The New Zealand Advertiser, AND BAY OF ISLANDS GAZETTE. KORORARIKA:—SEP. 10, 1840.

New Zealand Advertiser and Bay of Islands Gazette, Volume I, Issue XIV, 10 September 1840, Page 3

The New Zealand Advertiser, AND BAY OF ISLANDS GAZETTE. KORORARIKA :—SEP. 10, 1840.

W hat are the PuiJte about ? iuRI whab: is doing. al he;td ,C)i;art£>rs in regard to the • police? are questions which are very o-tu-d rally urged- t>y many persons. ; i» consequence of the rootreries which a-ere last’ week perpetrated • at ■ K -rota:ika, ..We' regret to say we cannot solve the- pro- I Irlent. What the . fJovetnnieiit may be > planning we do not know, but -with- "-e----gard to the police. St seems to us that they are dotsg just nothing which they ought to do. Lust week we received a letter on the escape of O'Douell, the fo get- (.of which a

revised copy appears 10-dav.) and £2 were offered bv Mr. .Spicer for his re-apjirehen- : sion. That letter direcilv charges so-me ofthe police with dliukiug and. "roiiciug whit prisoners, and the said olrarces are often' repeated in our ears. We are un-.ihle togive .oar.testiinouy eitliei way, hut if it beas is alleged, it is high rime that their coo-' debt.’ should be scrutinized,- If they am honest in the fulfilment of their duty, theywill court exposute, .A Itlrongh, ■ however, we know not, beyond tlie testimonies which are given us, whether fhe above charges can be sub-' stantiated, we certainly do know, that' there;is .nothing here that conforms -tooar notions of a police- Is it. for c.n organized police to go to bed and to wleep-during the hours when robberies and disorders ate mosb.likely to take place, and merely to watch when every body is about ? Why is there not anighily watch ? - We are ignorant whether tliey can make pretensions to do this—at all events the thing is not done. A thief may take aw y ev< n : tile pigs from the tents of the police, and they be none the wiser. We are perfectly sine, that in such a place as this, such robberies as those perpetrated last week would not hav.e been easily perpetrated, if the" place had been .pa ruled by men sober, h ■- nest, and determined. Our full couvicuuu is, that the present police is not worth any. thing. We know not whar.it is to cost,nor exactly who is to. pay for it. We take the liberty of suggesting a, word to the Government on this subjectThe Bay of Islands generally, ami th's;. spot in particular, bus been wemight say, celebrated in the neighbouring Colonies and even in. England, for the lawlessness or its inhabitants. Yet, on the. other hand, actual residents say, that there .is no comparison between the security which then existed. and the state of things now. Now, this is a reproach which we earnestly hope wjll not be allowed to be repeated. If the representations fomieriy given of this locality were true, it is tint such a police as we have that is fit for it- Let the respectable inhabitants at least he effectually taught to rejoice-, that we are tiowutttl. r the protection of British Lavs and British Functionaries. One word more before we close this subject. It is high time that better and securer prisons should be provided. 11 is not less necessary that every settlement or township should have a. Magistrate within irs immediate reach, and especially such a place as Kororarika.— Above all,' 9. regular criminal court is most imperatively requited. hpn will a Judge be appointed to try prisoner-,, and prevent the injustice of a l<-ng imprisonment in the case of those who mav, after all, be proved innocent, or the <scape from justice-altogether of tlio-e whir are really guilty ? W.e wail, for light on these points, and it is extremely desirable that the public should be correctly informed on matters of so much anxiety.