THE SEARCH FOR POWELKA.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 792, 15 April 1910, Page 6

THE SEARCH FOR POWELKA.

". •,'.: ~ .i.[To the Editor.] ■ M Sir,—How-much -'longer -'is" this interference by the general public; in the search ■for 'Powelka going to be .allowed by the [xlice? Do you, Mr. Editor, think it necessary for!all this; mixed.humanity to be- helping- , (more like .-hindering) the police in their search? "If the police are incapable of tracking down and arresting Powelka without the aid (?)., of the people/and military, -then it is time their services were dispensed with. If it is ne : cossary to have military help, I would suggest that -the D ' Battery and the searchlight section (and the Engineers to protect panic-stricken ' Palmerston with barbed wire entanglements) be sent, out after .Powelka'just to'make the burlesque complete. The police as well as the people appear to be panic-struck. . It is against the law , to' carry, firearms, and we find the police have been aiding and abetting, the panic-stricken Palnierston public to break the law; so who is to prosecute the police? Another thing to remember: Powelka, as yet, is an innocent man, for he is only on trial for house-breaking, and it is not proven that he is carrying or has used firearms, so why should all and sundry be out to shoot him on sight? It is indeed a deplorable state of things that two valuable lives should have been lost in such a silly manner. What will the outside world think of our police supervision for allowing siioh insane and illegal proceedings? To my miail, i£ the police would pnly stop the public, and take up the search themselves in a rational manner, Powelka would soon be caught, the same as -the. prisoner M'Neil was recaptured. .The present bellicose-attitude of the manhunters will only-tend to make tla. fugi T tive commit murder or drive him insane! Apologising for trespassing upon your valuable space.—l am, etc., '■■ ASTOUNDED.

ABOUT THE FUGITIVE. Sir,—Regarding the Powelka scare which is going on in Palmerston North at the present time, and as one who has known Powelka for some years past, perhaps it will be of some information to know that he is not alone in the business. He has an accomplice. How could Powelka, with three ribs out and half his lung gone in an operation some time bact, ilift a piano and chest of drawers on to a. cart and again into his house, which furniture he is said to have stolen? Anyhow, he has, always "read books 'pi Sherlock Holmes and Deadwood Dick, etc., so he is very familiar with the work of an outlaw, but we who have known him iu the past as a respectable lad know he is not doing half of what he is getting credit for. Sir, do not think I am trying to shield Powelka.- Far from it, for I consider.the business is getting too serious. But .what ,1 do say is this, that it will do more good-,to wash up the police force of New Zealand than the last two commissions appointed and which cost us thousands of pounds and got no value for our money. The sooner we in.New Zealand get a change of Government the better for this Dominion of, ours, which'we call God's Own Country.—l am, etc., . ONE WHO KNOWS POWELKA. ■ Palmeiston North.