Mr. Gooding (suddenly): "Suppose he had been a well-dressed man and had said, 'You're a fool, constable, I am Lord So-and-So, and I shall report you to the Commissioner for this stupid insolence'?" Candidate: "I should have still brought him to the station, Sir." Mr. Gooding: "Why did you refer to your pocket-book for what he said? Couldn't you remember it?" Candidate: "Yes, Sir, but it is necessary to give the exact words as far as possible. I am not to put my own construction on what is said." So the case goes on, with now and again a little lecture in the law of evidence or the police regulations. "Remember, the only evidence you may give is as to the prisoner's actions, your own actions, things said by the prisoner or in the prisoner's presence--_not_ things heard. In a court you swear to speak the whole truth--all you know in favour of, as well as against, a prisoner. It matters not a jot to you whether a man is convicted or discharged. You are not to judge. Every person whom you have to take into charge must be considered as innocent, and is innocent in the eyes of the law, until proved guilty. Don't forget that." After which the prisoner is searched, makes some remarks, and the charge sheet is signed. Then there comes another little hint--one of vast significance in view of the misapprehensions of many of the public of the police system. "You must never take your own prisoner to the cells unless directly ordered to. A constable in reserve will see to that. A man may bear you ill-will and may assault you in the corridor or he may say that you have assaulted him. If you only bring him to the station such a charge can be easily refuted." It is in this manner that the constable is shown not only the purpose of the regulations but how easily a little thing may trip him up. Following the charge-room procedure, the case is brought before a magistrate. Each man is warned to state exactly what took place. The evidence is the same as at the station, but, in addition, the result of the search has to be stated, and what the prisoner said on being charged. A great trap this last. Many of the men omit it altogether, and again and again the importance it might have as bearing on the guilt or innocence of the accused is pointed out. But always the instructors are kindly, forbearing, tactful. A man blunders. "Perhaps you feel a bit nervous," says Mr. Gooding. "Go to the other end of the room. The rest of the class look this way. Now." And so the candidate gets through, without the disturbing effect of twenty or thirty pairs of eyes fixed on him. I cannot refrain from emphasising the manner in which the relations between police and public are dealt with during the training--a matter of greater importance, to my mind, than anything else taught in Peel House. A course of lectures is interspersed with lessons and drill on, among others, the following subjects: