A reward of £250 has been offered by the Government
for information "leading to the arrest" of the man known as Dr. Orippen, who is suspected of having murdered his wife. This offer is a distinct break with a deliberate policy, and we think that it is a regrettable one. Rewards used to be offered, but the practice ceased because it was found that it did more harm than good. Sir William Harcourt explained his reasons fully for not offering a reward for the discovery of those concerned in a plot to blow up London Bridge. Mr. Matthews, who was Home Secretary during the terrible series of Whitechapel murders in 1888, also stated his reasons for not offering a reward in the face of much clamour. We would not shut out absolutely the principle of reward; it may be necessary as a last resort. But if the mysterious murders of 1883 did not require it, it certainly is not required now. A reward encourages the police to believe—what they do not at present believe--that special efforts need only be made in response to the prospects of extra pay; it encourages the citizen to keep back evidence, which it is his duty to give at once to the police, in order to follow up his clues and try to earn the reward himself ; it encourages ill-balanced people to flood Scotland Yard with vague information which obscures rather than clarifies detective work ; and it is conceivable that it might cause false evidence to be manufactured against innocent persons. All these things are bad, and we trust that the Government will reflect before repeating the experiment.
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