Where London Policemen Come From

The majority of the metropolitan police have cóine straight into the f orce f rorn the country. It is f ound that countryinen rnake the best policemen. The born Londouer is of very little use. His nervous temperament vv-ould disqualify him, even if his physique were satisfactory, and it is a wefl established fact that in physique the Londoner is sadly deficiënt, lie isnot'tobe compared iñ lieight, breadtli of chest or muscular tone with the average "voiing man f rom the country." As for Iiis nerves, they are simply worthless. They are already strung up to their full limit of endurance. We have heard the same thing said of 'bus drivers - that London men cannot stand the work, and that the best drivera are those who have been "brought up to horses" in some country stable. It is the opinión of officials well able to judge, that in the whole of Whitechapcl there could hardly be found a single man fit to be a pöliceman. Tlic slrong arm, the stout heart, the cool head, the steady nerve, are all wanting in the Londoner; and the proof of it ia to be found in the comparatively small proportion of Londoners who are admitted or, being admitted, can remain in the pólice forcé. Natura Uy enough, the recruits are cbiefly men drawn from tlie country round London. Kent furnishes a goodly number; so do Essex, Hertfordslu're, Sussex and Hampshire. There is an authentic instance of a constable who hailed from Orkney, but probably he carne by sea. With tlüs exception there is scarcely a man in the forcé who comes from the country north of Glasgow. That city absorbs all the tall men who want to be policemen, and so in their respective distriets do Liverpool, Leeds, Manchester and the other large towns of the north of England. It is not till we get south of Birmingham that the attractive force of the lis takcs