THE POLICE DEPARTMENT.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 767, 16 March 1910, Page 8

THE POLICE DEPARTMENT.

HOUSE AND TRAVELLING EXPENSES.' ' ' VARIOUS INCREASES' MADE. ■As a result of yesterday's meeting of Cabinet the Hon. Dr. Findlay (Minister for Justice) was able to announce . that the Government has resolved to makesome alterations in .the -scale of house i travelling allowances, in connection with :the Police Department. _ Speaking to a Dominion reporter, Dr. Findlay* said - hitherto married serIgeants. who were .not provided with quarters received house allowance-of 10s. 6d. a -week, and married "oonstables, who were not provided ' with .quarters, , rewived 7s. a week. TJhe rates, in. future, would be sergeants Us. a week, . and constables 10s. 6d...a week —that was to say, an increase in\eacli case of 3s. 6d. per week. The increase, however, would be granted only.in the four centres. He had had a return prepared showing the rents paid by all married constables and sergeants, and a comparison of the Tents actually paid showed that the rents were higher in the four cities than in .the outside districts, or, tr put it in another way, that, generally speaking, cheaper and better living • accommodation could be found in the out-districts than four centres. The increases made will fairly'equalise the real wage. As regards travelling allowances, Dr. Findlay 6aid that the principal com* plaints that had been '.made were that sergeants and constables received only 6s. a day, while detectives received Bs. a day, also that 6s.,was not sufficient at the present day to enable a man to travel without Both these complaints were fairly well founded. ' Under the new scale,. the rates would be as follow:—lnspectors and> sub-inspec-tors, 12s. 6d. (no alteration); station sergeants and sergeants, 10s; (previously 65.); chief detectives,. 10s. (previously 8s.); detectives and acting-detectives, 9s. (pre? viously 8s.); constables, Bs. (previously 65.). He had riot been able •to make other than an approximate estimate of the cost of these alterations, but he had every reason to believe 'that' their cost would be more than counterbalance by economies in other directions, which haS either been carried out or . were in contemplation. The changes would take effect from.April 1 next,,and he believed that, they would give great satisfaction to the force as a whole.