The Police and Their Future The debate on the Police
Bill in the House of Commons on Tuesday confirms the impression that the subject will need careful handling if serious discontent in the force is to be avoided. The Opposition got on to some weak ground in connexion with the activities of the Police Federation, for Captain Hacking was able to quote notices and minutes, clearly incompatible with the proper discipline of the force, which had been posted in various police offices. But the real danger is in connex- ion with the so-called officer class. Sir Herbert Samuel may be right in claiming that it is undemocratic to exclude from the higher offices in the police force men of capacity brought in from outside. It. remains true, nevertheless, that the best way to maintain efficiency and loyalty in the force is in the first place to recruit the right type of man as constable, and in the second place to give him an assurance that he will be placed at no disadvantage of any kind in ultimate competition for the highest places. What it amounts to is that a comparatively small infusion of talent from outside is to be welcomed, but that it must never grow to such proportions as to make the serving constable feel that his road to promotion is blocked there- by. An assurance that the Home Office is conscious of that would go far to allay the anxiety that has been not unjustifiably aroused by Lord Tranetard's proposals:
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