The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-09-09

which be used to the injury of all about him.
He is now to be watched, rs dangerous
least is watched, and to be imprisoned il
canpht attempting mischief 1t must be
very distorted philanthropy, or n very mud
oled notion of constitutional rights, which
can see in these provisions any danger to the
liberty of the subject or any damage to the |
character of honest mon.
Two other provisions of the act are very \
important. and are essential to its operation. 4!
One relates to lodging houses in which thieves 4
ere borbored The other. to the receivers of !
stolen Goods. 1t is obvious that men who |
live by theft must have auxiliaries and conf
dants Money and Jewels are useless To the
most dex;erous thief. unless he has some one
to WHOM. he can entrust his booty, and some
one to whom he can sell it, His lodging-house
keeper is the guardian of his person and ms
plunder: the receiver is the capitalist VINO
furnishes the reward for past, and the lncen-
tive for future. pillage. If there were no one
to purchase stolen property, there would De
no thieves. The vocation would die OF pure
inanition. Nothing perhaps so clearly eXem-
plifes the slowness of the British intellect as
the length of time il required to master so SIM
pie an idea. The trade was obviously most
lucrative one. A thief, worried by fears oil
detection, carrying with him the evidence Oh
his guilt was not likely to haggle about the
price of his booty, even when he knew ltS
value; and q man who was able to give ready
money for it. and would hold his tongue,
might easily get it for a sixth or tenth OF
what it was worth 1t was impossible not to
find tradesmen whom prizes OF tins klAd
would tempt to systematic colluslon with
larceny and burglary. Accordingly, trade
grew up which numbered in its ranks many
persons who passed for respectable in the
worlds opinion, and whose seeming respecta-
bility was guaranteed by the then state of the
law There was many a pawnbroker who
had his decent suburban villa who discharged
| the duties of citizen, ratepayer, and vestry-
| ma u to the satisfaction of his neighbors, but
| who was more than suspected by the police OF
habitually purchasing stolen goods. The
| reverence formerly paid to these wh1ted
| sepulchres is dissipated by the new Act,
| which extends the consequences of a second
| conviction to receivers no less than
| to thieves, and enables a police officer to
| enter any premises in which he believes
stolen goods to be concealed. 1t also inn
poses penalty of ten pounds on the lodging
house keeper who knowingly harbors thieves,
| together with a deprivation of license when
the landlord also keeps a tavern or beer
| house.
Thus, it will be seen, the act cures grave
omissions of our criminal procedure, and
| gives new securities to life and property. At
| the same time it must be admitted that it
confers great powers on the police-powers
which, in the opinion of some persons, are
unconstitutional and dangerous. 1t is quite
possible, as they argue, that a man may be
twice convicted of robbery or violence and
yet may not justly come within the definition
of an ''habitua criminal In such case
they contend, it is unfair to subject him to
| the supervision of the police. We cannot see
the force of this reasoning. man
who, despite two convictions, determines to
be honest and to redeem his character, will be
encouraged rather than discouraged by the
consciousness that he has constant witnesses
of his desire and efforts to reform. If he is
sincere, he will find, not an enemy but a
friend, in every intelligent and right-minded
officer of the force. And he will also find in
the force strong protection against the at
tempts of his former mates 20 seduce him
back into the paths of crime. Moreover, it
must be remembered that the vigilance of the
police will be mainly directed to watching,
not the subjects of two, but those of five, ten
or twenty previous convictions. Nor should
it be forgotten that man of generally good
character, who has drifted into crime, is not
wholly dependent on his treatment by the
police for his future career. Such a man will
be aided, not only by the good opinion of hi
friends and neighbors, but also by the season
able sympathies of that excellent association
which has done SO much to dispel despair
from the mind of the reformed convict, anC
| VIII uOW. we UOuDl nOJ, r6uOuDle llS Suu6d
vors to facilitate his return to an honest ant
respectable life
Of course this act may be abused by stupit
or wicked and malignant policemen. OF cours,
} it is possible that spiteful policeman ma,
worry a repentant criminal back into crime
But the possibility is minute; and it may b'
. rendered infnitesimal. The remedy for tn,
apprehended evil is to be found in the charac
ters of the inspectors. No man will be sub
, jected to such cruel persecution who lives il
district which is under the guardianship o
an honest and sensible inspector. And if eve
the time comes when Colonel Henderson cal
have his pick of men of character and intelli
gence wherewith to fill the ranks of the Lon
don constabulary, it will be his duty to selec
only such as may be presumed to be incapable
of meanness and cruelty; as it will now be hi
duty to purge the police at once of mel
proved to have abused their powers for thu
: qualification of cruel sordid, and vindictiv
, feelings But the qualifications of goot
: policeman, and the training necessary t.
1 ensure them, are subjects worthy of separat
\ | consideration.