ch. xxi THE MILITARY AND POLICE FORCES 205 



were replaced by the King's African Rifles, who had 

 previously been mainly held in reserve at various 

 centres and used as a striking force. 



The discipline of the force leaves little to be desired. 

 A certain amount of dissatisfaction with regard to it 

 certainly exists, but probably this is more comparative 

 than real. The standard maintained by the King's 

 African Rifles is so high that any other body must 

 almost inevitably suffer if judged by the same standard. 

 This superiority of the soldiery is to be accounted for 

 by the high traditions connected with the regiment, the 

 slightly higher scale of pay accorded to the men, and 

 by the splendid type of officer which the prospect of 

 good pay and fine sport attracts. The amount of petty 

 crimes in the police force has undoubtedly been in the 

 past greater than it should have been ; it is, however, 

 steadily diminishing and there can be little doubt that 

 under the sound administration to which the police are 

 now subject it will not be long before these crimes 

 show a satisfactory reduction. 



In 1909-10 some 2,400 persons were arrested or 

 summoned, and about 1,900 were convicted or per- 

 mitted to compound their offences. In 19 10- 11 the 

 proportion was 5,733 and 4,536. This is doubtless a 

 fairly satisfactory proportion, but in dealing with natives 

 who have very little regard for truth and very little fear 

 of prison it is unsafe to draw too many conclusions. 

 The police have naturally to employ native detectives, 

 a proportion of whom, at all events, have a personal 

 knowledge of the inside of a cell. There is reason to 

 fear that in their desire to get convictions these gentry 

 are not actuated by quite the same sense of justice as, 

 say, the London police. Possibly I may be slightly 

 prejudiced through having suffered on one occasion 



