, 1872-03-13

ate superintendent of the Governor or the Gov
ernments Secretary in tho behalf of the
Governor The judicial functions of the
P~olicemasters to pertain to the Judges of the courts of
the Jurisdictions. The plan was not approved of by
the Council, who proposed "that the PoliceJursdlc-
tions of ChristianSted and Frederiksted should be re-
established each with a tunctionary as Policemaster
and Poiice-judge, subject to the Governor as Chief
Magistrate with respect to administrativ e-business and
to the Upper Court with respect to judiciary acts and
adopted with 8 votes against 8 'that each of the Police
masters once a week should hold court at Kingshill
where it is considered Of great Importance to retain
the present Police Station" In the second session OF
the Colonial Council the Governor informed the Coun-
Gil, that the homo-government, not thinking it advisa~
BILE to enter into the proposal OF the Council on &C
count of its eXpensiveness, and tho Council having
objected to the plan of the Government, had taken the
matter under new and serious consideration, the result
of which was a proposal that led TO the present al
rangement.
This arrangement has in the meantime proved un.
satisfactory, not only as regards the Police-admlnls-
tration, as stated by the former Colonial Council. but
also in the other branches and the administration OF
Estates ("Dealings'D where neglect and procrastina'
ton is more apt to creep in, as the evil consequences
thereof do not shew themselves at once, is especially
liable to suffer when the funchonary is oVerbuTdened
with all possible public business in the jurisdiction,
not only functions of Judge, Magistrate and Police,
but also with all such communal business which III
other places is attended to by special magistrates or by
economical commissions appointed by the communal
Councils or Boards. In order now to remedy the
abovenamed Inconvenience, the division OF the Police
administration in three seperate offices and the un-
warrantable massing Of business on two of the func-
tionaries, we have laid before the Council our proposal,
which we do not pretend to be unobjectonabIe we
entirely acknowledge the business of the demand, that
the judiciary functions of the Police ought not to be
laid in the hands of those who are entrusted with the
executive or prosecutive functions but we have again
renewed the proposal made by the Colonial Council III
l852-only arranged in a more economical manner
because we believe it to be the easiest to carry out,
and because the present state under which the whole
suffers, ought to cease as soon as possible"
The draft was not adopted, but although the
three Poico-Districts remained as hitherto, still it
was determined that the other Offices connected
with the Police-Ofices should be separated from
these latter and committed to one Official. Ac-
cording to an Arrangement made by tho late Gov
ornor Birch, that Official was to discharge tho
said offices for ut least Il couple years i'll order to
form ONE opinion as to how things would work.
The separation of the Offices was effected, rs stated
above, in the latter period of 1867. After the re-
turn OF Governor Birch from the MOther-cOuntry
in tho early part of 1871, he placed undor con
sideration a final plan for tho organisation of the
Department. We have it from reliable sources
that he was still in favour of maintain
ing the three Policomasters, and he was DESTROYS
of again conneCticg the Offices Of Town. judges
with tho two Policemaster-Ofic in the town
Jurisdictions maintaining however the functions
of Distinguishes, as they had been since 1867,
under Que distinct and special Official, whom he
contemplated should also have been Assessor in
the Upper Court, aud at the same time to entrust
to him the management Of minors means Upper
g~uardian) as it was considered less advisable to
have this latter Office filled by @ clerk under the
Government. Tho Official at present acting as
Town-Judge in beth places declared his intention
of supporting his proposal of 1867 for two Ponce
masters and two Town-Judges, whenever the ques-
ton again came up in Tho Council, If it should be
found inadvisable to effect a complete separation
of tho Executive Police from tho Judicial Police.
Now, it is certainly so, that Governor Birch's plan
would not have been open 80 the objection that
one individual would have been having too much
on his shoulder but a great objection against 1T
was that a great and a very essential advantage
would have been lost, if it had been carried into
effect, namely tho protection afforded every de
PENDANT Cat all events in those cases, which, &C.
cording to law, must DO treated as criminal &C
tions) by excluding the individual bringing in the
accusation, who so to speak is himself u party IN
tho suit, and who will have conducted the prepara-
tory Investigations, from being Judge in the case,
and passing sentence therein. Let it not be OBJ
ieotoi tint pppeuis TO the Upper-Court afford u
protection for tho defendant for, the Up~per-Court
as organised by our legislation, can only take cog
niizanze of formal defects in tho case and correct
them; can merely augment or mitigate the penalty
prescribed in the Court of Lower Instance, or also
entirely acquit the defendant, if the accusation
brought against him be found by the written pro-
ceedings of the Lower Court to lack evidence or
To he unmeritinp nunishmeut but the Upper Court