The Evening Star TUESDAY, AUGUST 16, 1870.

Evening Star, Volume VIII, Issue 2270, 16 August 1870, Page 2

The Evening Star TUESDAY, AUGUST 16, 1870.

The discovery and recovery of the treasure stolen from the lock-up at Clyde, although an expensive affair, is one on ■which the Province may be congratulated. We do not propose anticipating the result of the inquiry into the conduct of the police by any comments of our own. That there must have been either gross negligence or breach of trust, is sufficiently evident to render all observation on that point unnecessary, excepting saying that a strict and searching investigation is alike demanded for the sake of the discipline of the force and the safety of the public. We presume that matter may fairly be left in the hands of the Commissioner. But what we wish to call attention to is the necessity for supporting him with an efficient force. There is a tendency on the part of the public to fall into false security when a long time elapses without any serious outrage requiring special effort by the police force. People ' begin to think that they are expensive ornaments to the Province ; that their numbers are too great, and their pay \ too high ; and not uufrcquently some member of the Provincial Council, who is of a cheese-paring turn of mind, or who perhaps has nothing to lose and a

reputation to gain for economy of the public purse, Moves for a reduction in their number or their pay. It is only when some startling crime takes place, such as the robbery at Clyde, that people are roused to a conviction oi the utility of the force. It does not detract one iota from that utility that in all probability one of their number was a participator in and a planner ol the robbery; If it proves anything, it merely shews the necessity there is toi the strictest inquiry into a man s antecedents before admitting him into a situation involving so high public trust, and the wisdom of making the remuneration sufficient to induce men of character and respectability to accept the office. The use of a police is not merely to detect crime when it is committed, but to prevent it. Those occasional robberies on a large scale prove that, notwithstanding the comparative immunity from depredation that has characterised the social history of the Province for a long series of months, it is not so much owing to the absence of a criminal element amongst us, as to the absence of opportunity ; or perhaps because the temptation to apparent honesty and respectability is greater than the temptation to crime. Those who now retire to rest without • the slightest fear of danger to themselves, little know how much they .owe to the guardianship of the police force for their security. They will hardly believe, even when they are told, that there is not a doubtful character that lands on these shores but is marked and watched ) that his footsteps at night are often tracked; that he knows it well himself, and that therefore he is constrained to behave himself with propriety, or to leave for some district or Colony where there is wider range for the exercise" of his peculiar talent. Were it not for this special guardianship, robberies or outrage would be much more frequent than they are. As another illustration, we have immediately under our notice the quick and masterly (if we may so speak) robbery of the Chinaman on board the steamer. From the peculiarity of the case, the probability is hit was fleeced by one of his own countrymen, for there could hardly be any others who were aware of his having charge of the treasure he possessed. This is, however, by no means certain. The ingenuity of a professional thief in learning such particulars as will form an inducement to commit robbery, are only equalled by his adroitness and Skill In executing It. It was but a minute’s abandonment of watchfulness by the Chinese throughout the passage between Dunedin and the Queen •of the Seas hut that minute was taken advantage ol) and his' treasure was gone. It is plain that constant vigilance is necessary. An honest man cannot be continually suspecting everyone about him. Life would be almost unendurable if it were necessary to treat all we meet as opemips ] and even if such a state of chronic suspiciousness were indulged in, many times the thief would be too cunning for the man who feared being robbed. It is therefore an advantage to socie'y in every way that the criminal element should be remitted to be dealt with by those whose special duty it is to make themselves acquainted with their characters and stratagems ; and, without being extravagant, to have sufficient force for the purpose. It must be very evident that crime itself is a costly addition to civilization. The expense to the Province, tbs Colony, and the Banks of recovering the lost treasure would pay the wages of several policemen, and whereas, now it has fallen partly on special establishments, it would then have been borne by the community at large, who.are collectively and individually interested in maintaining a system for mutual security. The Chinaman individually offers twelve per cent, reward for the recovery ot his lost gold, and even should he by that means recover it, that fovyAß but a fraction of the loss ho will have sustained. In England it is estimated that the depredations by the evinmud classes on individuals equal very nearly twothirds of the cost of the military force. The resumption of immigration is an additional reason for increased watchfullness. We thought last session of the Provincial Council that there was a tendency to reducing the force too low for efficiency, and though there is not necessarily any connection between reduction of pay and increase of crime, we hold permanence of situation and of rate of pay essential elements in maintaining that espirit dr corps necessary to cheerful fulfilment of duty in any office.