OUT-DISTRICT POLICE ACCOMMODATION.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XX, Issue 6818, 24 September 1883, Page 6

OUT-DISTRICT POLICE ACCOMMODATION.

to. tuk editor. Sir, —I am g&d jour' correspondent has referred so: strongly t:> the' disgraceful accommodation afforded by the > department to the constables stationed in out-districts, and ,■ theinstarice he gives, of Constable Naughton's house at; HelensviUe is bad enough, , but that is not as bad a3 the" constable's house at Mercury Bay. ■ in that place, where there are generally froni 309 to 400 men employed 'in the 'tiiill3::and bushes,' besides a very large number of gum-diggers, the presence of a constable is highly necessary ; yet the place he lives m ia a disgrace to the Police Department—a house, about 15 lect by 18, divided into three rooms ; the roof ; old and leaking all over, and the rooms so low that one of the' Justices, Mr. can barely stand upr.ght in them. There being no courthouse at Mercury- Bay, one! of the rooms has to be given up for Court purposes; and I ■was.present a few weeks "since at the hearing of a ca?e, and thare was no space for the ..parties and, their witnesses to be present at the same time'. It is essential in out-districts like Mercury Bay, where constables are so far removed from the control of their superior officers,athat" theyshould be men of the highest character and respectability. But •how can a'man retain any feelings of decency or self-respect if. he and tlu= members of his fimily are h'Orded together in places inferior to most stables. I hope others will now take this matter up, and endeavour to obtain decent accommodation for out-district constables.—l am, &c.,' E, T. Dul'Auf.. ..