THE GLOBE. THURSDAY, JUNE 9, 1881. OVER-ZEAL.

Globe, Volume XXIII, Issue 2242, 9 June 1881, Page 2

THE GLOBE. THURSDAY, JUNE 9, 1881. OVER-ZEAL.

“ Above everything not too much zeal,” is said to have been the well-worn saying of a celebrated statesman. In reading the police report of yesterday one cannot help feeling that, if the police authorities were occasionally to instil this doctrine into their subordinates, the advice might not altogether be out of place. The facts of the case we refer to were much as follows:—John Duncan, alias Henry Brown, was brought up on two charges of arson, one for a fire at Bingsland, the other for a fire on Oxford Terraco. The manner in which the first case was conducted requires no comment; it is to the second one that we wish to call attention. The house where this fire occurred forms one of a block of four belonging to Mr. Brice, and it was set on fire about five o’clock on the morning of May 30th. The prisoner had been suspected for some time by the police, he was known as a thorough loafer, and a personhad been set to watch him. Two nights before the fire the prisoner was found sleeping on Mr. Brice’s premises, but ho was not removed. On the night before tbe fire the prisoner was not seen, but in the morning he was noticed by the agent whom the police employed, and shortly afterwards the fire broke out. The agent, instead of immediately trying to put out the fire and seeing to its extent, or of rushing to the fire alarm station, makes his way to the police office to give information that he fancies he has caught his man, and then—and not till then—he goes to the fire station. In the mean time the fire had caught hold of the pantry and larder, and damage to the extent of £l3O had been done. It was of course providential that no further loss was sustained. Mr. Brice and other persons were living on the block, and a fire breaking out at 5 a.m., when everybody is in bed, is no joking matter, and in the present case might possibly have resulted in loss of life. The question then arises, was it a justifiable action to allow a number of persons to run such a risk on the off chance of catching a criminal red handed. Duncan was suspected of being an incendiary, and yet he is allowed to sleep on Mr. Brice’s premises on the night of the 28th, undisturbed. On the following night he vanishes, but turns np at 5 a.m., and when the house is on fire the first thought of the agent is not for the persons living in the house, hut for his own credit as a police agent. We are of course aware that the police have frequently a very difficult task to perform in bringing criminals to justice—a task requiring a large amount of skill, tact, and perseverance. Moreover, we recognise that tbe crime of arson is one that it is particularly difficult to sheet home to the culprit. And further, we do not underrate professional zeal. Bnt there is a limit to all things, and it would bo well for the police or their agents to recognise that the catching of criminals is not their sole duty. When lives and property are endangered by an over-eagernoss in the detective business, the public are little likely to thank the individuals who have committed the error.