The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1870-09-14

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In the Quarterly Magazine Gays:
The whole force is directed by one CHIEF
commissioner and two assistant commission
eIs, under the control Of the home secretary,
who is responsible to Parliament. The com
missioner and his assistants are charged with
the execution Of the acts Of Parliament under
which the force is constituted, including its or
ganfzation, the framing of the orders and re-
gulations for the government OF its members
their selection and rejection, their disttibu.
tion and inspection, their discipline and drill,
and, in short, all the arrangements in detail
which are necessary TO render the force as
efficient as possible in the discharge Of its vari-
Gus duties.
Every possible care is taken to select the
best men to fill the ranks OF the police. If i'm
perfect men obtain admission, it is probably
because perfect men are not to be had at the
wages. Nineteen shillings a week, with a
chance Of rising by good conduct to 2ls., 2Ss.
and 25s. weekly, is not a very tempting salary;
yet there Is no want of candidates TO nll va
cancies in the force In 1859 the number of
applicants for admission to the metropolitan
-p6ilee was 1850. ofwhom 247Q were not exam.
iled as coming within the stipulated condi-
1850 were rejected as unqualified on account
.pf the insuffcieucy of testimonials; 720 did not
proceed with their applications, and 20s0 we're
selected for examination, of whom $40 were
rejected, and ll40 passed; or only about rs
per cent. OF the original number OF applicants.
Of the men who passed their final examina-
tions, $50 were eventually sworn In as police
constables.
Before the candidate is admitted to eXami-
nation the following preliminary conditions
are requisite He must be under thirty years
of age, and, II married, not have more than
two children dependent upon him for support;
he must stand at least five feet seven inches
3,,h lohf bo f-oo
of strong constitution; he must be intelligent,
able to read and write, and, above all, he must
be able to give proofs Of an u1impeachable
character for honesty, industry, s0bliety and
good temper. And II, after being examined,
he shows the requisite amount Of Intelligent
comprehension Of the rules and regulations OF
the service, and gives evidence Of his ability
to act with discretion and judgment in va
riety of problematical cases that are laid be-
fore him, this irst-class man-for such he must
<really be to fulfil these various copditiors-is
taken On at iSs, a week. having first undergone
instruction in the rudiments OF company drill
for fortnight. There Is one advantage he has
on entering the service; he knows that promo
ZION is entirely BY merit, and that he is COM
manded by gentlemen who will be quick to
recognize his good qualities; so that he may
hope by activity, sobriety, and intelligence i"
~ performance uu.ies, 10 rise 10 snpe-
rier sruiiiuns IN TIE force. :.
llthoueh. as might naturally be expected,
by lar the largest proportion of the metropol-
an police consists OF Englishmen, mostly oe.
LONGING to the home counties, 1t contains 6I0
frishmep, OF whom are superlntendents, -
inspectors, and 98 sergeants; and l52 Scotcn-
men, Of whom are superintendents, 10 IN
spectors, and 81 sergeaRts. The proportion OF
tie men who haveserved in the army Is about
9 per cent; 73 men having served in the artil-
iery 1872 in the cavalry, 426 in the line, and l23
in Tie militia. Of the linesmen, are super
intendents, inspectors and 46 sergeants.
There are also in the force II foreigners, some
of whom are connected with the detective
force.
The total length of the streets and roads
regularly patrolled by the metropolitan police
ia not less than 6709 miles, or equal TO the
distance, in q direct line from London across
the Atlantic and the Continent OF North
America, to San Francisco. This length Is
divided into 92l day beatsMthe average IenGth A
of the day beats all over the metropolitan dis
trict being about seven and half miles, and
of the night beats little over two miles
though they are, of course, much shorter
where the population Is the most dense.
The beats are all numbered and entered In
register, which can be referred to at any time.
This register shows the streets, roads, squares,
&C., In each beat, and the time required to
pass over it at the rate OF two and half miles
an hour sergeant has the charge of each
section, and OF the men doing duty In it; he is
responsible for the proper conduct OF the men,
and. to satisfy himself that they are doing
their duty properly, he is constantly patroline
the section. AS check upon the sergeant and
the men working under nim, the inspector
visits the subdivision at different points dur
inelday and night, the superintendent keeping
aVigilant eye upon the working OF the entire
division; while, as check upon the whole, the
commissioners and district superintendents
either make inspection Of the division in per-
son, or send out special officers from White
hall TO report as to the manner in which the
whole duty Is done.
Ir will be observed, from the much larger
number OF night beats than OF those in the day,
that the patrol work OF The police Is principally
done at night-night being the time Of danger,
and consequently Of watching. In round num-
hers two-thirds OF the whole force are employ
ed by night and one-third by day, the meI
taking their turns on both kinds OF duty. The
night coustables go on duty at 10 2. NJ, ane
remain until 6 A. NJ. when the day duty be
gins. The whole service is arranged by rellefs
each man taking his turn Of eight months
night duty and four months day duty IN the
year. It Is also arranged that the force patrol
ling the principal thoroughfares shall be great
er at certain hours than at others, the larSes
number being on duty between and 10 in tht
evening; long experience having shown tina
il is between these hours that the creates
number of thefts and depredations are attempt
ed. as well as because the streets are then th'
most disorderly by reason Of the number 0
drunken people abroad.
And now observe what are the routine dl
tjes eynected to be performed by the polic'