308 RURAL SOCIOLOGY 



PENNSYLVANIA STATE POLICE * 



THEODORE ROOSEVELT 



THE Pennsylvania State Police is a model of efficiency, a model 

 of honesty, a model of absolute freedom from political contamina- 

 tion. One of the great difficulties in our large States has been 

 to secure an efficient policing of the rural sections. In communi- 

 ties where there are still frontier conditions, such as Texas and 

 Arizona, the need has been partially met by establishing bodies 

 of rangers; but there is no other body so emphatically efficient 

 for modern needs as the Pennsylvania State Police. I have seen 

 them at work. I know personally numbers of the men in the 

 ranks. I know some of the officers. I feel so strongly about them 

 that the mere fact that a man is honorably discharged from this 

 Force would make me at once, and without hesitation, employ 

 him for any purpose needing courage, prowess, good judgment, 

 loyalty, and entire trustworthiness. This is a good deal to say 

 of any organization, and I say it without qualification of the 

 Pennsylvania police. 



The force has been in existence only ten years. It has co- 

 operated efficiently with the local authorities in detecting crime 

 and apprehending criminals. It has efficiently protected the 

 forests and the wild life of the State. It has been the most 

 powerful instrument in enforcing law and order throughout the 

 State. 



All appointments are made after the most careful mental and 

 physical examination, and upon a thorough investigation of the 

 moral character, and the past record, of the man. All promo- 

 tions have been made strictly from the ranks. The drill is both 

 mounted and dismounted. The men are capital riders, good 

 shots, and as sound and strong in body and mind as in character. 



This is the force which Katherine Mayo describes in a volume 

 so interesting, and from the standpoint of sound American citi- 

 zenship, so valuable that it should be in every public library and 



1 Adapted from the Introduction, by Theodore Roosevelt, to "Justice for 

 All, the Story of the Pennsylvania State Police," by Katherine Mayo, pp. 

 8-11. G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York, (copyright Katherine Mayo, Bed- 

 ford Hills, N. Y.) 



