THE PENCILLERS' PARADE.

NZ Truth, Issue 88, 23 February 1907, Page 2

THE PENCILLERS' PARADE.

The two prosecutions brought by' the police against local bookmakers on charges of keeping gaming houses, have now been dealt with by a judge and jury and resulted m the acquittal of the accused. The verdict was so' much m favor of the Tommies that the blue-coated brigade will probably deliberate for a long time before instituting proceedings of a lik^ nature.. In any case, no matter how eager police probationers may be to become detectives, m future their superiors should not set them on the trail of the pencillers unless they have some show of obtaining a conviction ; for a stood deal of public time and money have been expended m the cases referred to, and it is difficult to conceive that the police could iiave hoped fori success at any stage. They may possibly have reckoned on a plea of guilty being entered, but if so they omitted to include certain of the principals m their reckoning. In. going before a jury the pencillers selected a course which they well knew would secure them an impartial hearing, and the result of the trials proves either that the police failed to prove that the law had been broken, or that the public feeling is against, the law as at nre^ent constituted. .Ver/ few level-headed men

will agree with the Wellington correspondent of the "Weekly Press," who says that the cases will never be fairly dealt -with till *they are tried before a judge alone. , Nice sentiments from anyone, more especially aft fcX-boobmaker. The twelve good men aM true are the best friends an innocent .than can. have, and it is far better tharfe a dozen guilty men should escape hy the. system which empanels these, than that one innocent man Should be condemned under a- law which excludes them. The writer mentioned probably forgets this, ox disregards it m an endeavor to palaver the sporting proprietors of his paper. However, he is too wellknown to be regarded seriously, and X have wasted too much valuable space m referring to him. What will always be a stumbling block m the way Of the police pimps securing a conviction is the fact that the ordinary citizen strongly resents the underhand methods which are sb frequently employed. The judges Usually place a great deal of reliance on the word of a policefhaft but juries are apt to look sideways at the peeler since the disclosures of the late Royal Commission, and the, bunglers With the big bdots would do well to retnember this. The method of betting by the police to trap the Tommies is something on, a oar with giving a rftaft a knife to cut his own throat, and I wonder such a practice is tolerated by the Supreme, Gotirt judges. Theft again; if anybiie is detailed to detect the bookmaker;!, or anyone else breaking the law. it should be well tried poiicemeh and hot probationers. For aSsunMn? tile latter to be men of probitY i/hc-v are not always so) they arc bound to be filled' With too ftiuc.} enthusiasm to stick religiously tO the truth. I would like tb nlace ■'*» little ftrobLm before the public ih regard to these cases, is it public ftionCy with which these probationers bet, and m case of a credit does the probationer close on it as "perks," or is it paid into the Public Account at the _E_ank of New Zealand ? if the former is the case, every bobby m the country should -secure a '.ho reply" and get a fiver from Dinnie, ostensibly for the purpose of securing Convictions, but m reality to back some of the tips given m these Columns, While there is anything good about no one can 'blame the blue-^oats fbr taking advantage of it, but I must enter an emphatic protest acainst the methods adopted by the police ift working up these casesy and also against the wahton waste of public money m trvihg to sustain charges on such palpably weak evidence. Besides/ these men who were sent along to "catch the ftencillers would be fat better employed "on night duty a's companions for the big baby bbbbies who are frightened to Walk about alone m the '.quiet hours of the night and who can n^htly be seen skulking m couples at the corners when they phould ho alert to the interests of the public.