ness and efficiency may be performing, beyond the sight and knowledge of his critics, the finest and most courageous police work.

I am aware that many idle conversations are forced upon policemen by thoughtless persons and that especially an officer who has a fixed post, such as a crossing, and therefore cannot walk away from a talkative citizen, has no means of protecting himself without seeming to be rude. It requires moral courage on the part of a policeman who cannot himself move on to intimate to an acquaintance or to a respectable and genial stranger that his conversation is not wanted. But a policeman who lacks the moral courage to excuse himself civilly, with an explanation that the rules of the department forbid his speaking except on police business, ought not to be continued on crossing duty; he should be placed on a route where at least he can save himself by walking away.

In so far as the police are concerned these rules must be obeyed, and the division commanders and sergeants upon whom the direct responsibility is placed must do their duty in this respect as in all others. If it were proper to address the people in general and if the means of so addressing them were at my command, I should assure them that they are entitled to civil answers to all reasonable questions which they wish to address to a policeman, but at the same time I should beg of them to refrain from needless conversation which forces policemen to choose between apparent rudeness on the one hand and on the other hand the violation of police rules which are made in the interest of the whole public.

POLICE DAY OF RELIEF FROM DUTY.

[From General Order No. 166, Issued January 23, 1908.] The provisions of chapter 513, Acts of 1907, entitled "An Act to relieve members of the police force of the city of Boston from police duty at certain times," are as follows:

"SECTION 1. Subject to the provisions of this act, members of the regular and reserve police force of the city of Boston shall be relieved of police duties without loss of pay, once in each fifteen days, for a period of not less than twenty-four consecutive hours except for the time required to answer a roll call immediately before the beginning or immediately after the end of a tour of duty. The time and the manner of such relief shall be determined in each instance by the police commissioner for the city of Boston, or, under his authority, by the superintendent of police or other superior officer or officers. A member so relieved shall be exempt for the time from actual police service and from presence for duty, but otherwise shall be subject during such relief to all laws, rules, orders and regulations for the government of the force which may be in effect from time to time. Should the exigencies of the service, in the judgment of the commissioner, or of the superintendent or other superior officer authorized thereto by the commissioner, require at any time that a member of the force should be deprived of his period of relief or that it should be curtailed, the time so lost shall be made up to him as soon thereafter as may be practicable."

The members of the force will note that during the period of special relief they are to be subject, as at all other times, to the rules and regulations of the department; that they are not to absent themselves from the city without permission, and that they are to be held to account for the manner in which they conduct themselves. They will note also that if the exigencies of the

service so require the period of relief so assigned to them may be postponed, or they may be called in for service before it is finished; but in all such cases the time will afterwards be made up to them.

In so far as possible members of the force will be informed in advance as to the exact dates of their reliefs, but so great is the difficulty of providing for all the varied duties which must be performed that often it will be necessary to assign the relief period with short notice.

When a member of the force is absent from duty for any reason except business of the department, on a day assigned to him for special relief, the day will not be made up to him; but should the cause of his absence be such as to cut off his pay or to reduce it below the full amount, he will receive full pay for the day which would have been his had he been on duty. For instance, if he should have three days' leave of absence to attend to private business and one of the days should be his day of relief according to schedule or by special arrangement with his commanding officer, he will be paid in full for that day. But such allowance will be made not more than once in fifteen days. This rule applies also to the regular vacation; but no allowance will be made when a member of the force is under suspension.

Officers in command from time to time of headquarters, the Bureau of Criminal Investigation, the several divisions and the City Prison are hereby vested with the authority which the law empowers the commissioner to confer upon them.

SUPPLEMENTARY SPECIAL ORDERS.

February 21, 1908.- In order to carry out fully the requirements of chapter 513, Acts of 1907, every member of the force must be on record as having had the relief of twenty-four consecutive hours in each fifteen days to which he is entitled. The periods of relief required by law must be assigned as of particular dates. The arrangements under which certain members of the

force, for the good of the service and for their own convenience, take their relief in special ways are approved, but such members must assent to a record which will show that the opportunity to take their full time of relief was afforded to them.

June 13, 1911.- It is not the intent of the law or of any orders heretofore issued that a patrolman on night duty shall report himself for the sole purpose of answering a roll call at the beginning of his day off. A patrolman who is on duty the second half of the night, either in the street or in reserve, will attend roll call on the morning of his day off, as on all other mornings. A patrolman whose regular duty in the street or in reserve ends at one o'clock A.M., and who has previously been informed that his day off is to begin at eight o'clock A.M., will not be expected to attend morning roll call on that day. All patrolmen will attend morning roll call at the end of their day off, and those whose services are not needed will thereupon be excused until such time as regular or extra duty requires their attendance. This provision is in accordance with law and with the necessities of discipline and police service.

Officers of rank will be dealt with in respect to the day off on the same general lines laid down for patrolmen but subject to such modifications from time to time in particular cases as the superintendent or their immediate superiors shall direct.

May 14, 1912.- Members of the force who are enrolled in veteran, military or naval organizations will be permitted to take May 30 as a regular day off; provided that they inform their respective commanding officers on or before May 27 that such is their desire and that they intend to take part in the exercises of the organizations of which they are respectively members.

POLICE PENSIONS AND BENEFITS.

The provisions of law relating to retirement on pension in the Boston police department are found in the following statutes: 1878, chap. 244, sect. 5; 1879, chap. 97; 1883, chap. 14; 1887, chap. 178; 1892, chap. 353; 1893, chap. 51; 1898, chap. 172; 1900, chap. 306; 1903, chap. 312.

As these acts were passed at different times and were largely amendatory, one of another, their present meaning can be ascertained only after careful study; an informal summary of the pension provisions now in effect is therefore given below:

1. Without regard to the length of his service, any member of the force shall be retired by the police commissioner, with the approval of the mayor of Boston, on written certificate of the physician to the board of health that the member is permanently incapacitated for police service, either mentally or physically, by injuries received in the actual performance of his duty. If retired, his annual pension shall be one-half of the amount of compensation received by him at the time of his retirement.

Under no other conditions is it possible for a member of the force, except a soldier or sailor who served during the war of the rebellion and has reached the age of sixty years, to be retired with a pension unless his police service has covered at least fifteen consecutive years.

2. Any member of the force who has served fifteen consecutive years and less than twenty years, and is certified by the physician to the board of health to be permanently incapacitated for police service, either mentally or physically, may be retired by the police commissioner, with the approval of the mayor; and his pension shall be an amount not exceeding one-third