The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1872-12-16
TERMS $500 PER ANNUM IN ADVANCE.
How the London Police is Managed.


The old city of London, which Is governed
by the corporation, has a body of constables
OF Its own. The corporation is very rich,
has only small area to deal with, and can
afford to be liberal to its policemen. The
rest OF London, embracing a vast, and for
the most part, densely populated region, ex-
tending on every side thirteen miles from
Charing Cross, is under the protection Of
| what Is called the Metropolitan Police This
iorce belongs to the government just as much
as tne army or the fleet The cost of MAIN
tanning it is betrayed in equal parts by the
Iate payers and the government, but it is I'M
DER the exclusive control and direction of the
latter' Inc rate payers have nothing what
ever 10 10 WIN II except to pay their share Of
the money Inc Metropolitan Police, thus
constituted, was the creation Of /. G Duke of
Wellington and Sir Robert Peel, and the con-
stables are to this hour called 'bobbies." or
''peelers," in the slang of the streets The
new force was at first regarded with great
jealousy, as a dangerous infringement OF the
liberty Of the subject. 1t was supposed 10
be intended to coerce the populace, and when
policeman was killed in riot, it excited
rather satisfaction than regret
1t is difficult to realize now what could
have been the state of London in the days
before Peel took hold of the matter. There
was a handful of mounted men at the dis =
posal OF the Bow-street magistrates, and
there were the old Charleys-a drunken, in
capable and roguish set of men, who were
more frequently confederates of the thieves
than protectors of the public. The Charleys
were provided by the different parishes,
which thought only of making an economi-
cal bargain for their services. In the days of
''Tom and Jerry" when the first gentleman
in Europe set the fashion, upsetting watch
mans box with the old fellow inside was one
of the favorite pastimes of the youthful aris-
tocracy, who foundfnp lack of imitatOrs in
lower ranks. Peel and Wellington did very
good thing for London when they set up an
efficient body of police, and the rapidity
with which the inhabitants became recon
ciled to it is a sign that the force has, on the
whole, been well managed by the govern
ment.
Within a few years, however, it has begun
to show evident symptoms of deterioration.
A suspicion has arisen that false swearing
has been organized into something very like
a system; so that if constable makes "A
| charge against any one, all his companions
are bound, for the honor of the corps and
good fellowship, to back him up. One or
two black cases of this kind have lately come
to light, and the credit of the force has suffer-
led for it. Then the difficulty of maintaining
order in vast city like London has greatly
increased, and the government of the day
has more than once shown itself tmid and
irresolute about enforcing the laws and keep
ing order in the streets and public places.
Everybody knows hcw soon horse under
stands his rider, from his hand on the bride.
| A weak, falteriDg, jerking hold-now too
| slack, and now in fright too tight-soOn set
| ties the poor mans fate; for the animal
| loses confidence in both himself and his mas
| ter. Now it is much the same with body
| of men-they soon understand whom they
have to deal with. The timidity of the gov
ernment has infected the police. They have
been put to shame by the cowardice and vac
illation of their superiors. On the other
hand they have been led to reflect that a gov
| ernment which is so afraid of the rabble is
| probably afraid of the police, too or, at best.
afraid of being left without police, and that
the best way to get anything out of it is by
| working on its fears. In the case of such u
| body as the police, whose discipline and sub
| ordination, ii once disturbed, are pretty sure
to break down altogether, there is only step,
and a short step, between strike and q mu-
tiny; and the government, by yielding to the
one, has helped to invite the other. Wages
have, for some time, been unusually high in
this country, and in comparison with arti-
sans and mechanics, policemen were poorly
paid. 1t was right that their pay should
be raised; but the government should have
yielded not to a threat, but to its own sense
of justice, and should, by anticipating the
threat, have prevented it ever being held out.
i London Letter. ". Y. Times.