17

H.—l6.

Vegetable gardens have been cultivated at each station for the use of the men. The Natives in this district have been quiet during the last twelve months, and their trade with the Europeans gradually increasing. The two Government whaleboats have sometimes been used for carrying stores to and from Ohiwa for use of up-country stations. On one occasion, while bringing arms, the boat was upset on the Ohiwa bar, and 44 stand lost (Snider). Captain Humfrey, of Inspector of Stores' Department, inspected the Government property at Opotiki during the present month. The health of the Eorce throughout the district has been good The value of road work done by the Eorce in this district amounts to £890 Is. lid. I have, &c, EOBSTEE T. GOEING, The Commissioner, Armed Constabulary Force, Wellington. Inspector A.C.

Enclosure 12 in No. 1. Inspector Beohah, Auckland, to the Commissioneb, Armed Constabulary Force. Sic,— Constabulary Office, Auckland, 13th May, 1876. In compliance with the instructions contained in Circular No. 47 of the sth June, 1871, I bave the honor to report upon the Constabulary of this district during the past year. Attached is a statistical return of crime for the year 1875, and an estimate of the cost of police VM the ensuing year. The number of persons arrested during the year 1875, as will be seen by the return, was 2,717. Of these, 1,269 were charged with drunkenness, 235 with being drunk and disorderly, 322 with breaches of the Vagrant Act, 201 with petty larceny, 83 with lunacy, 78 with common assaults, 27 with assaulting the police, and the remainder with various other offences enumerated in the record. In addition, 733 persons were summoned by the police for breaches of the municipal by-laws, &c. A comparison of the criminal statistics of last year with those of the preceding four years, shows but a slight difference either in the total number of arrests or classification of offences. The arrests for drunkenness during 1875 exceeded those for 1874 by 179 cases, but the arrests for the same offence during 1873 were equal to those for 1875, and thus the number range for the last five years a few more or a few less for each year, but upon the whole averaging about an equal number; and the same relative proportion has been held as regards all other offences. During those years, a large increase has occurred in the population by the introduction of immigrants and otherwise, and it is so far satisfactory to learn that, notwithstanding, no corresponding increase has been shown in the criminal records. The only case of crime calling for special remark, which occurred in the district during the year, is that of the murder of Edwin Packer by a Maori named Henare Winiata, which was committed at Epsom on the morning of the 27th January last. The facts of the case are well known and do not require recapitulation. Every exertion was made by the police to arrest the offender, but unfortunately without success; and several persons who have lately arrived here from the interior state that he is now at Te Kuiti, and harboured by the King party. The formation of the school for neglected and deserted children some five years ago, and later still, of the Naval Training School, has conduced much towards towards the suppression of juvenile crime, and must tend materially to reduce crime in the future. The children who are sent to these institutions are of the classes which in most countries form the criminal portion of the population; and the wisdom of removing them from criminal association here, and of thus striking at the root of crime, cannot but be of vast benefit to the future of the colony. A new station has lately been formed at Kawakawa, in the Bay of Islands District, and stations have also been formed at Panmure and Helensville, at which places police have been much required. The police station at Howick has been broken up, and the constable removed to Panmure, which is more central, and only four miles distant. The propriety of stationing members of the Eorce at those places where special constables are now employed, and which appear in the estimate, has been brought under your notice for some years past. Every effort has been made to keep the estimate for the ensuing year within the limits of the provincial vote for the last year j but it has been found that, owing to the formation of new stations, and to the growing demands of the public for more police, an increase on the provincial vote is absolutely required. The number of men at present stationed in the city is totally inadequate to the requirements of the plate, and the increase of four men estimated for, and which would, if granted, only give me a force of twenty-two men for city duty, is the least which could be expected to efficiently perform the duty. At the present time, when there is no large gathering of the public, the police can generally preserve good order; but upon holidays and at races, or when fires occur, or any disturbance takes place in Queen Street, the men are fairly overpowered by numbers, and find it impossible to keep back the crowd, or to preserve order, or to make an arrest if required. Prisoners are often taken from the police in Queen Street when disturbances arise, not generally through any intention on the part of the public to effect a rescue, but from the crowds sometimes numbering as many as a thousand, who upon the slightest commotion will press upon the one or two constables who, perhaps, may be only engaged in taking a drunken man to the lock-up, and forcibly take their prisoner from beyond their reach. Such cases have frequently occurred of late, and must increase unless the Eorce is somewhat augmented. Provision has been made in the estimate for several new stations in places where private cottages are at present rented for the use of the department; and, in addition to these, lock-ups are urgently required at Parnell, Newton, Ereeman's Bay, Panmure, and Kawakawa, at which places constables are stationed, but who lose half their sphere of usefulness in being unable to effect any arrests of drunkards or other offenders against good order. The sum set down for various services for the year, such as the rents of stations, transport of prisoners, &c, are the actual amounts expended in such services during the past year ; and as the various services are still required, no reduction can possibly be made in the items. 3—H. 16.