The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1895-12-04
They Are Often P%erjurers and
They Blackmail Women.
YET THEY MAINTAIN GOOD ORDER
The Extraordinary Complaisance With
Which the Worlds Metropolis Per-
mits Vice in Public Places.
Harold Frederick IN New York Times.

re- ~4A &@0&A ~ ~1~ 49,
| OF towns, so that they al opened and closed
as simultaneously as IL operated by a
single clock in Greenwich observatory. In
all other matters where merely the en-
/ forcement Of a plain statutory ordinance
Is concerned they do equally good work.
The hundred ard one minor municipal reg-
ula1ons which shape the daily life OF a
community are carried out here In London
with less friction and more general public
acquiescence than IN any other city 7
have ever seen or heard of. big or little.
In most matters. too. where a good deal
must OF necessity be left to the good sense
OF the individual policeman, the force as
a whole behaves e~xcellently. The wonder
full way IN which they rnanage the We
/ hicuIar traffic at crowded corners has been
a matter Of worldwide comment. The
/ Shah OF Persia, when he wrote down that
the most gifted and truly remarkable per-
sons In authority whom he observed in
Europe were the "b,ue kings" who stop
ped omnfhuses. drays. cabs. and all by lift
ing a finger In the middle of a London
street. simply gave a little Oriental en-
phasis TO a feeling which all visitors to
London must share. In the handling of
large crowds of people on foot. in answer
inc questions. and in dealing with drunken
! FOX, the London police are uniformly
more self-restrained. polite. and good-tem-
pered than any other force I have seen
on the continent or IN America. Only once
in a dozen years have I known them 10
get their backs up and exhibit something
Xix a violent disposition toward the pon,l-
lace. That was at the elimination OF the
s~o-caIled Trafalgar Square riots. when
every policeman had been on duty twenty
out OF t~wentv-four hours for a number of
days. and was sulky and irritable from
WEAKNESS, loss of sleep. and the common
knowledge that the agitators responsible
for these d!sorderIy gatherings were de-
Ehar2+Hfr paup4fr0 ~, +trf,r 49, 1-f;~~ -.
On the Sunday which wound this business
up, the constables did undoubtedly handle
the crowd with what was regarded here
as great severity. They broke a good many
heads, and savagely dashed about all who
got In the way or their charge. But con-
~sidering the terribly urgent necessity of
bringing into subsection this lawless spirit.
which was spreading all over London. and
the exasperating character of their per
sonal prevocation. II seemed TO me that
their violence was hardly excessive. Un-
der similar circumstances a New York or
chicago police line would nave charged
with far more painful results to the crowd.
But there are two respects in which the
metropolitan police anger Londoners very
much. One is the systematic way in
which they all support on oath any posce
story whatever which may be set Up In
the witness box against a private citizen.
A ~wel-known London judicial parsonage.
who, although not a police magistrate.
spent the whole of an exceptionally ex-
tended official career in metropolitan
courts, told me once that / might be SIRE
that between the hours of 10 and 4 a police
constable was always perjuring himself
somewhere IN some London police court
What the agdG Vice Chancellor Bacon said
thus in pleasant after-dinner oking the
people of London take to heart as grim
and d!sagreeable reality. No week passes
without some example Of this abuse find
ing It's way into the newspapers. But
these reported cases are as one In a score
OF the occasions In which a protest might
with justice be made. over and over again
1t has happened that the perjury of the
police has been demonstrated beyond anv
possibility Of doubt. I cannot recall more
than one instance In which punishment
or any sort was visited upon the offender
Scotland Yard stands stoutly by its men.
What is worse. the magfs-
trates stand by them, too. These function
aries could do a great deal 10 break M
this pern!cious abuse II they would, but
they never show any desire 20 do so. An
elective magistraey might perhaps go to
the other extreme. and put the policeman
at a disadvantage as against the public.
but one is s0rely tempted to wish the ex-
pertinent could be tried. There "a a long
arrears OF injustice to the private citizen
TO be made up in this matter Of police per-
jury.
4 ~ A&No@ AFANnA Ease OF NUbitF mfFTEE-
IN which people as a whole fatty disbe-
Eeved the story sworn 10 by two police
officers OF long service and high standing
in the force was that OF Prof. Raw Ian
kester. This distinguished scient,s. is a
familiar figure in what are called literary
circles In London He is a serious man
of entirely good character, a great worker
In his profession. and a recognized author
lily IN us own departments Of biology. He
Is a very big man, physically. and his
habituaI manner has a tendency TO gTuff-
ness. Until one gets to know him wei.
and TO comprehend that he is a good
fellow he does certainly convey an impress
sion the reverse or conriliatorv. Put men
are not TO be hailed off to the police sta
ton at midnight because they seem 10
fall short Of an ideal standard OF conplete
ur5anity. Prof. Lankes-er, returning from
his club down P.ccadilly, stopped to asg
or a group OF girls on the sidewalk the
meaning Of a somewhat spectacular ar
rest of another girl tie had just witnessed.
While he YVES receiving an exclamation
the two policemen came pushing along
with the conventional below: Move on.
please. move on!' The professor explains
that the girl standing beside him Is doing
so n his request. Peremptorv words fol-
Low sharply upon this, ard he is arrested
on the charge OF resisting the uollcs when
his trial comes, the two policemen swear
70 a story which. TO any one who knew
ElT. LAahSS0F, was entirely frc~edihla
Those who did not know him, bu. who ala
Know P'c0adiilr Al midnight, saw quite as
clearly that the story must be fa1sa
don't believe a strg!a sane person VIII raa5
me trial report EXISTS who does nor faLa
i Tor granted that he police lied. But
the magistrate, Mr.. Newton. UroFeSsaS ~
credit Z. and bound the professor over
70 be ~ good behavior in Tire future
say the magistrate "professAd" 20 believe
the policemen, because with him II 10 =
profession L * 30 his court in Ma
borough street. behind Regent street +ks.
al Inc cases arising from the strnet-vvafe-
Ing district about Ptccedi1lv coma. He bas
an aVowed ana consistent rule IN deagfrC
WI them. Whatever the police swear
10. he accepts
And this brings us 70 the heart OF the
other grievance which Londoners hava
against the m-etropolltan police. inv
c-2se Up public houses pUne+na1lv ~
doant. hey manage trsflc. preserve order
and have the burglars. thieves. ara navgn,
uToEeT fences under an admirable system
o. espionage But there is a d@an-~oosas
popular convection that thsy blackman fbs
women on the streets.
IN London there are no resorts answer.
.nF n what other nations. BY che eupbern-
sn or another. ces gnate as houses Of IN
fame The Law p~~ohb,ts them. ana ira,
IS enough. So Irresistible IS me ore-,.9
- statutory machinery hare. that M or.
tres seriously % evade the le+tar ~ -.
leF against institutions OF thls sort TIA,
rs spirit IS respected. no orn suvgea.s
oHt there ts no disposition manifested a..
N2ere, 50 far as ] have ever heard. 10 %.
teh1 against its literal commands AZ IL
wei known, the result e n -c~Fr- -.