The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1871-09-19
Concerning the Uses and Abuses of a
Police.

Moat of our readers are aware thai the
town Ia infested with lurking robbers and
cut.throats, q sample Of whose qualities
was exhibited at the Peoples B9pk last
Wednesday. That affair and thssix. OF
eight burglaries committed or attempted
since have doubtless awakened general
attention 10 the fact AT night, and es'
peciAlly during the later hours when all
honest people Save prthtera) are IN bed,
life and property are in peril Of the hands
OF these VillainS, who would not hesitate
to murder Whenever they found in the
way OF their depredations, II Is almost
exclusively at night that these lello"s
pursue their vocation. Tho roDOeFy o.
the Peoples Bank was a raEe anu iellAFA'
able exception, and u only serves 10 SNOW
how bold and dangerous Tue ScounuFe'S
are.
For some inscruIable reason 'ns
authorities OF this cily' apparently lSnorT
Ing this state OF iaclS' deem IL hlsn'y Wl-
portant to have a large ponce ioFce on
duty by day, where there Is really notA-
Ing or next to nothing IoF 'nem 10 10
when the CITY ID aole !" project l'SelI
and does NOT heeu 'he'F .ScFV'ceS-Ahu
yet niue or no loice OH uuy ~ h'sul'
when tue CITY ID asleep anu l''e anu pro-
perry are ~ Tue mercy VI 'ne PROFESSIONAL
robbers anu hOH4e' e''NcAS VINO pIey pu
inc commun"y'- '""rp"'pO.' ." 'o'op'S"s
70 Tue iAc' ID W 'uss'''' WIN si'e' u'''i
ehce' WHETHER 'iii' 70 ~. s''lns VI" GUY
peIore 'n0 '''i''' "n''u0' 'HU 0A''""B
ponce arrangement i" n"' '~u''"ny "'ons'
II tnc o"Isc' ~ na''pS Pu''ce " 'Ho IaO'
'ecuoh oI 'u' PuD"o VINO pay 'oE ", why
no' u'Spen9' WIN ''O 0'' ,'0o y" "' w
nce ny uay a'losoSp'' any Pu' 'neu', VI
uuty al n'gn' lpele u Feai'S ho heeu
ior pohce ny my "H very rare 'uero
10 any DreaCh Oh pe"ce Ut MtemPI 10 cob
nit crime IN DAY 1lme' ana II there were
have we not magistrates and constablestn
each township ana plenty 81 people ready
TO aid them In an emergency we sub
NIT whether the occasions when there u
real need OF an officer are not too far
apart to Justify keeping on duty and I'M
der pay large force Of Idle police, who,
II the occasion does arise, are pretty Ger.
tain not TO be on hand where and when
Wanted-aS witness last Wednesday. \
1t strikes us, aud we know II strikes
many others, that the police as II exists in
this city, Is more ornamental than useful;
and 1t Ia with hope Of assisting To put
use before ornament, in the matter Of
protecting the community, that VIC In.
dulge these unpleasant reflections. The
police system Us II Is now carried on here
Is an expensive institution, and almost
wholly useless. 1t might DO made useful
without costing any more, 1.-THE Sergea1tA
were simply relieved from duIy ny Jay
when they arc not needed, and put on by
night when they arc 1t does not pay 70
keep q dozen men under constant pay Just
for the sake OF having SGT Of drunken
and generally harmless loalerS arrested
and arraigned day after day all the year
round. We authorize from hundred
to a hundred aud flIty places to tempt
men to get drunk, and charge them
roundly Tor tho privilege ltlooks little
harsh then when some poor fellow
Yields to tho temptation, that he
should DO dragged of to a filthy
prison, and after spending a night
In II should he arraigned before an
august tribunal and robbed Of what little
money the dram shop LETT him. Doesn't \
look ikeprouy sharp practice, as mode
OF raising revenueI But all our citizens
know how many needless and improper
arrests are made Men are seized, incarce'
rated and fined on tho most trivial and In.
sufficient grounds. A sober man whose
friend had glass too much ives ticking
him home Saturday night. An officer
came along and saw chance for making
a fee. Heproceeded to arrest the booty
man. His friend begged that no might
be allowed to take him on home the
devoteo Of BAccBus was not making any,
disturbance and his friend pledged him.
self that lie should not Hero was a
chance for another fec. The officer m,
rested the sober man on pretehce that ho
was teslsung an officer, and6oLh were
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