Delinquency of the Detectives

     It is now possible to speak of a point connected with the assassination of President McKinley that has not received the public attention that it deserves. The point is the failure of the detectives that surrounded him to become suspicious the moment a man approached him with a hand covered with a loose handkerchief.
     We cannot but think that had such a spectacle met the gaze of the European detectives set to guard distinguished individuals, they would at once have suspected something wrong and placed the man under arrest. They would have known that under the circumstances, he had no business to have his hand covered in the way that the assassin did and that in having his hand so covered he contemplated mischief. People not on evil intent do not attend receptions given to distinguished men with their hands in their pockets or with their hands covered up. They have their hands open and above board, so to speak, ready for use only in a proper manner. It may be said that the assassin’s hand was not especially noticeable. Perhaps it was not to a person not looking out for suspicious people; but it should have been noticeable to a detective employed to discover anything unusual.
     While it may not be advisable to dismiss the detectives that failed in their duty to discover the assassin of President McKinley. It may be suggested that hereafter only such detectives be employed to guard the president as will notice a man with a handkerchief-covered hand or a pocketed hand or with any other indication of possible harm. If this be done, the danger to which such an official appears to be subjected constantly will be very much diminished.