"Exactly," I remarked. "What else should they do?" "Here," said Sheep, "these are the least of their functions. We employ fewer police in keeping order in the streets, and in detecting criminals, than any country in the world. Crime and disorder are almost unknown in Meccania. Our people are so well brought up that they have little desire to commit crime. Those who do show any propensity in that direction are deported to criminal colonies and give very little trouble afterwards. Besides, there is, after all, very little opportunity to commit crime, as you would soon discover if you attempted to do so." "I can well believe that," I said. "But what, then, do your police find to do?" "Speaking generally, their function is to see that the regulations devised for the good of the State are properly carried out." "And those regulations are rather numerous, I suppose?" "Undoubtedly. As they affect every department of life, there are many occasions upon which the assistance of the police is necessary in order that people shall not make mistakes," said Sheep. "But," I said, "I thought that the officials of each department of State attended to so many things that there would be little left for the police. For instance," I added, "the inspectors of food and clothing, of buildings, of public health, of education, and so forth." "Yes, yes," answered Conductor Sheep; "but suppose some matter arises which may belong to several departments; the citizen needs guidance. Quite apart from that, the police watch over the life of the people from the point of view of the general public interest. They collect information from all the other departments. Suppose a man neglects his attendance at the theatre: the amusement authority must report the case to the police. Similarly with all the other departments. Suppose, for instance, a man were to try to make an unauthorised journey, or to remain absent from work without a medical certificate, or to exceed his proper expenditure and get into debt, or try to pass himself off as a member of a higher class: in such cases it is the police who take cognisance of the offence. Then there is the annual report and certificate of conduct with respect to every citizen. How could this be filled up without exact information? All this involves a great deal of work." "Indeed it must," I replied. "You see, then, that our police are not idle," said Sheep triumphantly. "Indeed I do," I replied. After this enlightening explanation the offices of the Police Department no longer presented a mystery to me. I looked with awe at the hundreds of volumes of police reports in the official library of the Bridgetown police office, and wondered what the Central Police Office Library would be like; for I was told it contained a copy of every police report of every district in the country, as well as those for the great capital Mecco.