The Sunday herald and weekly national intelligencer., 1891-05-17

Maj. Moore was not at his Office when a
HERALD reporter dropped in the other day,
but Chief Clerk Sylvester was there. Mr..
Sylvester is one of the most hard-worked
slaves of the public, but he found time to an
swer few questions, and he answered them
with directness and emphasis that showed
he knew what he was talking about and had
thought it over. "Of course, Mai. Moore
didn't get all the officers and prlvates he
asked for in his estimates this year. He didn't
get he asked for by at least two thirds, and
yet know that in making up estimates he cut
down things to the last notch in order to give
no room for carping. What he estimated for
was absolutely necessary for the proper car
rying on of the Police Department. Out of
our small force we have now forty-five men on
the sick list and thirty on special detail duty
That is enough in itself to cripple the force
under ordinary circumstances.
"But want to speak about little matter
personal to myself. l am chief clerk, property
clerk, and general utility man, and have only
a single clerk to assist me. Ten or twelve
years ago there were six or eight clerks en-
ployed In the headquarters Office and there was
some division of labor Here when / tet so
pressed that must have assistance they send
me two or three ,superannuated policemen,
who because of their ineXperence in clerical
work and their ignorance of accounting are
more OF hindrance than help. Moreover,
have been saddled with all the executive and
financial responsibility the force, con-
tractlng for and buying their clothes, and so
on-and L tell you have often worked here at
my desk until midnight to keep matters up.
You can see, then, whether Maj. Moore got
the increase in the force of his Office asked for
July l, 1907
.'Don't you get the combined salaries of the
old chief clerk and property clerk P''
mo, sir wish did. That might be some
compensation for the internal worry and wear
and tear that have to undergo
"But about the street patrol force ~
swell, in the first place at least 66 per cent.
has been added to the duties of the policemen
within ten years They are made general
utility men. They serve special tax notices.
they used to serve water tax notices Also
They serve subpenas for the police court, and,
in fact, they are called upon to distri,
butte aims and to do everything that
properly belongs to other departments
of the District Government. The beats
are necessarily SO long on account of the
small force in this city that no policeman can
cover them properly. Hence arise most of
the complaints that no policeman could be
found When man has to cover eight or
ten squares he can't be everywhere at once.
"But here is the worst thing that Mai.
Moore has to deal with-the soldier and sailor
law relative to police appointments These
men know nothing after their five years. SER
vice in the Regulars but obedience to orders.
They haven't an idea of their personal re-
sponsblity and the use of their discretion in
making arrests of citizens, and, as a conse-
quence, there have been many fragrant viola
tions of the rights of citizens by such police
men, who have brought discredit upon the
department. A policeman ought to be
semi-judicial officer and use wide discretion in
making arrests, but it would be impossible to
beat such an idea into the heads of these
soldier and sailor policemen who, under the
law, have been foisted on the force. | think
if we could only get rid of that law regula-
ting appointments we could get along much
more smoothly even with our inadequate re-
sourcesn