Tuapeka Times. AND GOLDFIELDS REPORTER & ADVERTISER THURSDAY, JULY 24, 1873. "MEASURES. NOT MEN."

Tuapeka Times, Volume VI, Issue 286, 24 July 1873, Page 9

Tuapeka Times. AND GOLDFIELDS REPORTER & ADVERTISER THURSDAY, JULY 24, 1873. "MEASURES. NOT MEN."

Every time the Provincial Council meets, the position of the police force (as regards pay) versus the warders in the Dunedin gaol is made the subject of aebate, and the current session has proved no exception to the rule. The question involved is one of considerable importance, and demands far more minute consideration that has ever yet been given to it — the wisdom and intelligence of the Provincial Council notwithstanding. Its importance to the public is based upon the extreme value of the police force as a preventive and detective body, composed of men of unblemished character, who are devoting the best 3'ears of their lives to serving the public in the most dangerous and hazerdous of capacities. That such services should be well and substantially paid for, will, we think, be gladly admitted by the public, and yet somehow or another the representatives of the people always seem U> take a savage delight in adopting a mean, shabby, cheese-paring policy in dealing with the police. T s it because the total amount ex-

pended is large, that these serv&ats are restricted to the very same pay which laboring men (in Tuapeka, at all events) get ? (and are cheeky on that) to wit Bs. The police officer has expensive uniform to purchase, and to maintain in reputable order, and he is constantly called upon to perform duties entailing certain expenses, which, although he is not compelled to incur, he would be voted parsimonious, and all the rest of it, if he attempted to avoid. Ten, or even twelve, shillings per day is but fair pay under such circumstances, particularly when we consider that the police by reason of their esprit de cmys, which it is the interest and duty of the public to foster as much as possible, are compelled to keep up a certain status, which the laboring man does not require, and which would be useless to him if he possessed. We were much amused at the remarks made by Mr. Lumsden in the Council the other day, in opposing a suggestion having for its object the granting of wages to the police equal to that paid to the Dunedin gaol warders. Mr. Lumsden said that the warders were entitled to superior pay, because they were constantly exposed to greater dangers than the police, having continually to associate with convicts. That they have these I duties to perform, we admit; but b}^ what process of reasoning Mr. ! Lumsden concludes that their risks are thereby made greater than those incurred by the police, we cannot imagine. The policeman has to persue the culprit who is flying from justice, with the full knowledge of his guilt within him, and the horror of the impending punishment weighing imperiously on his mind, producing in his excited brain all the feelings necessary to constitute the officer of the law his most bitter enemy. He is ready to dodge, and thus put the pursuant to trouble, expense, inconvenience, and risk ! He is ready to fight, and often does so, and that with a halter round his neck. He is in a position to beguile his pursuant into lonely places, into which he is followed, bravely enough, but where he, in many cases, has the advantage, and where he is ready to slay the police officer if he gets the chance, and instances have occurred where this has been done. That they are few in number is true, but this is owing to the admirable manner in which our police regulations ai*e carried out, and to the spirit of hearty co-operation which exists in the force ; and not to the inability or want of determination on the part of fugitive criminals to fight, and give no quarter if they only get the chance. Now for the other picture. That the gaol warders have difficult and dangerous duties to perform we fully admit,- and we do not for a moment think them overpaid. Quite the reverse. But there duties, so far as danger is concerned, are altogether lighter than those performed by the police ; and consesequently, the latter body should receive an equal; if not a larger amount of pay. The warders have to deal with the criminal after he has been arrested and imprisoned, and consequently has had time to cool down and consider his position ; and then, again^after he has been tried, and consequently subjected to the (in very many cases) subjugating and improving influences, which a thorough knowledge and. may be, appreciation of his true position are almost sure to produce. Under, sentence he is a different being — i.e., in most instances. He cannot escape, his only chance of being leniently treated hinges on his good behaviour, and this must act as an incentive to proper conduct, and a deterrent to any acts of violence towards his gaolers. His position here is strangely and strongly in contrast with that which he occupied as a fugitive culprit trying to evade the pursuing officer of the law. Under sentence, and in gaol,he has everything before him to convince him that his gaolers are by no means to blame for his detention. He is sure to be sober, and, guilty though he be, being right-minded will think and consider in spite of himself. On the | ranges, fresh from his guilt, flying from justice, his hand against every man's and, as he thinks, every man's hand against his, he is prepared for, anything. He has committed one crime ; to get out of it he will take one more false step, and murder the policeman if he can. These pictures are not overdrawn, and we ask now, which runs the most risk — the policeman or the gaol warder ? Still, if the Dunedin warders are entitled to more pay than the police, what about the up-country gaolers 1 Hqw is it that they are riot paid

as well as their Dunedin brethren ? So far as this matter of risk is concerned, the country gaoler runs the greatest. In Dunedin, there are doubtless a larger number of prisoners in proportion to the gaolers than in country gaols ; but, in Dunedin, the gaolers are many in number, and can control a larger number of prisoners with far greater ease than one man can, say, three or four, supposing that they, at any time, when all together determine to mutiny. We know that in more than one of the up-country gaols, as many as nine prisoners have at one time been in the charge of a single gaoler. That the district gaolers should be paid as well as the Dunedin warders, we think, is indisputable, and we seriously call the attention of the Government to the consideration of this question, viz., Are not -the police entitled fairly and equitably to pay, at all events equal, to that received by the Dunedin warders ? We are glad to see that a sum has been placed on the estimates to provide a small additional salary for sergeants and constables who have been ten years in the force. This is as it should be, and will act as some incentive to good ,men to remain in the force. As regards the governor of the Invercargill gaol, we cannot understand why he receives only £175 a year, and with no increase this year ; while the Dunedin governor last year had £850, and the sum voted for him this year is £400. The Invercargill gaoler has co-equal responsibilities, and *has, we understand, been in the service some 17 or 18 years. We do not think Mr. Cald well's salary too high; but we fail to see why his Invercargill brother should be paid so inferior a figure. There are some other matters relative to the police force and its discipline, with which we shall deal in a future article.