ot get a berth because his
clothes are in pawn; a detective is sent to redeem them.

There is no bother or fuss. Scotland Yard knows the class too well. It
knows that it is often cheated by liars; on the other hand, prompt help
may really redeem a man. Every chance is given a man to run straight,
however often he has fallen. And most of those who are helped do not
forget.

There are, however--as there must be--many who take advantage of the
system. One man had his clothes taken out of pawn. He thanked the
office--and promptly went and hypothecated them at another place. There
was another coolly impudent scoundrel, with a turn for carpentry, who
made all sorts of odds and ends out of soap boxes. He always had some
plausible story. He wanted tools or materials, or his rent was in
arrears, or there was a doctor's bill to pay. Surprise visits to his
rooms in the East End always bore out his story. But, ultimately it was
discovered that he was doing the same thing with many charitable
societies--the Church Army, the Salvation Army, and others. He made
quite a good thing out of it while it lasted.

But usually Scotland Yard is not imposed on twice by the same person.

Police science has evolved the Criminal Record Office very gradually.
The problem of the incorrigible offender is one that many years' study
has not yet completely solved. When the licence system was first
initiated the police were instructed by the Home Office not to interfere
with the ticket-of-leave men, and, not strangely, these men found
opportunities of crime made easy for them.

But prison reorganisation and police organisation went on hand in hand
until, in 1880, the Convict Supervision Office was established. Then, as
now, its chief work lay in classifying the records and photographs of
habitual criminals, compiling the "Rogues' Gallery," which is still of
inestimable value in the prevention of crime.

The finger-print system is, of course, of enormous aid in
identification, and, as I have said, is a complete safeguard against the
possibility of a wrongful conviction. The ordinary detective is most
often engaged in tracing a criminal after a breach of the law has been
committed. The Criminal Record Office has the more delicate duty of
trying to prevent crime.

It is a distinct sociological force, incessantly watchful that none of
those persons who are allowed out of prison on probation (which is
really what the licence system amounts to) drift b