THE POLICE and the COUNTRY MAILS.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume I, Issue 14, 7 May 1869, Page 3

THE POLICE and the COUNTRY MAILS.

The " Travelling " of -the • 'Times,' writing under the above heading," says.:-—The delegation to '^he • - police force 'of certain .duties connected ' with the postal service, has given rise to a feeling of irritation in-the upcountry" districts-. Those more imme- • , ;i ,-diately< interested' argue, with a fair < > show of> reason that they have 1 been - --cavalierly dealt with, inasmuch ,as Vuo explanation whatever "has -been vouchsafed. Speculation, of course, is busy regarding the" true cause. The version generally accepted is that the number, of police is far in excess of the . actual . requirements of the, province, and that this and other work foreign "to their duties Jias been, imported,-into the service; expressly for the purpose of preventing such reductions.. It :is not im- ' | probable that this supposition proceeds from an error' of-judgment, and that, it will upon inquiry be found to result from the disappointment consequent -upon a more tangible reason not having been made forthcoming. Still, "it must be admitted that-the proceeding itself lends a certain amount of coloring to that opinion, and if the police _- have thereby placed them-

selves in a" false position quoad< the general public, they have nothing but their own reticence - to-'-'blame. With- the view of. having it sifted, we invite the early attention rof goldfields members to the subject. A motion-brought forward-in t,he< Council would-draw forth somes explanation respecting it; and presuming that the principals in the arrangement* will be prepared to enter upon its defence, it may not be out of place to revievv a few of the leading objections urged against it. One of the objections arising out of this police-postal arrangement is, that it obstructs the social as well as the material welfare of the 'districts tovwhich it; applies. To understand this plea it is necessary to explain that the arrangement applies exclusively"to the branch service—that is, the conveyance of the mails situated some distance off main lines of road. As a : rule these mails fell into the hands- of parties directly interested in keeping' communication with the main roads open—hence they were performed' at ! a very low rate. What was of even more consequence, their contractors were I ,''in~ the majority of instances, induced to run a vehicle which .served all the purposes of a public conveyance. 'By this-means a decided boon was secured. Outlying -districts were placed < with in reach ;of the travelling public,- and their material, .capacities had a chance of getting into healthy competition for public favor. Through that medium a circulation of the healthy fluid- was diffused," which has been prematurely cut off by the intervention of the police, and' they are now left to -drag out 1 their solitary existence —cut off from intercourse with •the,outer world. The sad-plight to which some of them have been reduced may be guessed when „we state that they can now depend upon receiving nothing more elaborate than a post package with greater regularity than that of a .b.ullock team or a loaded dray. A heavier blow could scarcely have.been struck at the more promising districts of the.province. This, be it understood, is a view of the subject presented to us from personal observation. It is one which ought to weigh with the Legislature, and unless some very broad principle of public policy can be adduced in its favor, an immediate change 'should take' place.