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¢ ety & lp CHRISTIANSTED THEPATRE 8.00. MONDAY EV NING 8.00 IHE GREAT SUPER SERIAL “ELMO THE FEARLESS” Episode 11. “The Tempie of the Pragon™ Kpisode 12. “Crashing Through” Show concludes with 2 Reel Comedy. Secure vour tickets in time. ADMISSION _l‘{eserved? e 30 Bid A0 (ene al Entrance.... ... e T. o A that my general Power of Attorney giv- en to Mr. A C. BOUGH dated March 29th 1911 is hereby revokad. - SOPHIA SUMMERSILL. St Croix, Virgin Islands, July 15th. 1921.B e PROCEEDINGS OF THE FOR ST. CROIX. (Continued from yesterday’s Avis.) The Chairman (Coulter) tcok his floor seat, took the wor’' and said--Mr. Chairman. The first remark, I wish to make in connection with the Police and Prison Departments and the proposals of the Mun cipal Committee which have been adopted by the Gcvernmeont and forwarded to the Council is, that the Committee has reduced the amount bud- getted under Maintenance for “‘horse- shoeing for 12 Police Horses, repairs to saddles, bridles etec.”” from Frs. 3,500 to Frs. 1,000, that is tosay, the Com- mittee considers that 12horses can be shod and saddles and bridles repaired in a year ior Frs. 1,000. That isa very nar- row margin. I presume that the Com- mittee has taken into consideration the fact that the saddles and bridles are new. 1 should be very glad if this amount would be sufficient to shoe horses and repair saddles and bridles for the department for the fiscal year. I draw the attention of members, to the fact shat this amount is very small, so that if it is foumd necessary that a money bill be introduced later on for an additional amount to carry the Depart- ment through, 1 hope the Government, or the Council will have no objection. In regard to remarks made by the Honorable Ist Member for Fraderiksted Country District (Andersen) that when one policeman comes off duty he can pass the revolver over to another, I foel that I must restrain myself in replying to his remarks as [ would like to. 1 certainiy would never think of proposing that, and I would be exceedingly sorry if Government adopts such a proposal If you areto have an efficient Police Foree, as 4th Appointed Member (Black-, wood) has said, you have to train and arm the men. Os what use would it be if the Police weire calied out and some have revolvers and some have none? With regard to remarks made by 4th Appointed Member (Blackwond)Iwish to say that the Police are taught to use tneir revolvers; they awm: trained in tar get practice and the amount cailed for in this budget is ro furnish amunitioa for target practice principaily. If any mem- ber of this Council wishes to see a co- py of the record card of the Police shooting, 1 would be perfectiy willing to furnish a copy. The Police have shoot- ing practice once a week at f'rederik- sted, King’s Hill and Christianstad. Telepnones —T'he number of televnones have been reduced. That means we have to cut off one of the telepnones of one of the Inspectors, or may be, that of the Director of Police. A member of this Councii remarked sometime ago that there was nothing wrong with the Police Force itself, what was wrong was with the Head of the Department. That was candid and hon- est criticism, and I want to take this opportunity, Mr. Chairman, to ask what is wrong with the Head of the Depart- ment? There has been some hard re- marks and eriticism made about ethis Department, and I would like to know and Isure the Government would also like to know, just what and where the trouble is. There may be somethings about the Department that I do not know of. that 1 ought to know—things that are going wrong—if so, 1 would like to know of them, and try to put them right. About a year or more agoI was pro- moted from another Department of the administration to the Police Department. Itds true I had no previous experience of police work, but I bad over (iairty years experience of this isiand,its pevpie, and local eonditions, and I must have had some gualification for the position that justified the appointment. I entered the service with no intention of making a record, of turning things that my pre- decessors had done, upside down, to the contrary, I made up my mind to take ma‘ters very quietly for a time, wait, and watch, and see how things were working, and when I had some little exverience to be then better able to grapple with the problems of the De- partment. [ know that my appointment was very unpopular with at least one Hon- orable Member of this Council, who con- sidered that his protegee, one who was already for some years a member of the force, should have been appointed instéad, and probably feeling a little hard against me yet for that, but at the same time1 challenge any member of this Council, or of the community, to say that there is less discipline among the members of the force today than there was a year ago, that there is in general, less respect for law and order in the communities, or that any one of them goes to bed nowadays with a greater feeling of insecurity than they did in the past. If <..reis anything against me, and the administration of the depart- ment I am responsible for, I would like to know it, and I think the Government would like to know it too, and now is the time, and the place to state it. I will sit for a reply. The Acting Chairman (Blackwood) re marked: 1 do not think the Honorable Member has to ask for a reply to his remarks, if any member wishes to do so he has the privilege. Ist Member for Frederiksted Country District (Andersen) remarked: Mr. Chairman. Ido not wish to make reply to the remarks made by the Honorable Ist Member for Frederiksted Town (Coulter). All lam interested inis, to get this little island as much self sup- porting as possible. 1have gone to the trouble of studying the size of the Police Force in Porto Rico, I find in Po:-to Rico where there are one million three hun- dred thousand people that they have a total force of 693, or one policeman for each 2000 people. In St. Croix we have 37 men on the Police Force, one for each