Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1880-02-09

and one Of the passengers, W. Cummings,
was murdered. Stage robberies are only I
possible because of the absence of any
special force charged with the function of
preventing such outrages The dangerous !
classes are thoroughly informed as to the
weakness OF the county and municipal au-
thorities, and they are able to time their
robberies SO as to render pursuit almost
impossible.
The circular before US is accompanied by
the draft of bill providing fer the crea-
ton of a State Detective Force, to consist
of Chief and corps of State detectives,
not to exceed twenty-five members. San
Francisco is to be headquarters, but the
State is to be divided into fourteen con-
stabulary districts, among which the de-
tectives are to be apportioned on an aver
age of two to each district. The Chief is
to be appointed for four years. This we
regard as mistake. The Chief of such
force ought to hold office without term, his
tenure being terminable only for good cause.
1t should be impossible to remove him for
political reasons, for it is of the very first
Importance that a corps of this kind should
have the unity and harmony which can
only come from the retention of the
command in the hands of one man.
1t is sought to keep the State Detect
I've Force out of politics by provid-
ing in the bill that no member of
it "shal be permitted to be dele
"gate or representative to, or member
"of, any political or partisan convention the
purpose of which is to put in nomination
"any candidate for any political office
Of course it will objected to this that it is
proposition to disfranchise the members
of the force, and to deprive them of their
rights as citizens, as was said of the Presi-
dents Civil Service order. tits, however, to
be presumed that the Chief would keep
his men strictly to their duty, and that as
they could not attend to that and politics
at the same time, they would let the latter
alone. A good provision of the bill makes
it the duty of all pardoned convicts to re-
port their whereabouts to the Chief of the
State Detective Force as often as once
month from the time of their discharge
until the expiration Of the term for
which they were sentenced. The OBJ
| ject of this is to acquaint the
authorities with the business in
which ex-convicts are engaged. The
Importance of such information may be
gathered from the fact that three out of
the four men concerned in the late Mendo-
cino murders were ex-convicts. The
bill gives the Chief of the Force 81, 000 {.
year and clerk, and the other members of
the Force are to receive 81, 500 and their
expenses. A good feature in the bill is
the prohibition of the acceptance of re.
wards by members of the Force except in
special cases. The system of offering re-
wards has been shown by experience to be
very bad one, numbing duty, stimulat-
ing greed, and not seldom paralyzing jus
tice. On the whole the proposed bill seems
to us iudicious and well guarded measure,
and as the need of State Detective Force
is demonstrated by the criminal record Of
the State in the most indisputable manner
the Legislature ought not to hesitate to
enact this or some similar law for the bet
ter protection of life and property.