SPECIAL CONSTABLES
Sitt,—In Scotland a proposal to reorganise the police brings up certain questions which troubled many at the time of the Conspiracy' Trial in the High Court of Justiciary last November. Who appoints special constables and how are they chosen ? Is there any test or standard of character and reputation re' quired when a man is made one ? And do • special constables enjoy any special privt• lege,' or immunity, as witnesses in a court of law, as well as in the performance of their duties as part of the police force ? These questi•ons arise because at that trial one of the charges against the four accused (and a serious one, which if proved could have in- ?olved a heavy sentence) was supported solely bY the evidence of one witness, a special Constable of very recent institution, and that rvidence was rejected by the jury, after the Judge had pointed out to them that its trust- Worthiness must be carefully scrutinised. I Plink that many of those who, like myself, nad been present throughout the trial expected ft charge of perjury to follow, and an unhappy feeling was left in our minds already per- turbed by the methods of the police which the vial had brought to light.—Yours faithfully, M. I'. RAMSAY
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