THE POLICE FORCE.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 404, 13 January 1909, Page 9

THE POLICE FORCE.

, Sir, —I "..have noticed.,that. your valuable journal has, since its inception, made more than one move in the'Hirectibn of improving the police force and- the ■conditions of the working policemin, and : I'tate 'th'e liberty' of addreeeing you" in referehco fio utterance of tie Commissioner 'of 'Police. PV may sUte tkat I havet»keh;a' good'.dM_l : bf ; inter«et jn the force," both ■' under - th'e r a3ministr«tiori■ of Cfcmmisiiioner'Tunbr^dge'' : and the'present eommiesJoner,' i andl ; h«ve boferi' almost constantly in ttriicK-"Vith '/the.'-' local force. Grievances theTe'Kiive'beenf and'still' are, but it. is with rising •hope'that'tfle'heS.r' future is looked forward , - to- i, nov J that : . ; aii experienced like ■Dγ. -"FiridTay'-ias" been' appointed Minister for ■'manwho will.'- doubtless" lbok right'"into Ih'e; inner working' pf'.a.-Dopartment { 'tb.w>iidh lie; should be no stranger, and"trhich ; he' is'ifnqre; qualified to rnii-than any other"member ijf■ the Ward Cabinet;., •-' '-'■ :-.f J--!',?" :•".-."■

It has been,freely.rumoured , 'fo'r'sofrio time past that the,' Justice Departiright, as; ; farVa's' the police are concerne'd, has large} extent : in-tho hands of"tlie '"present'':com--missioßcr,'. who• was .the "first "and-'-last" word ,as r far as the force, was ,concerned..'.'' This may'have been rumour- pU're ahdfsimple; , but', Dr.'.Findlay there"should > be^Up : ' , room' for such ldenß;.to ; «ist;f ,; -However; ;"te''return to the which referred to the .distribution, of; .the force, Mr., Dinnie, in stating the'"number of' constables in Wellington, added that" there were 13 sergeants in the -city;'β^at;.WellingTton and 5 at Mount Cook. i.Although itcwas. not. said straight out'that:!.there' weresl3 sergeants idoing'street duty;: the'-'inference was that they were so engaged. -■•<*•'■ ••■:■ I--'* I do not doubt, the.comrhissiorier's: word when he says he has 13: , sergeants,.in'.:WeI-' lington, ■ but. they are certainly 'not doing street duty, whatever else they-may be employed at.. To my knowledge there are the following sergeants in *. the' city :—Messrs-,-Eutledge, ■. Marphy, Baskeville; ."•: Stewart,' Lyons, _Dale, Kelly, Station-Sergeant Darby," and District Clerk-Sergeant-M-Guire, whilst there is another one, •"• Darti^' ; at Mount Cook.. ■ ■ Of the above, Messrs; Itut-. ledge, M'Guire,] Dart, and Darby do not: do street duty, which leaves six sergeants doing' street duty. 'Where are the others,- andwhat are they doing? If the total of"constables is made up on similar lines:to the total of sorgennts we may^still , well policed am,- etc;, ■■';':■. '■■■ :.'■'.'•■'■' " SdLICEMAN H: •' Wellington, January 'B,'; 190(9..; '" . ;'}.^;:.

UNIVERBAL MILITARY iTRAiWING^' Sir,—Your' excellent losder of 9thTnstaht" on universal military training' will,-1 am'sfire,' be read wilh very. great interest by 'those' who considerHhat it is erery man's'dutj to" render personal,.'service for the.'defence of his country. ;,I would, however, like , to.say that your, .suggestion for. adopting -the -Swiss' system 'in : this , country is likely to meet with a good, deal of opposition, "'-from! the iact that it' entails too much tinio to be devoted to training. ■;:•:• :/-;■ --o.; .•..-.> While 1 personally that 1.-the amount of training you suggest ishot 1 -too much for modern requirements; T l belieyo' it would bo very hard to convince the young New Zealander.'that such-a-coinplete training it necessary,; admit the nepessity f or tnordu'gh'tf airiing iri football, if success is to'-'be' assured.-'/'lt must also be remembered that the Swiss'system has been, in vogue for-.soo ;: years, .when the Covenant of Sempach first gave defiilite form to the League of'.'Cantoris.; The"fiTSi! organisation dates from 1393,-and : important revisions Have since beeii niafefrom-tihib to time, notably in 1804, during , the Napoleonic wars, when Switzerland waSr-'called.'upon'td' assist Napoleon,, and. again :i iri 1874, "after/tlio Franco-Prussian war, arid : again in 1907.- -It will,. therefore, be seen that tho r Swiss-mili-tary system has. not been 'forced- upon '"the people suddenly, but has'gradually; become a truly national organisation, "the-'impoHance of which is. appreciated,?,!)!'"the, Svyiss''Trojtf tho fact that the country is surrouiided - by armed camps. : .-.:.:■.%;:;:•-. '■•v--~ :■-.' ' Now, in this country;,'wo : are c 'surrounded by water, which alone will prevent the people of New Zealand ■from realising'the'need for universal military training, and cause thoni to look to bur-navy solely for , protection. History, however, teaches us that : a':.navy alone cannot achieve decisive'results, arid that it must always be'biicked-ii'p by an efficient army, whilo.the lessons .'of the FrancoGerman war of 1870-7l"'feach us that although a navy may superior, if land forces are inefficient anNEmpire may be lost. The points I wish to draw attention to are: ■ (1) The inadvisability'pf adopting the Swiss system entirely ori'tho score' of expense,, and the probable, disorganisation ! of business, due to sudden' and complete 'change of our national policy. .-.■.,■;■' .. (2V The absolute necessity for a'modified form of uniTersal service, which should' be introduced gradually, and-be moro on tho lines laid down in the -October issue of..the Defence League's Journal,' being acopy :of the scheme originally .suggested; by'the.;Wollington Artillery officers.-;';- ■ •'■-' ■'■ •■' w;vi-,c If the lattor system''were : introduded-..:at once there'would' be no. dieorgihisation; of trade, and the' transition' frent -thev. present ineffective system would be'most easily^carried out, whereas the Swiss? would ho most difficult to introduce in" 1 this .'country.—l am, otc., , .'.■■>■ .=>v,,. f:-.c .;.-.,;;.. ■ ■-.■■•' '■"":•■■ --•patriot.;; January. 1L .'■ - ■'''. ' Vv :'"-r. .',:■,- ."v;'o^

; • ; .the;no-License vote; •;'..-.■ r Sir;—l" observe certain correspondence of the good old-fashioned sort in your colmune irpoir the ethics of • the No-License vote.,- By wayof' npvelty,-il propose to supply the reasons which prompted me to vote No-License for, the" first' time'.' . ' ...| . ; ,' "When" the Liberal party passed the Licensing Act; supplemented by the female franchise, which ilone made it effective, liquor-sel-lefSj "small »nd large wholesale and retail, were reduced to a'condition of far from speechless delight.- Ever lince they have been singing have poured thousands into the Liberal coffers; they have paid the debts' of-Liberal candidates; have paid their expenses; hajo bought, their clothes, and ■ I presume soap, for the -.elections; and- have organised countless purses for successful arid -■•■'■ unsuccessful" "•■-candidates--" In shorty";" they have lost - ho opportunityl; of proclaiming their loyalty and; allegiance to Liberalism. They have never voted.'for in Oppqsitionisfc'-unless the other man" was-a pronounced Prohibitionist, 'and even thon, the promise not to vote against the Government has-often overpowered every other consideration. Tho possession of a few brewery "ehares : soems to 'determine "everything/Though, a man,has fifty thousand in'lander trade, and five thousand in beor,beer weighs down tho scale' every time. Although their Paliamentary : majority has been large, the Liberal majority in individual constituencies has .often been small, and.,no man can say that Parliament has been in any. sense representative of the popular voice. Again, the apparent" hopelessness of the position has caused many either to ■ chuck'it' up or .to make friends' with the mammon of unrighteousness. •', ■ Had parties ■ been :m6rei evenly : balanced, had the Parliamentary strength faithfully represented the -popular opinion ; of -Liberalism, I make bold to say inst .'-'Liberalism would have gone under at the'recent flections. But it has so long been ujgedthat it is no good voting for. an Oppo-' sitionist who even, if returned,-would only bring about the'.punishment of the district when money is beirig;" ladled out, that seats were presented to the Government which the Opposition could have won.. In four cases majorities, of 1000 to 1400' were reduced, to l less than one, hundred, and the seat could have"been.won , bnt.that many refrained , front' enrolling or voting in sheer hopelessness. If you want a concrete instance.of this sortof thing •_ look at tho action of the Employers'/ Association iri; asking us to vote for. that very'-Liberal Government under whose legislar tiorrits members are groaning. ■ "■'Now, for fall 'this, I. blame beer. If it has not'actually kept the Liberal, party in power; ifat least has turned' the scale iiv countless electorates. during the last eighteen'years, and so.has swellbd that' Parliamentary.'majority' which has growrii by whet it fed; iipon;; and disheartened the* opponents ef Liboralism in niany casoa into inaction'. .'•", ■■'■■/ ..!' . : .'"- . . . .'■

"'Understand me. '■ I do not suggest; that b'eer ; should have supported the Opposition: Far'from'it.: ;';. If. ever in the world's 'history there; was-a'-party \that~sbould have ; e£Faced itself and walked'warily',' I- claim■■'that beer in New",'; Zealand sno'OT'have-'been content to trot ;along-;huniblsi''at'th'e;'hee]B of any man who , ' in a 'geiieral not opposed to vested ■iuteresta:^"lnstead'_ of 'that, it has openly"'an^ye'd'"itself Against every other forth of.'"veSted',! interest."' Every.'time the Liberal -party "sought ta , harass' land owners,' shopkeepers,- manufacturers,-'or- , .employers; beer simply sooled them on. - The inventionof a new tax, the appointment of a few dozen inspectors,; toe. issue, of some .fatuous, regular tibJis," ill 'aimed at some other ■ interest, simply -mode beer drunk with deliuht, and caused it.,to.put. forth, redoubled efforts-: on behalf of' Liberalism.';; -■■•■--■ ."■■■-•"■■

: Now, lamby no means a No-License man. :I .have.a jar. under the stairs,- but I don't x . caro.'.whether jo~u! destroy alllicenses or/mul- : i tiply .themby; teiiv vNot a "snap" of. the-.fin-.;. ' ; gers.,: But, I am:.gradually being .taxed out : of v my-belongings,...and inspected, out of ex r . . • istencp, , ' and.l\pwe It-iq ,• beer.;.'. Beer Jisesf aiij.; iextremely"po'werful , organisation in,direct ; position'to roy..interests". I-have. stood, it for.' : "' ■ years,' but" there is. a limit to. my" patience,, 'and beer has.found, it. .It js positively loath-' I some to. rhs v to .Know, that., I'j am Voting with i.fclio ..iSijSif anid Taylors*of;:.this"wprld!".."'fiut' ■ thcyjj'ciii. do'.mo" rio'.'.harnii'J .Beer can Taiid'' neglect's nb'opportunity. So my bn!,v : chance! :is.to i ;destrQyv.bpe>;'.s organisation.,'..lf.-beer:is ■ ■■'.- jiut' its into ..land or.trade,;. . Keer ".if ill .vote JnlanyVcasej- if^ '. be.er 3?'; sjijif tip' into..'its' 'individual, fat6ms its" power will be'Ronerand-the'Liberal .coffers; short of a good round sum. So; hating the" idea of compulsory temperances-simply loath- ' Mng the leaders of the-movement, with every instinct in revolt, end-' the flesh xreepins on my bones, 1 nerred ni3'.self.ior_a grim effort, «.nd, grasping the pencil in reluctant hands, ■:■ i"drewja : . iwßveriiig-mark through'the■■ top. tnd five members of my household, also for' likf: first timn. ,followed my example. .

■■• If beer, without'onnivestige , of a'.Liberal instinct in its being, the bare idea is.abhorrcritly.':»bsnrd. has, though' syiall in numbers, : nWertheless' kept. New.> Zealand' Liberalism ;a'flSiit,"';there 'arc-'.enoueK stauncK opponents of,' No-Jiicenss. to use,.; in .our own 'protection' ' and, only under the 'of dire • necessity,; ■ tKat'..we»p6n'. which'' the' sforcs'aid Liberalism"dfs'tniction of beer-—our. jatbwed,'u-n.qualified,';e'nd;niost.'dangerous op-, pbnont'.' And'to my certain knowledge, and: apart altogether from my own case, that is one factor in the increase of the Ko-License vote.—l am, etc., '■' ..',' '': .. . ■■".: . . ■■■.■■:: v. ." ' SELF-DEFENCE..-, .. L- : *•.-.■'.■.■ .•.:'•■•-":■;•./:'•■••'•.■• ■• ■, ■