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New Zealand Mail, Issue 241, 1 July 1876, Page 12

With abolition will come, of course, a change in the management of the New Zealand police, which, after the new form of administration comes into effect, will be a colonial force responsible to the colony at large. With the experience before us of the admirable manner in which the 'Victorian police force, as a general rule, does its work, we cannot deny that on the whole the change in the administration of the New Zealand police is likely to be most advantageous as regards efficiency. But, whilst this is patent, Ave should be sorry to let a day pass before Ave removed an impression Avhich some unprincipled persons are doing their best, by the use of slanderous tongues and venial pens, to convey, that the members of the New Zealand force, and especially those of Wellington, are not, as regards officers and men, a credit to tlie colony. Indeed, so far as the personnel and conduct of the force goes, there will be but little to improve under the new regime. The improvements Avill arise from the fact that in a police force it is always advantageous to have the members responsible rather to the State than to any purely local authority. And another advantage will arise from the fact that the police being a general force, the members themselves will be in a position to care less for the unprincipled attacks that, from mere local causes, are too frequently made upon them. From such attacks our Wellinton police have not been exempt; but we merely state a fact Avhen we say that in no province have police duties been carried out better or more efficiently than in Wellington. It is only necessary to point to the improvement in the conduct and accommodation of toAvn and up-country hotels, more particularly the latter, which has been effected by the exertions of the Inspector and his men, Avhilst the aspect of Wellington streets after nightfall has been borne testimony to by more than one visitor, who has expressed himself astonished at their generally peaceful and law-abiding appearance as offering a Auvid contrast to

other towns of equal population. Of course, there always will be people with the same instinctive aversion to a policeman that the devil is popularly supposed to entertain towai’ds holy water. These are persons who, regarding all laws for the safety of life and property as only so many encumbrances upon individual enterprise, look upon the police as their natural enemies; or they are people with minds as innocent of proper feeliug as their bodies are of washing, who do not hesitate to aay or to write the most disgraceful imputations on conduct or motives of a force concerning whose duties they know nothing, and to whom they attribute motives evolved out of their own mental ■actions. It is from people like these that attacks upon the police come ; and though they have done little harm in the past de..spite their intentions to the contrary, it is pleasant to know that under the new cir•cumstances they will be quite innocuous. We by no means deprecate fair and proper ■criticisms of any such body as the police, •or of any member of it who may offend, and under its administration by a head directly responsible to a Colonial Minister, such criticism will have probably a better effect than even now, whilst at the same time the complaints that come from mere spite or ill-nature will be utterly harmless.