may bear you
ill-will and may assault you in the corridor or he may say that you have
assaulted him. If you only bring him to the station such a charge can be
easily refuted."

It is in this manner that the constable is shown not only the purpose
of the regulations but how easily a little thing may trip him up.

Following the charge-room procedure, the case is brought before a
magistrate. Each man is warned to state exactly what took place. The
evidence is the same as at the station, but, in addition, the result of
the search has to be stated, and what the prisoner said on being
charged.

A great trap this last. Many of the men omit it altogether, and again
and again the importance it might have as bearing on the guilt or
innocence of the accused is pointed out. But always the instructors are
kindly, forbearing, tactful. A man blunders.

"Perhaps you feel a bit nervous," says Mr. Gooding. "Go to the other end
of the room. The rest of the class look this way. Now."

And so the candidate gets through, without the disturbing effect of
twenty or thirty pairs of eyes fixed on him.

I cannot refrain from emphasising the manner in which the relations
between police and public are dealt with during the training--a matter
of greater importance, to my mind, than anything else taught in Peel
House. A course of lectures is interspersed with lessons and drill on,
among others, the following subjects:

Truthfulness, Civility,
Command of temper,
Inquiries by public,
Complaints by public,
Constable to readily give his number on request,
Tact, Discretion, Forbearance,
Avoidance of slang terms,
Necessity of cultivating power of observation,
Liberty of the subject (unnecessary interference, etc.),
Offences against discipline (drunkenness, drinking on duty, etc.)

To familiarise the men with the surroundings, they are taken sometimes
to a real police court while a magistrate is not sitting, and lectured
on the surroundings. Everything is done with the idea of wearing away
their rough edges, of smoothing the path for them when they should come
to have only their own knowledge to rely on. All that takes place at
Peel House is aimed to that end. There are classes on such subjects as
reading, writing, grammar, composition, the use of maps, drawing plans.
There is foot drill, Swedish drill, revolver practice, and ambulance
classes--all these in addition to an acquaintance with p