THE KELLYS AND THE VICTORIAN POLICE.

Otago Witness, Issue 1421, 15 February 1879, Page 10

THE KELLYS AND THE VICTORIAN POLICE.

TO THE EDITOR. Sib,— "Can the Victorian police take the Kelly gang?" is the question now generally asked. I think not, unless private enterprise comes to their aid. For now that the efficiency of the force, as a whole, is being put to the test, is it not found feo be in a most deplorable state ? That its practical usefulness has long been sacrificed to a semi-military display and red tape, there can be hardly any doubt. To me, at any rate, its present state i 3 just what might have .been expected to result from the style of management inaugurated many years ago by Captain M'Mahon. In asserting this, I may state that I speak from personal experience, for I served in the mounted branch of this service close upon ten years, having entered it at about the latter part of the year 1852, and my remarks will mostly bear upon the mounted portion of the force, for I look upon that part of it as the mainstay of the Victorian service, the duty of the foot police being one of routine merely. A trooper's life in the " early days" was not passed upon a bed of roses, but a deal of it in the saddle, and the men that were able to endure the hardships then often to be met with in the bush and camp, were well fitted to make the service what it then became, namely, efficient and well able to cope with the criminals of the day, of whom Van Dieman's Land and New South Wales furnished a goodly array. The formation of the cadeb corps, from which the officers for the force were taken, was one of the first great mistakes ; for thereby the intelligent trooper was practically shut ont from promotion above the rank of a non-commissioned officer. For anyone to enter this corps private or political influence was all-sufficient, and was in fact, the only stepping stone to it and the higher ranks in the service afterwards. No wonder then that nine-tenth of these officers in embroyo were worthless. About the year_ 1855 the pay was reduced, the period of service altered, and the rewards payable for the capture of criminals were appropriated by the management and formed into a fund, out of which a few pence per day, called j good-conduct pay, were to be doled out to the privates and non-commisßioned officers ins bead. This fund exists at the present time, I believe, and all rewards are thus absorbed. Numbers of the best of men left the service in disgußt. By this time the uselessnei's of the Cadet Corps seemed to have made itself apparent to the eyes of the Chief Commissioner, for it was disbanded. Those of its members who wished to remain were advanced to sergeants and put into the general service, over the heads of better men in many instance, to be further promoted at first opportunity, of course. The force was sadly over-officered, and that, with few exceptions, by an incapable and most indolent class of men. It is but little altered since then, and only two or three, at most, of the original hands have been able to rise from the ranks to the position of officers. The late Mr Branigan was one of the few. His case wa3 considered at the time as mo3t exceptional, for had it nob been for the exertions of Superintendent Reid in his behalf, he would have fared like the rest Farther reductions in the pay at different periods followed, and each time good and ÜBef nl men left in consequence. The vacancies were filled up by men of the Irish Constabulary, who, it was generally understood, had been encouraged to come to the Colony for that purpose. The Irish Police roles and regulations were adopted, and the Victorian service was organised after the Irish Constabulary pattern; a system by no means adapted to a young colony. These down-hill kind of changes, together

with the introduction of the new blood, soon, made themselves felb. Burnishing and polishing arms and accoutrements, and nothing bub it, was the order of the day ; the oli esprit de cot-ps departed by degrees ; gradually appearance was substituted for practice ; and, of all the most contemptible prdctic93, that of petty intriguing and dodging for favours from superiors in rank became not uncommon. When Cap!;. McMahon handed over tae police force of Victoria to hi 3 successor, the present Chief Commissioaer, under who3e regime, matters unavoidably perhap3, have culmiu>ited in the present crises, ha left its efficiency thoroughly impaired, ready to crumble away in due course. Whether Capfr. Standishhas done well to follow in the_ footsteps of his predejessor, I have no desire tor discuss at present, as I have transgressed too much already I fear upon your kindness, Mr Editor—l am, &c, Feb. 10th, 1879. W. J. Ludovicus.