The Daily News. MONDAY, JULY 25. HUNTING THE DOLLAR.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 90, 25 July 1910, Page 4

The Daily News. MONDAY, JULY 25. HUNTING THE DOLLAR.

Parental advice to young American: "Aly son, get dollars—get them honestly, is possible—but get them." America is ob- ( viously not ashamed of the dishoneat practices of its public people, and likes to send cablegrams all over the earth to show how very dishonest folk can be when they set out on the dollar hunt. , We learned by cable, for instance, a few j days since that there had been a scannal I in relation to educational appointments and to the handling of money for educational purposes. And there was the incident of the gentleman who advised his comrades publicly to keep their mouths shut, because stealing was less reprehensible than "squealing. 3 We read of the extensive defalcations of a Mayor of San Francisco and the extraordinary system of fraud and bribery in existence there—all for dollars. We have had a close view of the methods of cotton criminals 1 —for dollars. We have read about the iniquities- of the canning trade in Chicago—all for dollars. And we are now treated to breezy descriptions iof the prison life of great bankers, trust magnates, steel swindlers, and beef bosses. The great Rockefeller, who collects art treasures' and gives millions to churches, for long periods had to travel the country by devious routes to evade arrest. There are fourteen bank presidents and lesser banker fry at present "doing time" in Pittsburg—where Carnegie still rules—and we are promised that several steel magnates and other great members of the Dugusne Club in that city are going to join them, if the police are not bribed with sufficient dollars to let them go free. Half of the members of the Common Council of the city have been indicted for taking bribes. But it is not right to blame all Americans for the sins of some of its people. Although these conditions may exist in many cities in America, they have always been caused by abnormal development. Thus in cases where millionaires have poured vast sums of wealth into any industry in American cities the whole population has given itself over ] to a feverish rush for some of the dollars. The mind of the greater part of the community becomes affected, and ordinarily sane and honest people are in ' reality driven demented. In our news from America the virtues of the great people of a great country are rarely mentioned. The America that produces the enormous quantity of raw material is seldom touched as a subject. The sins of the men who turn the raw material into manufactures are generally considered to be the chief point of interest in the United States. And yet America has an enormous population of real producers whose methods are as honorable and whose lives are as clean as those of any other people on earth. A man is not | a rogue because he is an American, but an honest man mav easily become dishonest in the States, because there is greater temptation. Hasty writers allege that Society in the States is entirely based on dollars. A man is not, so they mention, esteemed for his integrity, his honor, or his personal qualifications, but because he is "a million dollar man," "a kerosene king," "a cotton nabob," and so on. But the virtues flourish in the great States just as surely as they flourish in other countries—and if we were more often told of the lovable side ' of the American character, we might be less disposed to believe the citizens wve largely made up of lynchers, criminals, and soulless money-grubbers.

THE POLICE REPORT. The Police 'Report for 1909 has just been issued', and ought to reecive attention by the public as an indication of the morals of the people. This is the first report under the new system wherein the offices of Commissioner of Police and of Under-Secretary for Justice are combined; and while this presumably is an economy, it is not apparently at the cost of efficiency. The report does not show any great changes in the incidence of crime, yet it is satisfactory to know that what change there is shows slight improvement. The net increase of offences of all sorts is 420, which, reckoned on the increased population, leaves the proportion of offences to the population at 2.32 per cent., as against 2.33 last year. When, however, a closer comparison is made, it is seen that while there has less serious offences, such as vagrancy, common assaults, and drunkenness, there is a decrease in respect to burglary, desertion of wives and families, disorderly and riotous conduct, and thefts generally. The total offences reported for tiie year is 23.930, of which nearly one-half are entered as having to do with drinking. Drunkenness alone makes up 10,657, an increase of 314; but the most unsatisfactory element in this part of the return is to find that 5(5.0 per cent, of the cases are first offenders. There is, however, a grain of comfort in that part of the report dealing with the four principal centres, Dunedin. Christchureh, Wellington, and Auckland. Taken together, these show a decrease in drunkenness of. 252 as compared with 190S; only it is noteworthy that Christchureh shows an increase of 121; the other three cities with their suburbs, overbalance it with a decrease of 373. There are many other interesting points in the report. The .finger-print branch is doing good service; by means of it persons convicted in the Dominion have been identified as having been previously convicted in London. Capetown, Denmark, and Australia; on the other hand, persons in custody in Australia nnd South Africa have by this menus been identified as having been

1 previously convicted in this country. As an instance of the practical assistance I the branch is to the general police, a

series of burglaries took place in Welington during the latter part of last rear, and from finger-prints left behind uy the offenders it was clearly demonstrated that the same persons were responsible for the whole of the burglaries, thus narrowing the scope of the enquiry. The offenders were subsequently arrested and convicted. It is gratifvincr. too, to note that the police are qualifying themselves for rendering first aid by taking the usual training course, and that (11 this last year obtained passes from the St. John Ambulance Association. The extracts from the reports of officers in charge of districts show that generally the work of the department has been carried on without friction, and that there are but few offences against good discipline reported. The whole report is not lengthy, but a brief summary of facts and figures minus the padding. That is what a report should be. There is one very interesting item at the end, where the number of the police force and cost per head of population is shown. The force consists of 775 all told, which works out at one to 1330 of the total population, and costs us only 3s 3V 2 d per head. This is by far the largest number of parishioners, shall we call them, to each police officer in any part of Australasia, and at the lowest cost. When we carry this comparison out to its manifest conclusion, we see that our policemen are better paid than in any other State; or, at least, that each policeman, with his share of office expenses, costs more to the country than in any of the Australian States. If it be that the actual pay is better, it should attract better men. As a matter of fact, the policeman's work is often very unpleasant, to say the best of it, and 1 if good men are to be retained they must be liberally treated. Though we should like to hear of a greater reduction in crime generally, we think that the Commissioner and those under him have shown a good account of their year's work.