The Sun.
London, England, 1845-10-20 00:00:00

I`l trientlt II;
44'T \ Ant

LONDON, MONDAY. -005T013ER 20. 1845.

There are few institutions more important 0 civilised
society than a good domestic police. There are none
in the heads of which the powers confided by the State
are so liable to abuse. It would seem as if to the func-

tions of arresting criminals and personally detecting
crimes, a latitude of authority were necessary which
was in itself productive, in those who exercised it, of
that criminality which they are charged to take cogni-
zance of in others. Such a tendency is attributable,
perhaps, in an equal degree to the necessarily inferior
character of the class of men who will consent to
become members of what may be called the
"Criminal Executive." But it has been always reason-
ably enough presumed that in consideration of more
careful selection, increased pay, and improved
superintendence, the character, as well as the efficiency
of a domestic police, may be certainly enhanced where
it has become, from its inadequate establish:nent, very
much deteriorated. Now this, precisely, is the process
which was adopted on effecting the substitution of the
New Police constabulary, or Metropolitan Felice, in the
place of that most dilapidated of constabulary staffs—
the "Old Watch" of London. Whatever objections of
a constitutional nature might be, and really were, urged
against Sir ROBERT PEEL'S half-military and ostenta-
tiously organized "gen-d'arnierie"—and they were grave
ones—nothing could be excepted to the establishment,
and pay; which he assigned
.to it, Except, indeed,
on the score of its excess. This pay since the
original constitution of the force has been in-
creased, both to the various officers, superintendents,
inspectors, &c., and the sergeants and men ;—and still
more recently, the salaries of the two Commissioners
were fixed at a scale which reached the utmost verge of
liberality. Under these circumstances, the public has a
right to expect on the part of the men the best conducted
deportment and attention to their duty ; on the part of
the Commissioners the most exact and careful superinten-
dence over all the arrangements and details of the force.
But we lament to observe that the cases of flagrant delin-
quency on the part of constables of this well-paid, well-
appointed, and very favoured body seem to increase
every year, both in number and character. It
is a scandal to the whole body that such numerous
instances of attempted extortion, subornation, pilfering,
violence, and cruelty, should have to be brought tinder
magisterial notice in the period of a few months, as
those in which we find policemen implicated as prin-
cipals or accessories. A collection of such cases, care-
fully extracted from the reports of our district police-
offices and the records of the Central Criminal Court
since the passing of the 10 GEo. IV., in June, 1829,
would show—we are convinced—a larger aggregate of
criminal offences by police-constables than could be
brought against any other body constituted under
equally favourable regulations and inducements for
good conduct, and bearing similar proportions as to
tlieir aggregate force, the relative numbers of officers
and men, &c. But we do not propose, now, to enter
upon any of the objections of principle, or the conside-
rations of policy and expediency which we could adduce
as bearing on the general question of the merits or demeri ts
of this scheme of police. We have merely to direct at-
tention to two cases that we published in our impression
of Saturday last. The one (copied from the Devizes
Gazette), to the effect that a man, formerly an inspector
of the Wilts police, is in custody at Bath, charged with
stealing a silver hammer and a cash- b x containing 801.
The other is the case of a police-constable of the F di-
vision, charged with having absconded "from the force"
with 201. received by him " in his official" capacity.
This man, having apprehended a woman on susp'cion of
robbing a sailor on the prteeding nigl.t, attended with
the culprit at an early hour on Friday morning before
the insptetor at the Bow-stre .t eta ion, sad handed
over to him five 51. .13,n1c of En..datil antis. two g.dd
sovereigns, and 21s. in silver, which he said he had
found on the prisoner. 27, is money w cs given buck to the
policeman when he brought the charge, in clue course,
before the sitting magistrate ; he was ordered to return

•
.he Thew seaman one of he 5/. notes to enstae h;e3 to
joist 11.M.5. Ca!edania, at Plymouth, and he was boona
to return the reminder to the insP:ctor, before when'
he had reported the c ise—to await further proccoiegss
and to be secured for the saiinr. This was -not d.
On the following evening he was reperted " n"t °ll
duty." The suspicions of 11;3 " superior :Oct r," "'t r.°
immediately aroused. It was ascertnined he hid 51):
scOndEd from his lodgings ; and he was soon discover"
in a house of a Ike infamous character with diet
in whirl] the sailar lied to to [deride) ed 201 74- "c:e
found under the bed in which he was taken, affil he
acknowledged it was part of the money he had env
bezz7id.
On the first of these cases. the examination of the at''
cused not being before us, we shall make no fertile':
comment at present, than to observe filet the iinpaKe
delinquency is of a kind which has become so cone'.°
a charge of late against con3tabteary o"ficers of th:s
description, that it almost ceases to shock one, as 3
assuredly would do, had not the frequency of such an-
nouncements neutralised the impression they ought na.
turally to produce on the public mind.
On the latter case, we cannot help arriving' at the
conclusion, that, in spite of all the nauseating affeetatil
of military arrangements and gradations of rank, whit'
these police affairs always exhibit, this system of °II'
stabulary is a very vicious and imperfect one. Whell
the under-constable took charge of the monq at four
or five o'clock in the morning, why was it arcd.
turned to him by the upper-constable, ins,
of being duly entered with all pat ticulst‘
on the " sheet "—acknowledged in some proper printo
form to the under-constable—and brought forwsrd hf
the upper one (i. e., " the superior officer ") before the:
magistrate, on bringing up the case for hearing ierc,
hours afterwards ? To return money under such cii;
minastances was at least to subject it to new ..le9Pelisbj;
to the ultimate loss of the plundered seaman ; for
..ing
delinquent, GUY, of the y division, without dres°,lt
of the embezzlement he afterwards committed' °lli
have innocently lost it in the very first street brow
111,,
which he might have been called upon to interfere on
sis
way home. And then, what were the a superior °Meer f
about, when they found that this " private," inslead and
returning from the office straight to his insPeetclr'ssiol
paying over the money, according to the "gel;'" at
orders" of the "service," did not apPesr„he
the station all day—to let the matter stand over till 'led
" evening muster or parade," when he was firstereitereng
" not on duty ?" A little alacrity and Inanagilieg
might surely have tracked the offender to his Ittbs
place long before he had changed or expended one (,ps
5/. Bank notes, the property of the sailor? It i 5 "niO1)11nel
° d
to common sense that such a system of returning -
found on the person of a prisoner to one of these °tine
cars, is to expose him to the double danger Of OOP
him to the commission of a crime—and sews' st4e
the lawless community through whose haunts 11eiss
obliged to move, to outrage and violence ageshimself, under the impression that he ca
re
booty about his person during a certain "la
tion, at least, of the day. We find ;h
able,;
Inspector, DODD, said, "it was the duty of all CO ,
to attend at the station-house after the dile6llibi
charges with which they were concerned, to rePer;e
result of the examination, and to deliver tip ehstof
property might come into their hands. This ois
done withou t any express directions from the itsFeipree:
(hay" And why do there exist no such exPre°,';„jelil
tions? Is it thought that it would be considered
cute, forsooth, to the police-constables to issueopli,'
instructions, on the ground that they would: 0°
a elt übt of their possible susceptibility' ';A010;
temptation of theft ? We are at a loss to itttg,isoo°
ease they have made out to be entitled to exemee-
such ordinary precautions on the part of thelt,oo4
riors. The prisoner, GUY, is stated to be "A' beet;
man of highly-respectable connexions. Ile its' been
in the police force about six months, having
bought out of the army by his friends." We "lfy
suspect that this statement suggests the true hi'°„eiet'S
many other cases of police-constable delinee piiss;
There is too little vigilance exercised by the iCfslifid
sioners in ascertaining the moral character and 'us •
cations of candidates for admission into their ``e°f 6,
or too much importance ascribed to the suortrisetsooo!
their appearance, and, above all, to the 61.°i/10114
of their having previously belonged " to the ""
as the reporter phrases it.
COLD f
We stated on Saturday that the time was sol.
settling the long-agitated question of the corn-10: of;
expressed a hope that another session would not ees Ist
fered to pass without the adoption of measur!bie tot
finally setting it at rest. Indeed it was itnit°'s'die s
read the sreeches made at agricultural niee-011.
independent even of Sir ROBERT PSSI:S .03
known inclination, to come to any other cone'hijnrit
Still it is gratifying to find that a new auticka
has been added to those which have already oPliegirst-ior
the authority of an active and beneficent legic..
one, it is true, who makes no pretensions to any
ledge of Cabinet secrets, but who, nevertheless, 1.1.°_, so
political principles and station in society, is entitled
fullest credit—a e mean Lord ASHLEY. In a late, Da
to his constituents, the electors of Dorsetahire, his
ship says, "I will seize this occasion to tole",
subject of the corn-laws, and the certain result into
present movement against them. It appears to lileof the
their destiny is fixed ; and that the leading men (Or
great parties in the Legislature are by no .004 ies
dined to their eventual abolition. The debates .sensor
session have left no doubt on this head : both the
didates for power, and the occupants of it, aPPI.I_ that
so much more closely than at any former Peri ' that
most of the hearers were induced to believe
nciple
their difference was less a matter of Pr' rico
than a question of time." This COmiticialf
a strong supporter of these laws is stil sell'
e
remarkable; but what follows is more remarkau
shoulde
as itis evident the agriculturists thenaselves--" rose
rather say the landlords—are resolved to rust
,leo
with the League, and know their fate with°ll",seitl
Now is the time to strike. Such another 00°e-resort',
may never occur, and his Lordship' th they
advises the landlords to consider in what icesti only
can break the force of an inevitable blow. Titel dote
do it in his opinion by offering terms for a grautlapsien
lition ; "for," says he, "you have, at thi4
the power to offer such terms ; their is no certaiotlcrity
you will retain it much longer--cur actual PresfPearfal
must come to an end ; and then the wide odiiity on
pressure of commercial distress, with the host the
the one side, and the indifference on the othe,r%°resial
great political chiefs, will leave you, in an hour °I e;; This
difficulty, altogether without a refuge or resouree.as
is consolatory intelligence, and we may, frout thritoge $5
as front other symptoms, regard the proposed c ote ,
the great question for the ensuing session. Thef soreig"
the crops, and the certainty of importation °rot ea'
grain, cannot fail to have given Sir 11. r.scL g but 11/8
easiness with regard not only to the currency',
_pat
peace of the community. A large ilnP
drain the country of gold, and drive us t neigh'
cessity of again begging succour from oetse eibrbi
bours. On the other hand, if prices coati" of
and the half-starved Irish, not to sPeadrieca
the poor classes in this island, a.rci
more er,
ortatiothew vtle,
to despair by want, the danger may be sttliliop, one
palling. He is thus placed in a difficult Vs; weans.
}oust naturally be anxicus to take every rati°l,3,,e of ii
to prevent, for the future, such a concurrero frog
toward circumstances. This question, we leaes th°
various quarters, occupits above all °t
fid a (lie,
attention of her MAJESTY'S MilliSterSt 13- 000'
cision may be expected by the beginning of o.ecropt the
We have little doubt of the result. It is 551 toe tlitls'
Duke and the Premier cannot agree on the orinet
1
should be adopted, and that a split of the o'7 in the
be the consequence, but we place no confide:ll eon!'
rumour. The Duke knows how to obey as
nt tO Sir
mend: he has entrusted the reins of Geeere.rn,!,ase fet
ROBERT PEEL—he has already yielded to nt'hrio, al
conciliating Ireland, and he will not thwartio r
coairf
measure so intimately connected with h_iss,,,ory
system. and so essential to the existence of
vernment. d
12tb
ge, h
rs
We have received Madrid Journals of the llt
inst. Those of the former are chiefly tilled with.sr,:, birth
of the grand-levee held in honour of her Maaehtinir'ed per;
day, which was attended by at least thirteen
_euar ii;tlstt
eons. A general amnesty
Gazette en the 12th inst. It was confident%
insultaig
Madrid that General BnErrox, notorious for la
. Lad retaa'. .J
was expected to
_l7„,,ted.
and atrocious proclamations in Catalcaua,
c.nduc, t0.,4
Others state that he had been dismissed, as i
" autPritic
become so insufferable that many of the officTate9 tb3t
tbs
under him had refused to act. The T:ernpo 50_ ,
Company who had received the concession ficstil:so,oo
)
Iron Railway line had deposited 5,000,000 rfeort t
the fil/fO,l
in the bank of San Fernando, as a security c
,ract
ment of their engagements. The following ::o
letter, dated Cadiz, Oct. 6, appears in the Castel‘/lee.,;io pars.
felucca guards costa Jupiter left this port last. color 6
hoisted
el °g tth
suit of a smuggling vessel which tired „Q.
The commandant of the Jupiter, nevcrtheas,o, svatr,
whence an English steamer immediately starts
„. Hot
..6
smug.,;ler, which souz.)ll. refuge in the Gibraltar purstiniat,
discussol wee,
the Spanish guards-costa; the latter was,
.encouh to riech the p .rt of Cadiz. Serio two p
uhsowevo, . is lay
iltb
aristn on the subject b,tween the governors the
us. w ii! turn lo our stenne." co the
transactio4.s. took place on the Bourse
or 12th.

nat
The Paris papers contain a variety
----i.e..-- _—
without Worm. We aro glad to find aom mllig
ot e,
(11
inte6th,

12til
11th an.culars
th Par" • dr
,
rgsl"l6 d per,
hundred the
the
apPe3r;ea at
Lay g
taw-
his ir'1,,,e41.
reSlD-
t 11'1
condoC .ei
,hordl
al u' t
th
rate ib3w
ta _gado
,f the °mob)
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br of a
eNtrac'„ The
aunt,'" or-
i
Nen,n P
eish h COCOI° 0
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tire" - telt
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