New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1857-05-26


co1t. officers and do rot within the next clause
a the sane section Of the Constitution mat Geir APP
roip,ment is void. That section Il a. follows; VI
!" efker differs whose election or appointment u not
proyided for by this Constitution ana all o. other
,tfoers whose Office may hereafter be created by
claw shall be elected by The people, o. app9in'eu as
the Legislature may direct. Ihls clause expressly
reSs,abishes in the Legislature full power
to direct the mode oil aPpo,n;!" ro. ,.n,;lsd
.tcers whose election or appointment Is not pFoyiled
Tor INV the Cousti.uti, n ana also OF all other oices
whose Offices should be therca created 6y law. II
the Police Commissioners are not county oncers, OF
the offices which they al have Oeen oreacu SuD ~
Cor,,ltiop took effect and did not exist before, me
Legislature bad objectionable power % u,rS' suo
mode Of their appointment es II saw ~ ne.ue.
the law be eNpedieut ar iDeXpedienl uie uuIcIA'!
cannot inquire, but must OBEY II as al o'n.I
must Thus Ear there il probably no diversity oil opn-
Or.
1t was said in the argument by one of the counsel,
but not pressed. that the police paroimen were 70 oS
appointed that certain persons among THEM shoud
be the police for the City Of New York certain others
for kipgs County, certain others for Richmond, ana
certain others for Wes;cheser County, and hence u
was argued that the police County officers. bus
the act is not sO-it creates one Metropolitan Police
District consulting OF those four contiguous counties
and creates five Commissioners OF Police Who with
the Mayors of The cities Of and Brook con-
stitute Board Of Police and authorizes this Board 20
appont superintendent OF police and police patromcn
and other officers for the whole OF the said Metropo-
"tan Police District. and authorized to do duty in any
poyt thereof ritkou. regard 70 residence county
"hacs" All that is local about the force is that the
BOARD Of Supervisors of the County of New-York Is
IN determine lbc mdny shall be appointed "a quota
OF the patrol force be paid for by SAID countyhe
Common Council Of Brooklyn hOr many shall be ap-
pointed as a quota 10 be paid Tor by that cny-the
Supervisors If the towns of Kings, except those
of Brooklyn, tor moHy shall be appointed as
Quota TO be raid for by those towns-ahd the Su-
pervisors OF Richmond and Westchester, re-
spectively, hop many shall be appointed as a
IL. 70 ha nv them re-
spectively But the whole control OF the whole police
force the designation Of the persons to act in any part
Of the district ard of the number so to act, and the
times and places when, Is under the control oil tue
Board Of Police, and of their Superintendent and
other officers appointed by it. q o. The district IL
70 be divided into precincts without regard TO conhfg
or rGrd boundaries, and one Inspector or captain OF
police and four SergeaDts are TO be dSiSRcd 10 each
precinct. Is l0.l Ihey may be assigned from day
to day or from month to month; they are not
0rp0GCd for particular precinct; they like military
officers assigned TO particular station, to remain
there only so long the head OF the Department may
see fit Each county il to furnish it, quota of the fund
necessary 70 pay the body OF police but Il not TO pay
II Ia or for any particular part Of that body but 1t al
passes into the treasury Of the State and Il thence 10
be discussed for the general purposes OF tile act W.
lis true that the duties to be performed by this
notice force have heretofore been performed through
county town OF ward officers. But there is 10th.
ing in the Constitution which prevents the Legislature
in its sound discretion from transferring the perform
apce of those particular duties from one class OF
officers "a another At common law, and at the
tine Of the adoption OF this Constitution, In most, If
not all the counties the Sheriff was, in some sense,
head Of the Police ana II was ms special duty to
preserve the peace. lie is an officer who Is recog-
nzed by the Constitution, and wnose election is there
specially provided for, yet that part OF his duties
could PROFESSIONALLY be taken from him and be
performed 10y others by the Mayor of city, or
The head OF Police. Nor does the Constitution de-
clare or necessarily imply that duties which had tor
merry been part OF the duties appertaing by the law
.rntt,..a .h.an lAulNs
main either appurenant TO that office, or to some
other Cfce OF equally limited local extent. The office
If Sheriff could not be stripped of all s duties, aud
those duties be all transferred to another officer but
this implied prohibition applies az well 10 new officer
whose power should extend several counties ln
neither case could transfer be made of all the duties
and it is much within the competency OF the Legs
lature 10 make partial transfer OF those duties OF
officers who shall have control over several countless
as IL is TO make il 10 who shall DE limited 10 SIN
Ole county The language OF the Constitution was not
sdor,ed by the trainers Of the Constitution without
discrimination as Ia the words they used. IL is that
{" all county oficers-al city, town and village Off
GERS shall be- elected or appointed, &c, by the local
authorities. Ii is not that all the duties therefore
performed by these officers shal be thereafter per-
formed by county officers. But knowing and lnten-
ding that Legislature should regulate the duties of
officers as it should find expedent from time to time,
the trainers Of the Constitution left TO the Legsa-
lure restriced power in that respect. 1t might be
hat the conductors Of railroads would become so
negligent of the safety of passengers, that lines and
penalties would not be sufficient means OF protee-
lion and it would become necessary to have public
officer accompany each train. to see that the neediu
regulations were observed II might also be that the
property carried these roads would be 30 ire
aueny stolen that it would be expedient to have an
officer attend each freight train. Ii so, 1t would
become the duty of the Legislature 10 afford that means
Of protection to the citizen and hs property and the
most effecIua means OF accomplishing II might be to
organize police force, 10 be appointed by Cominls-
si0ners with superintendents under them and 1t would
be necessary TO appoint them not LOT single county
nor by the local authorities. but by some body OF
men who should have control over the whole
route of the road, as per the Enc Road, or our
great Central Road, or the Hudson River Road, or
the Harlem and Albany Road. similar necessity
might arise on canals. K yer thieves on the
waters around and in the vicinity OF the Cty oil new
York have long been complained OF. They may extend
their depredatons land 1t ls said that they nave 10
the neighboring counties. An ordinary police force
is Inefficient against them. The most efficient means
10 overcome them might be force OF men appointed
for New.YoIk and It's neghborng counties, with ono
head ard equal power in every part of the district
The Constitution shows no design to cripple the Leg
isature Of its power Of Ofording such remedy. In
all these cases the force would be, as this s police
force vet it would not be unconstitutional although
the officers were not appointed tor or by local autnor-
ties. The poor were az one time supported by towns,
the overseers elected appointed for those towns.
The responsibility in some cases shifted from the
separate towns the whole sounty. As yet II has not
been extended further as general rule. Can 1t be
that il should become expedlent IN some instances
70 constitute two counties into one district
for the poor Of those counties and to have the over
seers elected or appointed for the whole district TIN:
could not be done If the power may be exercised
in any of these cases then oicers-for new districts
composing several counties although performing
duties formerly performed by officers OF cOunties and
towns ARE officers whose Offices are created after
the adoption of the Constitution within the mean
ing Of that instrument and they may be elected by
the People or appointed as the Legislature may
direct. Then in this also there being officers
for districts not before known, although per-
forming duties formerly performed by county or