There has been much discussion this week as to the
increase of lawlessness in London. The special occasion is a murder which seems to have been committed by the young roughs now
called "Hooligans" without motive and out of pure ruffianism. Mr. Murray Spicer, a member of a well-known firm of paper- makers, and recently a Volunteer in the Imperial Yeomanry corps in South Africa, was walking with a friend late at night on Monday, June 2nd, near St. Pancras Church, when they were attacked by a gang of young men. They defended them- selves, but one of the gang undid a belt with a heavy buckle and so wounded Mr. Spicer that he fell covered with blood and died on the following day. At the inquest on the following Friday the police appeared to have no clue, but they have found one since, and three young men have been arrested. The incident is only one of many pointing to anew habit of violence among the young roughs of London, and there is much discussion as to the best remedy for an evil which cannot be allowed to grow. Of the plans suggested, the most sensible seem to be an increase of the police, whose numbers have not kept pace with the increase of the popula- tion, and sharper sentences by the Magistrates on persons convicted of ruffianly assault. We would suggest in addition that the instrument upon which "Hooligans" mainly rely, the terrorising of witnesses, should be made a separate and highly penal offence. It must always be deliberate, it must always be committed by the sober, and it strikes at the very basis of ordinary justice.
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