obbed by thieves, seem to care for nothing but the recovery of their
money or property. They will even sacrifice a portion of this to regain
the remainder. The Detective may fairly work up his case, and fasten the
crime upon the perpetrator, but he is not sure of meeting with the
cooperation upon the part of the injured person that he has a right to
demand. The thief seeing that an arrest is inevitable, may offer to
return a part or the whole of the property on condition of his being
allowed to escape. In ninety-nine cases out of a hundred the proposal is
accepted. The merchant recovers his property, and immediately exerts
himself to secure the escape of the thief. He refuses to prosecute the
wretch, or if the prosecution is carried on in spite of him, his evidence
amounts to nothing. He has protected his own interests, and he cares
nothing for society or justice. He throws his whole influence against
both, and aids the thief, in going free, to commit the same crime in
another quarter. The Detectives complain, and with justice, that it is
of no use for them to arrest a burglar where the stolen property can be
recovered. If persons who have been wronged in this way would refuse all
proposals for a compromise, and would endeavor to secure the punishment
of the offender, the criminal class would be wonderfully thinned out, and
the Detectives would not, as now, be obliged to arrest the same person
over and over again, only to see him go free every time.

In June, 1870, a gentleman, passing through Bleecker street, on his way
home, at two o'clock in the morning, was knocked down and robbed of his
watch and money. He was struck with such violence by the highwayman that
his jaw was permanently injured. He was very eloquent in his complaints
of the inefficiency of a police system which left one of the principal
streets of the city so unguarded, and was loud in his demands for the
punishment of his assailant, and the recovery of the property stolen from
him. The best Detectives in the force were put in charge of the case,
and the highwayman was tracked, discovered and arrested. The friends of
the culprit at once returned the stolen property to its owner, and
promised to reward him liberally if he would not press the prosecution of
their comrade, who was one of the leading members of a notorious and
dangerous gang of ruffians from whose depredations the city had been
suffering for some time. The offer was accepted, a