The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1866-07-07


honorable occupation and the question
now remains to be decided, whether We
shall retain these men who have served us
so well, or compel them to seek some other
calling, and fill their places with men who
will make their position pey, whatever may
be the nominal sum that they may receive !!
The present pay of the privates of police
is two dollars per diem, or sixty dollars
per month. Most Of the men are married,
and at the lowest calculation they have
to pay ten or fifteen dollars per month tor
house rent. At the former rate, there Will
be left fifty dollars per month, or one dol
lar and sixty-siH cents per day, to provide
food, lights, fuel, and clothing for man and
wife, and perhaps several children. This
sum may, with strict economy, purchase
food, but it cannot pay for clothing, ana
we know that in many instances when the
families of members of the police force
have been sick, they have been unable TO
obtain the money to pay for the medicines
which they actually required. That the pre-
sent pay of the privatcs of the police is too
small, few will venture to deny, but hun
dreds will object that the city is too poor
to nav more, and that II the present force
there arc hundreds Of others who will!
Neither Of these reasons will bear any close
discussion. Far be it from US to urge
any increase of expenditure wh'ch
must causc All additional tax upon
ourselves and every other citizen: but
in this instance we firmly believe that the
additional outlay will prove both judicions
and proper. The strength Of the police
force has already been reduced to one hum
dred men, so that additional work has been
thrown upon those who remain, and it
would he better To decrease the present
number to eighty, and pay that eighty
well. than TO continue to retain men who
are not paid sufficiently to enable them to
live with comfort and responsibility. An
increase of fifty cents per diem upon the
present rates would cost the city fifteen
hundred dollars per month, or if the num-
her of privatcs were reduced to eighty, the
cost would be the same that it is at the pre-
sent time. In favor Of the other objection
even less can he said. The present police
have been tested and tried. They found
the city riotous and disorderly, infested
with thieves, burglars, and garroters, and
it is now free from turbulence and CRIME
beyond all precedent. Who, then, will be
willing to compel these men to relinquish
their positions and place the city in charge
of new and untricd mcnt
The whole subject is one Of grave and
serious Importance Unless their rates of
pay are increased, the present police cam
not be retained and if they are not re-
tanned, we have no surety for the contl-
nucd good order of the city. Our police
have worked well, and they ought to be
paid enough to enable them to live; they
have been faithful under many tempta-
tions, and they deserve not reward, but
a fair compensation for their labors. We
do earnestly hope that the Council at their
next meeting will increase the pay of the
privatcs of police at least fifty cents per
diem, for We are sure that every citizen
had rather pay trillc more in taxation
than allow our police force to suffer for the
nccesSaries of life, or force them to seek
some other field of work. The carpenter,
the bricklayer, and the blacksmith can all
command more than two dollars per day,
and vet this is all that we are now paying
to those men upon whom we arc dependent
for the preservation of our lives and pro-
pcrty and the peace and tranquility OF the
city.