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    f; 350 THE LEADEE. \ yNo, 316, Saturday.

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    THE POLICE IN INDIA. That the applicatio...

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    Interrupted Reforms. When The War Commen...

    Dnc { They waste time , strength , and opportunity ; they compromise their principles , and , if their exertions were not merely local and ridiculous would restore the popularity of toryism . And the " grand re-organisation , " ¦ what will it be 1 We have something to say on that subject , for the " movement is gaining impetus , and its leaders are corning into the light .

    F; 350 The Leadee. \ Yno, 316, Saturday.

    f ; 350 THE LEADEE . \ yNo , 316 , Saturday .

    The Police In India. That The Applicatio...

    THE POLICE IN INDIA . That the application of torture on the part of tax-gatherers in India is a practice of frequent occurrence , no man can reasonably doubt who has cast the most cursory glance at the Commissioners' Report . Unfortunately , it is not confined to the fiscal department of government . It is employed in the detection of crime , and in the extortion of false confessions . A gentleman who has lived for many years in the interior of the country stigmatises the police as " little better than a delusion . It is a terror to

    welldisposed and peaceable people , none whatever to thieves and rogues . " By another it is condemned with still greater severity . " The police establishment , " says Mr . Saalfjext , " has become the bane and pest of society , the terror of the community , and the origin of half the misery and discontent that exist among the subjects of Government . Corruption and bribery reign paramount throughout the whole establishment ; -violence , torture , and cruelty are their chief instruments for

    detecting crime , implicating lnnoeeiice , or extortin g money . Robberies are daily and nig htly committed , and not unfrequentl y with , ' their connivance ; certain suspicious ' characters are taken up and conveyed to some secluded spot far out of the reach of witnesses ; every species of cruelty is exercised upon them ; if guilty the crime is invariably confessed , and stolen

    property discovered ; Ibut a tempting bribe soon releases them from custody . Should they persist in avowing their innocence , relief from suffering is promised hy criminating some wealthy individual , and in the agony of despair he is pointed to as the receiver of stolen goods . ; In his turn he is compelled to part with his hard-earned coin to avert the impending danger . "

    The " coercion" employed by the police is no mere trifling discomfort . Does a man hesitate to criminate himself , he ig lifted up by the moustache , which is sometimes torn off in the process . Does he scruple to utter a false accusation against his neighbour , his arms are tied behind his back , and the rope passed over the bough of a tree ; and , while he thus hangs suspended between heaven and earth , he is ruthlessly whipped with tamarind twigs till the blood flows in

    profusion . Does he cling to hia vile pelf , and refuse to tender a bribe to his tormentors , he is seared urith hot irons , or a rope is wound tightly round a leg or an arm till the circulation 13 completely stopped , or the burrowing beetle is attaohed to ^ his navel and other sensitive parts . Nor are ^ these the only modes of torture known to the guardians of life and property in India . Sometimes the wretched victim is buried up to the chin in mud , or fastened to the end of a long polo , and repeatedly dipped into a well . At other times

    ho ls deprived of sleep , or red chillies are rubbed into his eyes . Occasionally the most dohoato parts of his person are squoezod between two pieces of wood or a split bamboo . And not unfrequently , the flesh is nipt with pincers , op burnt witli a lighted cheroot . In some places a man is compelled to « support another , oxposod to the heat of the sun , in the position of horso and rider , for a few hours , "wfcon the ndor dismounts and is ridden by the othfer for the same length of time . " And in QttaotB , the sufferer is placodTbetween two trees ,

    his body secured to one , and one of his legs raised to the greatest possible height by a rope attached to the other tree : in this position , standing -upon one leg , he is left for hours , until he confesses , or faints , or produces the all-persuasive gift . It may appear strange that false confessions of heinous offences should be obtainable by any other means than ill-treatment , or intense apprehension ; but there are many instances of persons being induced to confess , through

    promise of a reward , or through assurances that no evil will befall them . A case of this kind was published in the Calcutta Review not many years ago . The superintendent of police having reported to < the magistrate that a murder had taken place , but that he was unable to find any clue to the murderers , he was told that unless he discovered the guilty person within ten days , he would be dismissed- the service . Having honestly exerted himself to no purpose , he lost his appointment , which was

    promised to a subordinate officer in the magistrate ' s court if he succeeded in bringing about a conviction . This fellow coolly offered a reward of £ 10 to any one who would confess the crime . Two candidates came forward , and the reward was divided between them . A . story was then artfully concocted , and the confessions being taken down in due form , were repeated by the supposed delinquents before the magistrate . They were accordingly

    committed for trial . But before the sessions court they took fright , and retracted their former statements . The witnesses , however , whom they cited to prove their innocence , had been gained over by the applicant for office , and they were actually convicted and sentenced to death . Fortunately it was discovered in time that they had chanced to be confined in the civil gaol on the day when the murder was perpetrated . Had it not been for this singular alibi , they would certainly have been hanged .

    At one period a particular district was terribly infested with robbers , who first rendered their victims insensible , and then proceeded to plunder them . Their mode of proceeding may be thus illustrated i-t-A party of poor wanderers , seated one day by the side of a well , beneath the grateful skade of a peepul-tree , were about to enjoy their frugal meal of parched grain , when some more wealthy travellers , who were reposing- beneath the same tree , kindly offered them some prepared oatnieal . This welcome

    addition to their humble repast was accepted with a . profusion of thanks , but no sooner had they devoured the meal than they were seized with stupor . On recovering their senses they discovered that they had been robbed of their silver "bangles , armlets , and other property . Of course they lost no time in acquainting the magistrate with their loss , who immediately charged the head of the police to bring the offenders before him within a given time , on pain of dismissal . This oflicer accordingly sends one of his subordinates to the house of a

    notorious receiver of stolen goods , who presents a few pounds to the police , and , giving up some broken bits of silver , declares that he bought them of such a woman . The acoused naturally denies all knowledge of the robbory , but , on having a bag of dried and decayed chillies thrust over her head , na , mos two of her neighbours as accomplices . Those at first prove l

    equaly Intraotablo , bub being oxposod for hours to a vertical sun , while standing in putrid ordure up to their knees , and then treated to the chilly bag , they , too , confess their guilt , and are committed for trial . In this case , alao , the truth transpired by an accident , and tho innooont escaped tho punishment due only to tho guilty . In proof of the little regard to bo paid to confessions before the police , it may be

    mentioned , that in the presidency of Madras alone in the course of two years , 1 , 696 persons retracted before the Sessions Court what they had previously avowed , and of this number 800 were set at liberty . And it has of late years been wisely ruled by the supreme criminal court , that an uncorroborated confession before a police officer shall be held as worthless . Sir Eeskine Perry , in his Bird ' s Eye View of India , gives an amusing instance of the value of such confessions . A native having disappeared , suspicions were rife that he had inefc

    with foul play . The police , jealous of their reputation , and dreading dismissal , instituted the most careful inquiries , but all in vain . They therefore induced two men to avow themselves the murderers of the missing individua . 1 and even to indicate the spot where they h . x & laid his body . The ground being turned up , a quantity of bones were found , and produced in court . But the police had not reckoned on the caution and sagacity of Europeans . The

    bones were examined by a medical gentleman , who at once declared that they beLonged to several different persons . At this moment the murdered man himself entered the court . An accident had detained him for nearly six months from his . native village , and on his return tlie first thing he heard was , that the j udge was examining the bones of his corps * . It was altogether a curious scene , and singularly illustrative of the state of society among the lower class of natives .

    Such is a brief view of the police of India . At present they are worse than useless , nor is it likely that they will be materially improved until the number of magistrates be increased , and the best men chosen for the judicial rather than for the revenue department . Mb . Baza . lgette ' s Dbainage Plan . — A report from Mr . Bazalgette ha 3 "been read before the Metropolitan Board of Works , with reference to the drainage of the Surrey side of London . Th . e estimate of expenses is - £ 830 , 000 , and the sewers ar « to bo constructed on the assumption of a mucli more dense

    population than at present exists . There is to be a high , level sewer and a low level sewer . The former is to be constructed for diverting the sewage and rainfall of a district containing nearly fifteen square miles ; it is to commence at Clapham , aud to be connected with Brixton , Cainbenvell , Peckham , and New Cross , by a , branch from Dulwicn . Into Deptford Creek , the high level sewer will discharge its storrn-waters during heavy rains ; and here it will be joined by the low level sewer , which will commence at Putney , intercept all the main sewers near tlio river , and proceed to

    Deptford ( a distance of nine miles and a half ) , where being about twenty feet below fche high level sewer , its conten-ts will "be pumped into the latter . Tho united stream will then cross Plumstead Marshes to a point opposite Barking Creek . At Plumstead , a large covered reservoir will be made , capable of containing four million cubic feet , together-with powerful engines % o pump up the sewage : altogether , tliiw will occupy about fifteen acres . The sewage will finally be discharged into the river within from two to four hour )} of high water .

    Lord Clarendon . —We believe ( suye tho Movniw / Post ) that Lord Clarendon will return to Englan d itbmi ' t the end of next week , as by that time it is probablo that the affairs which require hia presence at tlio Congress will have boen despatched . Although tlie principal Plenipotentiaries may quit Paris , it in oxpootod that tho Congress will wit for some time to como , ouch Poworboing represented , by its second Plenipotentiary , who , in most oases , is its resident Minister .

    Whittinqton Club . —Tho membor « of this institution oolobrnted their eighth anniversary at tho Freemasons' Hull on Thursday lust . Tho company fully attested tho interest attached to tho Huocotw of tho Club . Tho announcement that tho next , anniversary would be hold under thoir own root guva general satisfaction . Suiuous IrxNicsa of Mr . Bucik , M . P , —Thia goatloman , about ten clays a # o , had a paralytic stroke nfc the platform of tlio Kxeter Railway station . Hr > j- > un arc eiitertaiuod of his rooovory , but it if * thought thutho will not return to publlo lit'o . In that ouau , tluiro will bo a vacancy in tho representation of North Devon . Mr . Buck is in his sovouty-flfth your .

    PmiiBiA . —Tho Poruiuna havo taken potiwewion of the Inland of Karat 0 , in the Persian Gulf . Tho IMiniwtor at War of tho Shah ia dead . The Khun of Bunibolmn has boon urroHtod .

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), April 12, 1856, page 14, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_12041856/page/14/