The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1856-09-17 00:00:00

the succour required to meet any temporary
pressure, and ho would in all probability have
secured for the Royal British Bank nine•tenths of
the Scotch banking business with England. The
Scotch banks want a more general and better
or,,anised agency in our large mercantile towns.
They have a very considerable reserve of notes
which might be thrown into circulation on this
side of the Tweed to great advantage. What is to
become eventually of the Royal British Bank it is
quite impossible to say. The sole interest the
commercial men of Liverpool can feel respecting its
future fate, is confined to the further test it will
afford as to the validity of the doctrine of unlimited
liability in the case of Joint Stock Banks. We believe
it will prove in this instance—should the Bank be

wound up—nearly as great a hoax as it has done in
the SADLEIR banking affair. Some little quirk, some
paltry quibble, some ingenious plea, some dastardly
clap-trap, will ride over the public faith, and enable
the reckless speculator to laugh at the credulity
of his dupes. Should justice prevail, as it has

been guaranteed to the country, the failure of the
Royal British Bank would seem to have been
designed as a national sacrifice which could not
have been much longer withheld.

THE occurrence of violent assaults by the Liver•
pool police force is, we are proud to say, far less
frequent than it was some little time back, and we
are indebted for this to the improved discipline of

the constabulary, and the greater vigilance of the
Watch Committee. That both were much needed,
all those who knew the streets of this Borough
three or four years since, and who traverse them now
will freely admit. The police appear to be impressed
more with the responsibility of their office, than
with its questionable dignities, as heretofore. They
are, in fact, a civil force instead of an offensive
and brawl fermenting pest ; and if all our magis-
trates were like Mr. MANSFIELD, it is quite clear
that they would be a perfectly exemplary body,
deserving and commanding the respect and
assistance of every man, when required. The
worthy Justice's decision on the case of Corattable
642, who was charged with knocking down a
woman, in a street near the Landing-stage, on
Friday evening last, deserves the highest praise.
The outrage with which the policeman was charged
was clearly proved, notwithstanding the quibbling
of the acting inspector, who was present when the
offence was committed; and Mr. MANSFIELD,in pass-
ing sentence on the accused,made these remarks :
" I do not know anything that is more likely to
" raise the indignation of the public, than to see a
" female brutally knocked down by a policeman ;
"it might have endangered the peace of the town.
"By the punishment that I am about to inflict on
" you, I shall show to the police force that the
." power they have entrusted to them shall not be
" abused. You must pay a penalty of 101, or be
" imprisoned for three months." This, it is hoped,
will prove a salutary warning to the whole force.
Knocking men down, much less women, is no
part of a policeman's business ; and unprovoked
violence, on the part of our civil servants, will
never be tolerated by the British public. English•
men will never stand by and see a woman mal-
treated in the streets, and the peace of the town is
endangered by such shameful acts of violence; on
the part of those entrusted with authority. The
day has gone by, for "kicking shins," or leaving a
man's arm " hanging, as if twisted out of the
" shoulder socket * * * a favourite and peculiar
" amusement, known only to the police ; " and we

would have Mr. MANSFIET.TI P'ul uire, in good time.
into the conduct of the pclice, with regard to the

`mock auction'' fraternity. We are obliged to
publish the reports of such proceedings, but we
are very far from sanctioning the use of violence in
the discharge of an ordinary police duty ; and we
think the constables, who play the leading parts in
such scenes as those described in the NORTHERN
TIMES of Monday, are the last men iu the force
who ought to be promoted. Innocent country
folk can be just as easily taken in, in a set of
" China," a tea service of electroplated ware, a
feather bed, a table, or a dozen chairs, as they can
in a " gold " watch ; and unless we are prepared.
to call all auctions " shams," and to silence the
Knights of the Rostrum without distinction, we
cannot see the use—to say nothing of the justice
and expediency—of allowing the police to inter-
fere just where and when they may think proper.

If -a
man is cheated in an auction-room, he can
go before a magistrate and obtain a warrant for
the apprehension of the offender, or he may give
the cheat in charge; but the police have no right
to take the law and government of the country
into their own hands. " Clouts of the fist," " tips
" of the boot," and " smart applications from the
" toe," in making an entry into a house in the
absence of a warrant, are just as likely to " raise
" the indignation of the public " as any other police
abuse, particularly where the policeman allows the
prisoners to go free as soon as the alleged cheat
"pops" a ten pound note into the hand of the
accuser. The cramming portions of such narratives
read well enough; but we hays yet to learn that a
policeman can force his way into a house, seize a
man on a specific charge, and then allow
him to go at liberty as he thinks proper.
If the Liverpool detectives have any such
powers, the sooner they "are repealed by act of
Parliament the better. " How CARLYLE served

" an Auctioneer," is no ornament to the civil service
history of this realm ; and we really feel deeply
abashed at the thoughts of the warmth with which
we have spoken of the barbarous acts of the police
of foreign countries, while we see such things going
on in a Constitutional State, in which the law
teaches us to regard every man's house as his
castle, and our women as mothers and sisters. We
need say no more, however, as we feel assured that
Mr. MANSFIELD will cause some public explanation
to be given, as to how a detective officer was
induced to discharge an offender he had appre-
hended, by the simple " popping" of a ten pound
note into the hands of the woman who had given
him into custody.