The Daily Telegraph
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 1888
THE WHITECHAPEL MURDER
IMPORTANT CLUE
No fresh arrest was made yesterday in connection with the series of murders in Whitechapel and Spitalfields, and the two men who had been apprehended on Monday were still detained. Piggot, who has been removed to the Whitechapel Infirmary, is under close surveillance, and there is an opinion that his mind is not as seriously deranged as at first supposed; but he has not wholly recovered from his strangeness of manner. As he has admitted that he was in Whitechapel on the morning of the murder of Annie Chapman, and as there were suspicious stains upon his clothing, the case is likely to receive careful investigation from the police.
Attention was chiefly directed yesterday to the man Piser, the alleged "Leather Apron," who had been arrested on Monday by Detective Thicke at the house of his stepmother, in Mulberry-street, Commercial-road. It was generally believed that Piser had been liberated from Leman-street Police-station, whither he had been taken, but this was incorrect. During the day the police were put in possession of facts which apparently justified them in detaining Piser upon suspicion. It has transpired that a man, whose name is not forthcoming, but who is described as middle-aged, with the look of a negro or half-cast, saw the deceased woman in Hanbury-street, early on the morning of Saturday last, the day of her death. She was with two men who had not been traced. They appeared to be quarrelling, and the men threatened the woman. Such a circumstance as this, in the rough district around Spitalfields Market, is not an uncommon occurrence. The police, however, determined to act upon this faint clue; and an indication of their intention was afforded to some of the public by the fact that they called into Leman-street Police-station a number of passers-by. In the system of identification pursued by metropolitan detectives it is usual to place the suspect in the company of some twenty other men, and the witness is then brought into their presence and is required to pick out the one he may be able to recognise. In this instance the witness unhesitatingly pointed to John Piser as he stood among a score of other men, and he is understood to have exclaimed, "What, you know me?" and protested that the man was mistaken. Piser was, however, put back into the cells, and the next step will be to ascertain whether the witness can identify the deceased, whose body remains at the mortuary in Montague-street, as the woman whom he believes he noticed in the prisoner's company on Saturday last. Should the evidence of identification be carried to this point it is possible the police may feel justified in taking Piser before a magistrate on suspicion of being concerned in the murder. The authorities do not express much confidence in their ability to establish a case against Piser. The present clue is based upon the assumption that the murderer had an accomplice, or that at any rate another man is aware he was in the company of the murdered woman within a short period of the commission of the crime. If this were the case, however, it is considered almost certain that the second man would have come forward as soon as he heard of the murder, in order to save himself from grave suspicion. The theory that the second man was an actual accomplice is not seriously entertained. Piser's friends and relatives are not seriously alarmed at the alleged identification. The brother of the prisoner, Gabriel, asserts that the suspected man was never known to him by the title of "Leather Apron," and he maintains that he is physically incapable of perpetrating such an atrocity. Gabriel Piser is prepared to prove that John Piser came to his house on Thursday last, and that he remained indoors until Monday, when he was taken into custody. Prior to Thursday John Piser had been living, he believed, in Westminster lodging houses. The prisoner had related to him an incident which he says occurred in Spitalfields on Sunday week and which seems to have contributed greatly to his alarm. Some women had pointed him out as "Leather Apron," and the attention of a policeman was called to him. The officer refused to take him in charge, and Piser was pursued by a howling crowd that had collected, which seems to have frightened him considerably. Piser's friends and co-religionists express regret that, when he became aware that the women of the locality had directed suspicion towards him, he did not of his own accord go to the police and demand their protection. Instead of which he withdrew himself from his accustomed haunts, and finally went into hiding at his relatives' house. Gabriel Piser adds that the police have searched the rooms thoroughly, and have taken thence some "buffers," or blunt blades used for finishing leather work. The prisoner, when asked about the murder, said to his brother, "Do you suppose that I could be guilty of such a thing?" He is called a rather intelligent man by his associates. Beyond the alleged identification there is practically no evidence against Piser. Strenuous efforts have been made to find the rings torn from Chapman's fingers by the murderer, but not a trace of them has been discovered. It is probable that they have been destroyed, and with them, it is to be feared, disappears the most hopeful means of bringing the miscreant to justice.
The police during yesterday afternoon and evening made careful inquiries into the statements made by the man who professed to identify Piser. The manner of this man, who is apparently of Spanish blood, and displays a blue ribbon on his coat, did not inspire much confidence in his veracity, and he was severely cross-examined by a sort of informal tribunal, consisting of experienced detective officers. To his first statement the witness added that he not only saw the prisoner in Hanbury-street on the morning of the murder, but that he actually took him by the collar when he was about to strike the woman. It appears that the man first volunteered his statement on Monday, and he has since displayed anxiety to view the remains of the murdered woman Chapman. This curiosity, which may really be the inspiring motive of his voluntary testimony, has not yet been gratified. Piser's relatives are becoming indignant at his prolonged and, as they maintain, entirely unjustifiable detention. His brother last evening repeated with much emphasis that Piser did not leave the house between Thursday last and the day of his apprehension. He took care not to do so because he had been subjected to much annoyance by being followed by women and others, who persisted in calling him "Leather Apron." Piser, it was added, is physically a very weak man, and for that reason does not keep at work very closely. He is ruptured, and in other ways infirm, and has been under hospital treatment on and off for a long time past. Each time the police searched Piser's lodging they found no trace of blood-stained clothing, or, indeed, anything of a suspicious character; but they carried off five knives which were at once subjected to chemical analysis. All are of the class used in the leather-currying trade, having blades about 6 in. in length with stout handles, sometimes notched in a peculiar way. There was to all appearance no blood either on the blade or the handles, but on some of the blades there were marks apparently caused by rust. This was particularly noticeable in respect of a formidable-looking curved knife which had been sharpened recently. The chemical examination of these knives did not conclude until last evening, when it was announced that none of the marks upon the weapons were bloodstains. Meanwhile the police had continued their inquiries into the witness's statements with the result that about eight o'clock, they arrived at the conclusion that the man had not stated the truth, and that there were no grounds for keeping Piser any longer in custody. He was accordingly set at liberty, and at once proceeded to Mulberry-street, where he received the congratulations of his relatives and friends. The conduct of the man who professed to identify Piser has caused much indignation, it having kept several experienced officers from prosecuting inquiries in other directions. His statement, clear enough at first, utterly failed to stand the test even of ordinary questioning. In the course of a three hours examination to which he was subjected yesterday afternoon he contradicted himself over and over again. In the result he was not allowed to view the body at the mortuary and was sharply sent about his business. It should be clearly understood that the police have never made a charge against Piser, and that he was taken into custody purely as a matter of precaution to allow the allegations affecting him to be sifted. The man Pigott is still under surveillance at the Whitechapel Infirmary.
The portion of this issue's reporting of Whitechapel murder immediately following the above is reproduced in "News from Whitechapel" pages 51 - 52. The Telegraph then immediately continues with:
On Monday Mr. Samuel Montagu, M.P., had an interview with Chief-inspector West respecting the offer of a reward of £100. As member for the Parliamentary division of Whitechapel, Mr. Montagu was anxious to remove any slur that might remain upon his constituents, but he did not wish to do anything contrary to the policy of the police. As is well known the practice of granting money rewards for information leading to the apprehension of murderers has of late years been discountenanced by the Home Office. Mr. Montagu's proposition was submitted in writing to the Commissioner of Police, and yesterday morning he was informed that it had been duly communicated to the Home Office, whose decision, he was told, would be forwarded to him. Until late in the afternoon the expected notification had not arrived, but Mr. Montagu has authorised us to say that he adheres to his intention, and will pay the sum of £100 to the persons who may become entitled to it. The notices which appeared, in the form of handbills and posters placarded in the shop windows in Mile-end, Whitechapel, and Houndsditch, had no reference to Mr. Montagu's offer. A committee of the tradespeople and others, which is to meet every night at the Crown, Mile-end-road, were responsible for the issue of the following manifesto:
"Finding that, in spite of murders being committed in our midst, our police force are still inadequate to discover the author or authors of the late atrocities, we, the undersigned, have formed ourselves into a committee, and intend offering a substantial reward to any one, citizen or otherwise, who shall give such information that will bring the murderer or murderers to justice."
At Camberwell Police-court yesterday John Brennan, 39, labourer, was charged before Mr. Biron, Q.C., with acting in a disorderly manner and causing a crowd to assemble at Southampton-street, Camberwell. It appeared that on Monday afternoon the prisoner entered the White Hart public-house, Southampton-street. His coat was torn up the back, and he had a very rough and strange appearance. He began talking about the tragedy at the East-end, and then added that they had not yet caught "Leather Apron," who was a "pal" of his. He proceeded to declare that he had the knife with which the deed was committed. A regular scene followed this announcement, and customers ran out of the place into the street. In a short time a crowd gathered. The landlady, feeling alarmed at what she heard, locked herself in the bar-parlour, leaving the prisoner in possession of the place. In the meantime Constable Pillow, 434 P, hastened to the house. He found a crowd assembled. As prisoner refused to go away he was taken into custody. - Brennan, who treated the whole matter as a good joke, was ordered to enter into bail to keep the peace.
At the Thames Police-court yesterday William McEvoy, 34, a ship's fireman, was charged with being drunk, disorderly, and assaulting Constable 43 H.R. Detective Sergeant Smith, H Division, stated that on Monday afternoon he was in Cable-street, St George's, when he saw the prisoner going to different public houses demanding drink. He stated he had been locked up all day on suspicion of having committed the Whitechapel murder. When drink was refused him he made use of most obscene language. At the station he struck Constable 43 H.R. two violent blows. McEvoy said he was very sorry for what happened. - Mr. Saunders sentenced him to seven days' hard labour.
At Worship-street, yesterday, Joseph Carter, 34, tinker, was charged with being drunk and disorderly at four o'clock at the police station. Police-constable 171 H said that on the previous afternoon the prisoner addressed him at the door of the Commercial-street Police-Station, and said he wanted to go in to see the man charged with the Whitechapel murder. He was not sober. He would not go away, and remained outside creating a disturbance, and was eventually locked up. Mr. Bushby asked the prisoner - a rough looking man - if he denied being drunk, and the prisoner replied that he had had a drop. Mr. Bushby: Then you will pay a fine of 5s. Prisoner: I can't pay; I've got no 5s. Mr. Bushby: Five days in default. - William Griffiths, 22, a dissipated-looking fellow, calling himself a labourer, and living in Great Garden-street, Mile-end, was charged with being drunk and disorderly in Hanbury-street, Spitalfields. Police-constable 165 H said that at about three o'clock that morning the prisoner was wandering in Hanbury-street, and witness spoke to him, asking what he was doing there. The prisoner replied by foul language. It was necessary to keep the street clear, as at present it was much frequented in consequence of the murder, and, the prisoner refusing to go away, he was taken into custody. The prisoner said he was drunk, and only went to see the house. Mr. Bushby fined him 5s. for being drunk.
THE BLACKFRIARS MYSTERY
The body of the well-dressed woman reported to have been found on the pavement in the Blackfriars-road on Saturday night under circumstances that created a suspicion of foul play has been identified as that of Mrs. Bryne, widow of the late Sergeant-Major Bryne, formerly of Canterbury. Mrs. Bryne had travelled from that town on Saturday afternoon, intending, as it was thought, to visit her sister, Miss Nelson, living at Chelsea. Deceased was to have returned to Canterbury on Sunday night, and her absence created considerable uneasiness. So far nothing has transpired to account for her presence in the Blackfriairs-road, and neither of the two men who were with the body at the time the police arrived have been seen or heard of since. Dr. Luard, of St Thomas's Hospital, assisted by another medical gentleman, yesterday made a post-mortem examination of the body, which lies in the Lambeth Mortuary, and the result will be communicated to the coroner's jury to-day. The superficial injuries about the shoulders at first seemed to warrant some rather alarming aspects of the case, but nothing has since occurred to throw light on the manner in which the unfortunate woman received them. The deceased's father, Mr. Nelson, of Yarmouth, accompanied by Miss Nelson and Sergeant Wakefield, of the 6th Dragoons, viewed the remains, and established beyond doubt their identity. The only child of Mrs. Bryne - a boy - resides at Yarmouth. It is remarkable that she was carrying property of some value at the time of her death, but none of it appears to have been disturbed, although the police theory is that, had not the constable been early on the scene, much, if not all, of the articles and money would have been missing.
ANOTHER LONDON TRAGEDY
DISCOVERY AT PIMLICO
Yet another outrage has to be added to the list of undiscovered crimes which have recently startled the inhabitants of the metropolis. Yesterday, soon after noon, the attention of several persons passing along Grosvenor-road, Pimlico, was drawn to what appeared to be a portion of a human body floating in the River Thames near Grosvenor Railway Bridge. It is stated that the object was first seen entangled among some timber floating on the riverside, and that a number of boys, imagining it to be the carcase of a drowned dog, amused themselves by pelting it with stones. A closer inspection, however, showed it to be a human arm. The police were at once sent for, and a constable who was on duty near the spot took charge of the limb, which he conveyed to the police-station at Gerald-road, Eaton-square. Dr. Thomas Neville, surgeon, of 85, Pimlico-road, and of 123, Sloane-street, subsequently made an examination of the arm, and, though he has made no official report on the subject at present, there is every reason to believe that another piece of foul play has been brought to light. It appears that the limb which has been discovered is the right arm of a female, probably of some twenty-five or thirty years of age. It has been severed at the shoulder-joint, and has the appearance of having been in the water some two or three days. The cut was not skilfully made, and was such as would be the case had the operation been performed by a person ignorant of the elements of anatomy. Round the arm and above the elbow was a piece of string, tied somewhat tightly, but not sufficiently taut to produce much of an indentation. It is thought not unlikely that the string may have been employed to prevent the blood oozing through the veins, and so causing a risk of splashing to the person disposing of the severed limb. If this was the intention the artifice was scarcely successful, as when taken from the river there was still some bleeding. Another conjecture is that the string was merely attached for the purposes of easy carriage. At any rate, this was the idea which struck the police-constable, who conveyed the limb to the police-station by means of another piece of string attached to that already round the remains.
The contour of the limb, the delicacy of the hand, and the want of muscular development clearly indicate that the arm is that of a woman, and that comparatively young. It is difficult, of course, to tell the precise age, but the examination showed that the female, whoever she was, was a well-developed person, apparently in good health. There was no trace of disease of any kind, and there were no bruises suggestive of violence, but there were one or two slight abrasions, caused probably by contact with bridges or floating timber. It is not easy to say when the limb was cut off, but Dr. Neville, we understand, inclines to the view that the knife was used very soon after death. Had the act been performed some considerable time after death the appearance of the limb would have indicated it. The suggestion was put forward that the limb probably came from a dissecting-room; but the character of the cut negatives any such theory. The arm was evidently cut through by a big, sharp instrument, compared with which the ordinary dissecting-room knife is a mere toy. Moreover, the merest tyro in the dissecting-room would not think of amputating a limb in this fashion. The theory which the police are forced to entertain is that the arm forms part of a woman who has met with a tragic end, and whose body is being disposed of in sections as opportunity offers. The single limb, which after examination was taken to the mortuary at Ebury Bridge, affords, however, no clue upon which the police authorities can act. What they have done is to order a careful search of the river for any other portions of the remains, and should these be discovered by the river police identification may be possible. So far the police see no reason to connect the discovery with any of the cases of mysterious disappearance frequently reported to them; although the remains were found in the river off Pimlico, they do not at present associate the supposed crime with any particular district. At the time of the discovery it was about low water. The dismembered limb may therefore have floated down from Richmond or from Chelsea. On the other hand, the preceding flood-tide may have sent it up the river from Woolwich or Wapping. All that can be said is that the Thames has yielded up evidence of another horrible deed, committed certainly within the last two or three days.
Page 4
Mr. Samuel Montagu, M.P., has offered a reward of £100 for the discovery of the murderer of Annie Chapman in Whitechapel, and his proposal has been submitted to the authorities for their sanction. Pigott and Piser, the men who were arrested on Monday, are still detained in custody. The former, who is suspected of feigning insanity, is kept under close surveillance. It is stated that yesterday a witness picked out Piser from among a score of other prisoners as one of two men whom he observed quarrelling with a woman in Hanbury-street early on the morning of the murder. The police do not place confidence in this statement. Discovery was made yesterday of a trail of blood in the back garden of a house two doors from the scene of the crime, and other signs indicating that the murderer retreated in that direction.
About noon yesterday a human arm, which on examination proved to be that of a well-developed young woman, was discovered in the Thames, near Grosvenor Railway Bridge. The unskilful manner in which the arm has been severed from the trunk suggests foul play.
The body of the woman found on the pavement in Blackfriars-road on Saturday night proves to be that of Mrs. Bryne, widow of the late Sergeant-Major Bryne, of Canterbury. She left that city on Saturday, and was to have returned on Sunday night. Her continued absence caused much uneasiness, and the consequent inquiries led to the establishment of her identity. An inquest will be held to-day.
In the presence of appalling crimes the discovery of the perpetrator of which is from the circumstances of such difficulty as to baffle for a considerable period, if it does not wholly defy, the most diligent researches of the emissaries of justice, it is but natural, and, indeed, is almost inevitable, that murmurs of complaint should arise from the public at what is thought, in the pardonable impulse of the moment, to be luke-warmness, dulness of intelligence, and general inefficiency on the part of the police. London is at the present moment deeply moved with horror and anger by the occurrence of four dreadful murders, to which may perhaps have to be added a fifth deed of blood-guiltiness in the case of the woman who was found lying dead upon the pavement in Blackfriars-road on Saturday last; while the discovery of a woman's arm in the Thames, at Pimlico, under conditions which have been thought to point to still another foul crime, comes at a time to aggravate the prevailing emotion. The atrocious criminal or criminals who have committed these ghastly outrages yet remain undetected, and the few arrests that have been made of suspected persons are not entitled to be accepted as more than captures of a haphazard and tentative character, based on the loosest of information, and in more than one instance on no information at all beyond the suggestions of idle rumour, and the theories of vulgar panic. Procrastination on the part of her Majesty's Government in offering a commensurate reward for the arrest of the murderer or murderers, and the manifest perplexity of the local police authorities as to how they shall find a clue to the crime, and how they shall best follow it up, have entailed the usual consequence of widespread and undiscriminating censure being cast on the constabulary for their incapacity to cope with such crimes in general, and in particular to solve the dark problem by which they are at present confronted. Yet most unhesitatingly do we pronounce it to be both unjust and absurd to reprobate the Metropolitan Police as a body for their inability to prevent the commission of such deeds of blood as those which have stained the recent history of the East-end. This Metropolis has attained such vast magnitude, and a municipal policy of stupidity, carelessness, and "laissez-faire" has tolerated the continuance of so many labyrinths of foul and noisome slums in which the necessitous and the dangerous classes naturally congregate, that, were the numerical strength of the Metropolitan Police double its present aggregate, the constables on night duty would scarcely be able to explore as vigilantly as the public safety requires every lane and court and dark entry, every nook and corner and blind alley, grimy networks of which abound in Central and Eastern London, and in the oldest of the transpontine districts. We honestly believe that the patrolling officers do all that they possibly can to prevent as well as to detect crime; the constables diligently perambulate their beats; and the sergeants and inspectors exercise due vigilance and punctuality in visiting the men whom they supervise; but this elaborate machinery is to a great extent paralysed by the predominance of our two national vices, carelessness and hypocrisy. If we had a good Common Lodging-house Act, properly worked, the name and description of every inmate, even to the most casual one, of such tenements would be scrupulously registered and diurnally transmitted to the police. As it is, justice has to trust to the memory of the "deputy" for an account of the chance denizens of these resorts, which recent revelations have shown can without much difficulty be used for the lowest purposes; while, again, the deplorable public hypocrisy which professes to ignore the existence of prostitution, and refuses to license, to register, and to subject to wholesome regulations the hapless victims of profligacy, throws upon the crowded streets, more especially in maritime London, a legion of miserable women without homes, and it may almost be said without names, wholly unnoticed and uncared-for by authority till their corpses turn up horribly hacked and mutilated in canals or in back-yards.
While, however, we thoroughly exonerate the police from the charges of wilful negligence or of absolute incapacity which are often so thoughtlessly brought against them; and while we fully recognise the magnitude of the difficulties with which, owing to the weakness and the uncertainty of the municipal laws, they have to contend, we do not shut our eyes to the disgraceful incompetence, the want of perspicacity, the self-sufficient contempt of public opinion, and the actual blockheadism which prevail in the Detective Department of Scotland-yard. It is not our wish to mention any names in connection with police administration or to institute any invidious comparisons between past and present officials. We point mainly to the patent and unfortunate fact that intelligence and keenness of insight, courage of initiation, and fertility of resource, are almost wholly wanting in the Criminal Investigation Department, and that, although there may be an adequate contingent of active and astute detectives, the department lacks a head, and will never become thoroughly efficient until it is placed under the control of a chief with full power and responsibility, and who is not liable to be hampered or snubbed by what may be termed the military section of the force. The present Chief Commissioner is, no doubt, a gentleman of approved courage, of considerable military experience, a capital drill officer, a rigid disciplinarian, in a word an admirable commandant of gendarmerie, always worthy of the public confidence as a director of a splendidly organised municipal force, and one whose readiness, resolution, and coolness have in times of popular commotion already proved him to be an invaluable public servant. Nevertheless, the functions of a head of the "service de sûreté" - that is to say, of the Detective Department - are widely different from those of a Chief Commissioner of Police whose training has been exclusively of a martial order, and whose instincts and idiosyncrasies are essentially military. NAPOLEON I, had two great Ministers of Police - SAVARY and FOUCHÉ. The first was a general of gendarmerie, with a natural turn for dark and tortuous intrigue; the second had been a mathematical professor in a convent of Oratorians and a briefless barrister. Both had in their time to unravel a multiplicity of plots, and employed a countless host of spies and provocative agents; but neither the Duke of ROVIGO nor the Duke of OTRANTO ever presided over the detective section of the Ministry of Police. Criminal investigations were left to the ordinary municipal officers, until in 1809 the famous, or rather infamous, VIDOCQ, a swindler, a forger, a bandit, and an ex-convict of the very worst type, offered his services to the Government as a detective and thief-catcher. Those services were accepted, and VIDOCQ remained in office till 1827, achieving a number of really surprising feats of presence of mind, cunning, and courage in the detection of crime and the capture of criminals. He was undoubtedly the prototype of the JACQUES COLIN, otherwise VAUTRIN, of BALZAC; but he was the first and last chief of the "police de sûreté" appointed on the principal of "Set a thief to catch a thief." VIDOCQ'S successors in France have been uniformly honest and honourable men, chosen from among the wariest of the employés of the police. It would be rash to suggest that the most fitting Director of Criminal Investigations of Scotland-yard might prove an ex-convict, were he ever so lynx-eyed, ever so versatile of intellect, or ever so fertile in expedients. That fierce light of publicity which beats not only on the Throne, but on every public office in England, would inexorably forbid the employment in any responsible position at Scotland-yard of a notorious rascal, convicted or unconvicted. The official whom we really require, and who should be found at whatever outlay of expense or trouble, as a Director of Criminal Investigations, should certainly not be a soldier; he should be a civilian, a gentleman, if not a lawyer at least the possessor of extended legal training, a linguist, widely travelled, a man of the world, courageous, inventive, cool-headed, and indefatigable. We are not demanding an Admirable CRICHTON; we are only asking for such a gentleman as might, without much difficulty, be found if her Majesty's Government would take the trouble to seek for him.
Nor, while referring to the bounden duty of the Government in this matter, can we shrink from the painful but imperatively necessary task of warning Lord SALISBURY that the public are altogether discontented with, and will soon become uncontrollably impatient of, the presence at the Home Office of Mr. MATTHEWS. It must be explained that Sir CHARLES WARREN is only Prefect of Police; the Minister, the FOUCHÉ, the SAVARY, the head police functionary of the kingdom, is Mr. MATTHEWS. The fact can be no longer disguised that the Home Secretary now in office is a source of miserable weakness and discredit to the present Administration. In the House of Commons he has been nothing more nor less than a fantastic failure. In the provinces he is scarcely known even by name; and when the provincials do become aware of him it is only to mistrust him, and to express disrespectful and indignant astonishment that a Government, otherwise so capable and so popular, should drag with it a dead weight of so much vacillation, so much ineptitude, and so many frankly naive confessions of crass ignorance concerning things of which the most common-place Home Secretary ought to be fully cognisant. That Mr. MATTHEWS does not know, that he is not aware, that he does not remember, or that he has not heard of things which to any ordinarily intelligent man should be as manifest as the sun at noonday, have been Session after Session stereotyped replies of the Home Secretary to the simplest questions. Very likely Mr. MATTHEWS is in many respects an excellent gentleman; but it is high time for him to go and excel somewhere else and in some other department than the Home Office. The attributes of the Secretary of State do not, of course, warrant him in crippling the action, either administrative or executive, of the Chief Commissioner of Police; but he should undeniably be the ruling counsellor, the supreme arbiter, the CÆSAR to whom every department of the force should be able to appeal. Sir CHARLES WARREN has the fullest confidence of the public as the resolute and gallant commandant of a highly-trained force of stalwart constables, excellently well officered, and altogether trustworthy and efficient guardians of law and order; but the detection of crime, the discovery of clues, the piecing together of scraps of evidence, the choice of subordinate agents, the hunting down of criminals, constitute a business wholly foreign to the functions of the chief of a quasi-military force. The Detective Department should report to the Chief Commissioner, and work harmoniously in parallel lines with him; and both departments should be under the constant observation of the Ministry of Police, that is to say, the Home Office; but the "service de sûreté" should certainly not be considered as a subordinate section, at the beck and call of the Chief Commissioner, nor placed under the control of an underling, who is forbidden to send a detective to Liverpool or to Paris without the permission of the executive head. We do not undervalue the immense importance of maintaining the very highest standard of discipline in the ranks of the police - and as an organiser, a disciplinarian, and an executive authority Sir CHARLES WARREN has won golden opinions from all sorts of people, except the roughs, the thieves, and the anarchists; but the Detective Department at Scotland-yard has long been in a condition little better than that of chaos. It is in a state of lethargic and helpless muddle; and amelioration is only possible by the thorough reorganisation of the department and the appointment of a keen, cool, experienced, ready-witted man of the world as Chief of the Detective Force.
