Rensselaer Republican, Volume 22, Number 8, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 31 October 1889 — IRISH CONSTABULARY. [ARTICLE]

IRISH CONSTABULARY.

A Police Organization of Over 12,000 Well-Armed Men. The royal Irish constabulary is composed of the inspector-general, toe deputy inspector-general, three assistant inspector-generals, thirty-six county inspectors, -a doctor and barrack master, ninety first-class district inspectors, ninety second-class district inspectors, forty-five third-class district inspectors, 260 head constables, some 2,400 sergeants and acting sergeants, and soma 9,600 constables. ■Of the non-cOmmissioned officers and constables 236 are mounted. The recruits are chiefly taken from the farmer class, though, of course, the cities and towns provide their proportion. Very great care is exercised in their selection. The candidate must be over 18 years of age, not less than 5 feet 8 inches in height, and 36 inches round the chest. The Irishman has a natural instinct lor drill, andJthe recruits at the depot pick it up very rapidly and well. The recruit on joining his country station has, like the young officer, to put into practice all he has learned in theory at the depot. This is by no means as easy as it might seem, and it is a year or two with him also before he is ■worth much as a policeman. His average patrolling work is some six hours in the twenty-four. This may seem little in comparison to the eight hours’ beat duty usually performed by, the metropolitan policeman, but then the royal Irish constable is never out of uniform when off duty.. He is liable to be called on at any moment. He can not go far or remain long away from his station, and sometimes on detachment duty, in disturbed places, he is working for twelve or fifteen hours daily for weeks together. A patrol never consists of .less than two men. In the daytime the senior of these is. armed with a revolver, the jurior carrying a baton only. In disturbed districts by day, and everywhere at night, the patrol is fully armed, the senior with a revolver, the -others with carbines. The duration of a patrol varies from three to six hours, •of which a portion is always spent in ambush. Andon a cold, wild winter’s eight an ambush in a wet ditch is no pleasant task. A. recruit under six months’ service is paid £BO per annum. A constable of over six months’ and under four years’ service, £54 12s; over twenty years, £7O 4s ~ The allowances, etc., of the noncommissioned officers and constables are as follows: Boot allowance, 2s 2d monthly per man; arms and straw allowance. for keeping tho arms in repair and tilling the palliasses with -straw, 9d per man monthly; lodging allowance for married men over ten years’ service, 4s 4d per month. On the other hand, there is a deduction from the single men of 4s 4d per man monthly for barrack accommodation. For every night that a head constable is absent from his station on duty he gets 4s 6d extra pay, and a sergeant or constable similarly absent gets 3s 6d. A head constable is allowed ls9d when absent from his station for ton consecutive hours, except on the Ordinary duties of his district, and Is 3d for eight hours’ absence. A sergeant or constable is similarly allowed Is 6d and Is respectively. A head constable receives Is 3d marching money for every eight miles marched on the same day •when the place marched to is outside his own subdistrict, and a sergeant or constable Is under like circumstances. Each man receives an allowance for making up clothing sufficient to cover the expense of having his uniform made by the tailor. There is also a fuel and light allowance granted to each station, which covers the expenses incurred in this respect. Officers and men in the force become entitled to pensions on a scale laid down by acts of parliament after a certain number of years’ service. Under the latest acts dealing with this subject the pensions are not so good, proportionately to the pay, as they used to be. Of late years the tendency has been to increase the pay and allowances and lessen the pension of members of the force, but on the whole no complaint can be made. Speaking generally, the uniform of both officers and men resemble that of ft rifle regiment, except that the officer’s patrol jacket has five tags on it instead of braid.