Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1865-12-21
FINANCIAL.



Not morning comes, which does not bring &c
ne shocked, but accustomed ear Of Memphis
ne story ofsome gross breach o. the law. Muir
Ter, rape, theft, burglary, assaults, androbbey,
loId high carnival In the city, and pursue Their
gnhallowed guests. with al impuuity fragrant
I IS the day. Locks have ceased 70 perform their
auctions Of wsrcer, daylight itself has lost the
immunity from harm, 10 once provided, and
hat citizen is sanguine indeed, who ventures
INTO the night, without a,means Of self defense,
based upon powder and bail. Il would actu-
Ally seem, that We had lapsed from our organi-
Etion as a society, and that the question OF
3e-sonal security had reverted TO the dominion
II the individual himself The fierce exhorta-
ions 70 reform, which such facts address to this
community, should surely awaken some res
ponsive demonstration. The two great purpo-
seS which provoke the institution Of society
are the assurance oflIfe, and the protection O,
/ property. Search but the surface-record Of our
daily life, and note what vicious aud bloody
commentaries, 10 offers upon these cardinal
purposes They miscsrry IN violence, and we
eel the empire OF or organization, not in the
/ blessings it-confers, but only in the weight OF
is imposiJioss.
The cant solution Of our ~frightful condition,
IS the late revolution. II is urged, that pillage,
murder, and the whole bloody sum Of social
disorder, are the logical fruit Of war. Granting
all this 70 be true, the problem is yet far from a
complete Interpretation. There are causes
which underlie this fostering state, and tolerate
is existence, which reach beyond the scope Of
revolutionary effects They embrace another,
md distinct crop ofinhuences, Tha: there Is
an unwonted tendency to commit crime, we
know, and have just seen explained. but the
,auses 10 which we now allude, refer 70 the in
adequate means We employ TO repress crime.
Memphis is preyed upon by an army Of IN
sodly miscreants. and cries aloud in her agony.
las she A right tocry aloud? Is she a Just OBJ
ect Of sympathyo What measures has she
tdopted 70 defend herself Has she taken All
he precautions which prudence suggests, and
hus Invested herself Of the anus Of her own
condition? Let US appeal 10 her Chief OF Police
or Information.
From this source We learn, that the entire Po-
ice torce OF Memphis, only numbers eighty-si1
Jersans including officers and men. OF these,
eight are officers. and men on detective service.
lhis leaves se~veuty-eight, from which remain
der, three more are to be sUbtracted. One Of
thsse, IS detailed for clerical duty, and the other
.wo, as guards for the jail We have left then,
twenty-five men, upon whom the whole Police
work OF Memphis devolves, Out ofthis corpO-
rals guard, forty are assigned for night, and
hirty-nve for day service. Could words be
framed, capable Of transmitting a more start
ing announcement than this simple statement
~sonveys2 In a city containing nfJy thousand
.uhabitants, and embracing an area ofonemile
and q half square, forty men are appointed, %
protect property, and guard life, against the or
ganized hostility Of an army Of rufians! Do
We dream, or are we in our sobsr senses? Is
his q grave reality, or only a piece Of solemn
lumorY Except for the unrelentirg record Of
he Police Office, we should be pursuaded 20 re-
gard It as a grim Joke.
But perhaps this slim constabuIary is gener-
ously rewarded, and an excessively stimulated
scuvity, thus compensates in some measure, for
tdehciency in numbers. We know that zeal so
Inspired, is capable OF overcoming mountains
Of difnculty, and therefore have a right TO infer,
thas as the number is 50 small, the remunera-
Ion must be large. Let Us examine then, II
bis saving implication is borne out by the
acts.
Turning 70 the same unsmillng record, from
shich our otner figures have been drawn, we
ind, that the salary OF the men Is eighty, and
be salaries Of the officers, from one hundred,
o one hundred and twenty-five dollars per
month. These il must be recollectei, however,
re but the nominal, not the actual amounts
.4NN AANaAhNa me GAN EuAA IA 49, 1AAAEF eAA
city scup-as we have the melancholy duty TO
Ieclare every days only worth eishty-hve
ssnts on the dollar. The real salary Of the men
hen, is siug-agh dollars a month, and the
cal salaries Of the officers, are e;ghty-hve, and
ne hundred and six dollars and twenty-five
,ents, respectively.
Thus the city OF Memphis, with a population
fatty thousand souls, not only invites attack,
" screwIug down her effective Police 70 q beg
.arly minimum, but with suicidal penurious-
ness. goes on to assure the success OF attacks, by
iolelng 70 her trusted guardians a pittsnce,
ghfch would elevate with an impulse OF dis
ust. the most unambitious nose in town. Let
Is cease 70 wonder, that crime, should have Sc
.ected Memphis, as a favored theater for its
iearful saturnalia. We have all the elements
ghich attract, AID but few which repulse It's
occupation. Crime, Ike capital, seeks congo
NAL investments, and whenever It hourlshes
with a rank and u%npruned luxuriance, wemay
rest assured thai whatever constituents are es-
sential TO its prosperity, exist in the soil which
gives it such growth.
It IS useAsss 70 mince mstteuL There are some
points Of municipal government, In the admin
iztration Of which, an unwise economy is sim
ply criminaL And the capital point ofall these,
perhaps, Is the efficient organization Of the Po-
ice. Many OF the member Of this forcein
Memphis are men OF large family and what TO
Them is their paltry per annuule Why it does
not morethan pay their house rent, and wash
bills. What can we expect from such disastrous
parsimony? One OF thre things must happen.
These men must either neglect their duties, to.
pursue some other honest calling, or take hush
money. OF narvs. And yet we expect Of such
men. a protean activity, and an argus eyed Wig
Hence Well NAV they retort upon Us, in the