperate character, and while not 

 necessarily a murderer at heart, may commit this dreadful 

 crime while seeking what he imagines to be his own safety. 

 It is an opportunity that should never be offered. Personal 

 safety is more important than the retention of a few arti- 

 cles of silver or a warm cloak. One final word : if you must 

 shoot, be sure it is an actual burglar and not a member of 

 your own family, or one of your neighbors who is returning 

 home uncertain as to the whereabouts of his own domicile. 



