THE VICTORIAN POLICE AND THEIR PAY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 137, 24 April 1862, Page 5

THE VICTORIAN POLICE AND THEIR PAY

.".',.. (From'the'Mount Alexqiider Mail.} rrom being the best organized.-and- most effective policeiri the world; the famed Irish constabulary not ekcepted, '.the. jpolice;of■•yio-v toria appear to be in a fair way of, disorgaiii-" sation and demoralisation. ,There 'are stories told of i cabals amongst-Tthe men and inferior, officers against the head of 'the department, Captain'Standish ; there are committees, of inc[uir}'sitting on this and other matters in connection with the police force, but when the present; disturbed state -of affairs will be ,be put an end to appears as indefinite as ever; Our intention, however, is: not at the present time to comment on the change or; speculate on its causes; we merely wish to point'out the state .} of the police force in order that public opinion- may force the authorities to some more active exertion in restoring discipline and order. ".'"'." '."'■:;!:' ]" ;:'..; The resolution of the Government to reduce the police pay is unquestionably one,of the chief sources of irritation, though whether the pay is too. high or too low, whether there should be an increase or decrease in the rate, is not at present :under notice. The police were engaged at-a certain scale, of payment, 'and on the faith of that scale they entered into agreements of service for stated periods. What is the result? On a certain pay day the. officer in command comes forward and intiniates thattliie'pay had'been reduced by'the Government, and that instead of Bs. he* could only pay them 7s. or 7s. 6d. per day, for ser-vice-already; expired. ■; The men refuse'to accept the reduced wages, but not in a disrespectful manner. They said they engaged at the higher; rate ;■ if the Government cannot any longer pay that rate, they wish to leave, the service. Surely this is not unreasonable; the Government are in no degree differently situated to the purchasers of any other kind of labor,; and whether a man wields the staff and handcuffs, or handles a barrow on.the railway cutting, he has a right at least to refuse to take less money than he considers his time and exertions worth, and which was contracted to be paid him. The police were engaged at say Bs. per day, and if ; the Government so far breaks.its contract as to reduce that amount, their employees can reasonably demand that they shall be permitted to retire from the, service. Instead of that, a system of starving out the polices or rather starving them into submission, has been initiated, and up to the 31st of March, we are informed that the recalcitrant constable, who have demanded either their full pay orlheir discharge, have not received one farthing for the current j'ear. The police authorities are careless on the subject, the Legislature thinks the subsistence of some hundreds of men, who are dependent wholly on their regular pay, to be a matter of no moment, and the consequence is, that a state of affairs almost amounting to mutiny exists among the force at. the present moment. To our own knowledge there are constal les in Cas'tlemaine who are driven to. the last extremety in consequence of this neglect. There are men with families who are being pressed by «their tradesmen, ■-. \yho threaten—and . >vej cannot blame them for'so"doing-r-tppiit a stop to further credit. If this is done, the.constable is thereby compelled to accept the proffered pay, amd the right of selling his labor at what he thinks.a fair price, or adppting the alternative of not selling it at all, is practically denied him. Surely three months are long enough to determine whether the "objectors to the reduction shall be retained or not, and fnrther delay in paying them is culpable in the highest degree. . ,■■,:.. i# We wish to be distinctly understood as offering no positive opinion at present on, the: pay proposed. On various grounds we are inclined to think it quite in proportion with the altered state of the times,. and to. the reduction that has taken place in the price of all the necessaries of life, but we do protest against any body of men being kept out of their pay altogether, because they, refuse, to accept less than they contracted for. That the Government should give them the discharge requested, or retain them at their former wages, is obvious; it is clearly unjust to compel them to remain, and yet tender less pay than under their agreement they are entitled to receive. If the present discreditable delay continues much_ longer, ;we shall find police will have ~to serve summonses on themselves; execute warrants against each other, and possibly'eventually meet as a social body of debtors, haying severally i arrested their respective bodies and: lodged them in custody of Mr. McEwan. The conduct of the local force has" already .been highly exemplary, and public opinion here is unanimous in condemning the mode of coercion adopted by the Government. ■