A PESTERING POLICEMAN.

NZ Truth, 4 January 1908, Page 4

A PESTERING POLICEMAN.

When a policeman scents a case, j like a jackal sniffing a cadaver, he is never happy till he pounces down^ on it and proceeds to make somebody miseraUle over it. Now-, "Truth" knows, everybody knows m fact, that many parents who do not deserve to he blessed with children prefer that the State should rear their off-spring and adopt desperate and often dirty dodges to avoid paying maintenance. There are many beer and whisky soaked mothers and lathers who have their kuls dragged ! 6,way from them, and their troubles ! what becomes of the brats. Reform- ' atories, or Homes, or whatever they are called, have an unhappy knack of turning- out criminals, so it looks very much as if "home" reared young- ; sters start on their manhootl journey doubly and trebly handicapped. ■ Often, unfortunately, poor, but hon- | esl parents l«attling through the world find that it is impossible to ' rear their children man atmos- i phere of respecta'Jvility, and seek j 1 State aid, and the police ace really, ;

cruel and relentless m their efforts to make the parents part up every week; To this paper during the week came a woman m great distress who has two out of her family of five m a Levin Home. For the three she battles hard, having separated a couple of years ago from her husband and their father. He took two children and subsequently handed them over to his mtoried sister, who could not long be bothered with other people's kids. No doubt she has some of heir own, and as the father declined to support them, the police took a 'hand and the youngsters were sent to a Home. Now,, m such a case, the father is the proper person to look to for maintenance. Anyhow, he has been allowed to drop out of existence, as it were, though he was recently working at Upper Hutt. The police never bothered* him, but one uniformed and mounted slop seems to have taken a keen delight m pestering the very life out of the hard-toiling and deserted wife and mother. She has been hounded every; week by this pfficious jackanapes, who as a dun is a credit ' to that / ignoble tribe. Anyhow, m his annoyance of the woman he seems to have overshot the mark, and inspector Ellison, oir.genial Sub-Inspector ' 0'Donovan' ''mjght teach the mounted ass a well-earned lesson. He ' told the pestered woman that if she did not contribute to the maintenance of the children she would be summoned. Then, to further alarm her, he assured her if she did riot pay she would have to go to gaol. ' "Truth" does not know the mounted pig's number,- but', the won>an resides at Petone, and this should be sufficient indication for purposes of admonition. Policemen have no right to threaten anybody with gaol. It's like this slop's infernal impudence to suggest such a thing. The woman is maintaining a very unequal battle m life and surely she ought ' not to be subjected to this indignity. If the police want to pester anybody, let them look for the deserting 'dog of a- daddy. He should be the police •■quarry. Policemen, or &t least some of them, can be very told and officious when dealing with women. ■'.'■■