The Dunstan Times. FRIDAY, JUNE 14, 1872.

Dunstan Times, Issue 530, 14 June 1872, Page 2

The Dunstan Times.

FRIDAY, JUNE 14, 1872.

Beneath the Rule of Men entirely j tjst the pen is mightier than the awonn.

Rome little light may be thrown on the dispute between the Provincial* Government and the Otago Police Force by comparing the salaries of the members thereof with the salaries paid to men occupying similar posi tions in Westland and Nelson. It would be unfair to extend the comparison to Canterbury, as our sister Province has no gold-fields to watch over ; nor to any of the Provinces of the North Island, as there the Constabulary perform many of the functions that fall to the lot of the ordinary police force. The cost of the maintenance of police in the three Provinces under consideration is as follows;—Otago, 19,9747 ; Westland, 3,67§7. ; Nelson, 5,7037. Tt is not surprising that the contrast in cost should be so remarkable between Nelson and the other Provinces, as it is well known Nelson ignores the clainr s of her mining population to such an extent that the General Government have had to interfere for the purposes of cutting roads and internal legislation. Owing to imperfect statistical information, Marlborough will have to be included with Nelson in these calculations. Nelson, possessing a population of 22,501 souls, we find is protected in life and property at the rate of 3s. 3d per head per annum ; Westland, with a population of 15,357, obtains similar security at 11s. 3d. ; while Otago, numbering 69,491 inhabitants, costs some ss. 9d. per head. The Police Force in Canterbury, we may re marie en passant, averages about 3s. fid. per inhabitant. We thus obtain the relative cost of the force in the gold-producing Provinces of this Island. Still, to car.iy on these calculations, the population of the Middle Island amounts to 179,385. The aggregate cost of its police i540,4037-105.9d., or about 4s. 6d. per head. In the New Zealand Gazette, No. 27, published in Wellington on Tuesday, the 28th of May, we glean some information how this money is expended. We learn that in Otago, with two exceptions (Cardrona and the Arrow), - the uniform rate at which first-class constables are paid is JJs. 6d. per day, irrespective of locality or consequent price of provisions. A man is thus supposed to live as cheaply at Cromwell or Alexandra, as at Tokomairiro or Mosgiel. We presume it would be patent to the meanest understanding that, in localities where wages vary from 205.. to 305., per week, an injustice must be inflicted on a class of men subject to an uniform rate of wagßi The Nelson Government recognised this fact, the senior constables in'the city being paid barely Bs. per day, while the senior constable on the gold-fields is paid 12s. per diem. The sergeant in the city is paid 1607. per annum, or less than 9s. per day,

while on. the gold-fields he receives 13s- per-,diem. The. same principle is recognised in Westland, the pay being apportioned to the district in which the man is located. In Westland the warders receive the same pay as the ordinary police, 3 84/. per annum •, hut this is not a general provincial rule. Then duties would appear to be less irksome and their wear and tear far less. The police have many difficult duties to perform: have to be faithful coltectors of revenue. They have no friends—neither are they allowed to have any. Their band is supposed to be against every man,s, and every man’s against theirs. They are like, when in trouble, the stranger in Cornwall on the ground —“ Seat en wi a brie.” A warder has only to watch,'wait, and grow fat. The police, it is known, have to travel, Jand are allowed 3s. Cd. a day when from home, and a bed at night when they cannot reach their quarters. Should a man spend a night away from the camp, he must forego his supper or breakfast, or lose Is. 6d. in performing his duty. To economise is wise; to be mean is ahhorent. When a man or mistress makes the servant eat the cheese with ths rind unscrapcd, they are beyond redemption. The police force have not even the “fourth estate” at their call. They must be dumb dogs—can neither speak—are not allowed to write to ventilate their grievances. To have an efficicent police force, the men must be treated well—be paid according to their merits and the work required of them. Subinspectors should not be put on sergeants’ pay ; nor the substitution of one officer f)r another a pretext for curtailmont of salary. Commissioner Weldon seems to have mistaken his vocation. He should have adopted the Stock Exchange instead of the Constabulary, and put his talents to IGthsand 32nds, instead of grinding his men down as he has, and given the New Zealand Herald the opportunity of talking of the “ demoralization ef the Otago Police Force. Compared with Westland, our police rate is wonderfully small. Compared with Canterbury and its rate of wages, a grdhter difference occurs; while, as miners’ wages in Otago and Westland are about the same, and men can live as cheaply on the Kaneri or Westport as at Clyde or Alexandra, the different manner in which the police are paid becomes more transparent. We shall revert to this subject again, shewing how similar eccentricities pervade other parts of the service.