JUDICIAL ADMINISTRATION. 349 



in the same earnest-mindedness, and the people must feel more 

 contented. It is clear, it is undeniable, that here the government 

 must act, and rigidly exact that the officials do also act zealously 

 and judiciously. Few of our laws are punctually obeyed, or pro- 

 perly enforced. Look, for instance, at the Police Ordinance. I 

 mention this Ordinance, in particular, because it bears directly on 

 the comfort of the inhabitants, and is of daily application. If 

 the law be left unexecuted, individuals, even those directly con- 

 cerned, will not complain ; not only because they are ignorant of 

 the method of procedure, but because the result, as far as they 

 are concerned, is in no proportion with the trouble it occasions ; the 

 government ought, therefore, to interfere through its agents, were 

 it solely and merely in vindication of the majesty of the law itself, 

 and as the guardian of the general interests of society. Again, in 

 order to render the administration efficient, it is necessary that there 

 should be an uninterrupted subordination throughout the different 

 branches of the general administration, from the most inferior 

 official up to the head of the government. Here, on the con- 

 trary, in many cases, the responsibility is shifted from the shoulders 

 of one official to those of another; and yet, in all firmly 

 organised administrations, and such as it is desirable ours should 

 be, there ought to be no interruption in the graduated action. 



Many, too many, instances might be cited of what has been 

 advanced, but I will again select the Police Ordinance. The 

 stipendary magistrates have almost daily requirements for employ- 

 ing the police force resident in their respective districts; charged 

 with the summary administration of the laws, the police are 

 assigned them as the executive officers of their courts ; they are 

 specially appointed to adjudge and execute all that comes within 

 the province of their authority, and yet they do not possess any 

 effective control over the acts of that police. Should the officer 

 be neglectful or remiss in the performance of his duty, the distant 

 and uninformed agency of the inspector of police must be sought 

 to decide the point ; in fact, the magistrate must appear as pro- 

 secutor against a police officer before an inspector of police in 

 order to obtain the award of punishment to a policeman for neglect 

 of his public duty. For instance, it is the duty of the policeman 

 to serve warrants in petty civil actions ; * now, in case they neglect 



* The law is now altered, and bailiffs perform that duty. 



