en they are inspired by a high sense of duty, and guided by principles
of truth and integrity. The other class of detectives who enact the role
of Paul Pry on breaches of the moral law, as, for example, the working
up of testimony in divorce cases, is mostly a despicable, unreliable,
corrupt being, whose methods are villainous, and whose existence is a
misfortune.

Concerning our New York detectives, a writer of some note said, as
recently as 1879:

"It is claimed that in about eight years the district attorney's office
in New York has not known of one conviction of a criminal through the
instrumentality of their detective police. And in those years the city
has been overwhelmed and startled over and over again by depredations of
almost fabulous magnitude. Still, although the scoundrels are known, and
their haunts familiar to what are called 'the detectives,' they are
never brought to justice unless they stagger up against the
representatives of some of the many detective organizations in New York.
Instead of surrounding the thieves with a net-work of evidence to
convict them, the New York headquarters' detectives furnish them with
all the facilities for escape known to modern criminal practice."

No doubt this deplorable condition of affairs was very largely due to
the prevailing practice of the victims of robberies compromising with
the felons. In this way detectives eagerly seize the opportunity of
acting as go-betweens, and hence their relations with the criminal
classes are established and maintained. They are thus largely
interested, not in the prevention and discovery of crime, but in its
perpetration and concealment. By this method they thrive, and their
large incomes and accumulated property are no doubt largely attributable
to the success of these delicate negotiations.

We are glad to bear testimony to the fact, however, that there is a
great improvement in the detective force of this city, noticeable during
its present administration. The men now engaged on the local detective
force are as a class, those who have kept their eyes open, and have
formed a wide acquaintance among criminals in the district, and are
therefore able to obtain information from these crooks about the
movements of those suspected of having been mixed up in certain criminal
work. For when the reader reflects how easily criminals keep out of the
reach of the police in St. Petersburg, Paris and Vienna, where every
concierge, every