The Daily News. MONDAY, AUGUST 5, 1901. THE POLICE REPORT.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXIII, Issue 173, 5 August 1901, Page 2

The Daily News. MONDAY, AUGUST 5, 1901. THE POLICE REPORT.

The an Dual report on the police force states the number in a'l ranks as 591. This is an increase of five, during the year. There are 20 detectivpg. Top criminal" statistics, which include all uffences reported, are made up. to] December last, and show an aggregate i increase of 1493 over the figures of the j preceding year. Referring to this i Commissioner Tunbridge states:— i " The increase, compared with 1 he'increases of of the years 1897, 1898 and 1899, which were 546, 1159, and 487 respectively, appears at first sight to be somewhat startling, but ad this increase w practically made up by the increases in the number of breaches of the peace (140), deaerting and failing : to wives and children (104), deserting merchant vessels '(66), disturbing meetings and c >ngre,ations (27 s, drunkenness (1010), lunacy (48), ar,d sly grog-selling (91', tot .1 1486, nil of which are ofl>nces of a light character and coma within the category of unpreventive offences, it does not reflect on the tfßcieticy of the police force. The best; criterion of the efficiency or otherwise of a police force is the fall or rise respectively in the number of preventible offences, such as thefts of various kinds, burglary, housebreaking, forgery, fraud, etc. During the past , year there has been a net decreasa of 53 on the figures of the prtceding year in respect to the preventive offences abovenamed, which tends to show that the fore, as a preventive body, has at least maintained the state of efficiency which existed durkg the ye<?r 1899. For of fences against the per/oa the percentage of arrests, etc., to offences committed was 98 14, as against 97,65 in 1898, and 98.01 in 1899, and for of fences against property the percontag was 70 86, as against 64.62 in 1898 and 68.19 in 1899, thus showing that as a defective body the forca has codticued to improve. Indecent acd sexual offences show a net increre of 37, tl-e figures being 269 for the year under review, ngainsfc 232 for the preceding year. The exemplary punishment recently inflicted for outrages on girls of tender years will, it is hoped, have a salutary effect. During the year the number of charges of drunkenness was 7299, being an increase of 1010 on the figures ef the preceding y*ar. This increase far exceeds that of any previous year so far as the records show. The number contributed by each of the feur principle centres was: Aucklaoii, 1289 (1087 maks and 232 females), against 1145 in 1899; Wellington, 1061 (842 males and 219 femalts), against 855; Christchurch 720 (533 miles end 187 femslrs)' against 568 ; Dunedin, 626 (511 males and 115 females), against 536. The Commissioner thinks the increise i« attributable to the continued prosperity of the colony, the increase in forsign-going shipping and the continued increased activity of the police in clearing the streets of intoxicated persons, The total number of arrests f.w drunk'dnefs on Sunday in the four p'itcipal centres during the year wes 172, against 166 in 1899, en increase of s'x. The figures indicate that the law with respect to Sunday trading, especially in Wellington, Christchurch and Dunlin, is still infringed to a considerable extent, and this will coatiaue to be so, as long as the law remains in its pristat state,

Mr Tunbridge reiterates the remark; made in former reports on the questioi of the kw being amended on the lire of the Intoxicating Liquors Act, 187! (in force in England), which render any percoa who is neither a lodger do a bona fid* traveller fourd on th premises during prohibited hour 1 liable to a prosecution. During th year there were 242 prosacu'ioi agaiastpulilicaiDSthroughout the colon-, resulting in 81 connexions against 26( prosecutions, and 108 convictions ii 1899. They were distributed t follows : —Auckland district, 50, wit! 18 convictions; Napier 14, witl two convictions ; Wanganui, 41, wit) 10 convictions ; Wellington, 20, witl 13 convictiods; Greymoufcb, 32, witl 16 convictions ; Christchuroh, 46, witl eight convictions; Dunediu, 39, witl 14 cOnvictioßS. The percentage of con viccions during the year feH"to33'47 against 4019 in 1898, and 4153 ii 1899. There were 169 prosecutions fo sly grog-seliing during the year, rjuult ing in 107 convictions, and fine amounting in tee aggregate to £135" were imposed, a* against 82 prosecu tions, 40 fines amount ing to £432 during the preceding year It is stated that the difficulties expe rienced in former years in obtainir; evidence iu sly grog-selling easts stil maintain, and it is only by v.ry con iiderable expenditure, and having re course to method* which are repugnan alike tri a large majority of the public the police, and those who assist' tin l'tcrr, that the necessary evidence ti warrant prosecutions has been ob tained. There were 155 prosecution under the gaming laws during tu year, rr-sulting in 96 conviction* against 220 prosecutions and 179 con victians during the preceding year Great difficulty is still experienced ii dealing with the illegal " tote " bettinj men under the existing law. Mi' Cunbridge states that until the polio are given power to arres 1 ", withou warrant, betting men found followin| their avocations in the streets or othe public places, those "peats of society : will continue to flourish. The law ii England gives the power, and it, work well. Tbe Courts of 'he colony ho't that betting at " tot 6" oddg must jii absolutely proved before a convic tion can follow; on the othe: hand, certain mpgistrates condemn'thi police if they seek so make be* s the;n selves, as by so doing so they becorui particeps criminis. It will, therefore be seen that it is practically impossibli for the polica to deal eff ctivtly witl the excitement to gamble afforded bi tbe presence in the street of the walk ing " tote " man. If the p-ilice hm power to arrest without warran', tht.i the metnor*nda, etc., which th m bett ing men must necessarily carry wit them would be seized and u?bd as evid ence. " I now find," adds the Oonauu« sioaer, " that the t«l*pboae is larg»!; resorted to by the betting men ii carrying out their illepal calling, ac( many of tho so-called private billiard rooms are little ehe than gamb'in; places. Although tho Municipal Oor porations Act, 1900, section 404, give the local authorities power t.) p".ss liy laws for t u e regulation of the»e billiard rooms, nothing, to far as I am awaiv ha« been done in that direction, couse queDtly these places are still under n< restriction whatever as to closing; etc. with the, result .that many young men much to their detriment, are inveigle into these rooms, and kept there unti the small hours of the morning, a S) ciating with spielers and other undesit ables, who subsist on following rae< meetings during the daytime and fre quanting billiardrooms at night. -1 regard to secondhand shops, many i them ate said to ba little else thin place: for tbe disposal of stolen property. A hope is expressed that an attempt wii be mide.to reintroduce and piss inti law tbe Bill wh'ch was before P rlih. ment last yea»\ The provident fund i* said to be in a far more stite thai was anticipated when the Bi|l authorising its establishment was before Parliament ia 1899. The pre s°nt capital of the fund, after 17 months' working, is a. little over £IO,OOO. This very satisfactory result is largely owing to many members 3r the force who are entitled to retira not thus far having availed themselves )f their rights to do so. Since the Let came into force the Government ia» saved the sum of £4131 in th" 'ortn of compassionato allowances which vould, no doub", have been paid had ;he fund not existed. New Zealand iaa one polic:raan to evary 1381 of the jopulation (against one to every 1359 luring the preceding year), at a cost of is 10|d per head, against 2s lOfd durng 1899, while the Australian States ■anje from one police to an 'to every .030 of the population, at a c»st of ts 2d per head in South Australia, to me policeman to 389 of the papulation, it a cost of 12s 0| 1 par heal, ia West Australia.