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A marked improvement has taken place in the city with regard to Sunday-trading by publicans. Though the law is very imperfect, and urgently requires amendment in the direction of making it an offence for persons to be found in hotels on Sundays unless they are bond fide lodgers or travellers, yet it is safe to state that in no city in the colonies is the law more carefully observed than in Christchurch. A large portion of the men's time was taken up during the year in collecting the Militia roll, which in this district alone numbered some twenty thousand. Twenty-two years ago the strength of the Christchurch police was fifty men of all ranks ; now, with at least double the population, the entire strength is forty-three of all ranks. It affords me great pleasure to note that married constables have been granted Is. a day as house-allowance, and that a medical man has at length been appointed here to attend the police. Were the police now entitled to pensions in their old age, as is the case in all parts of Her Majesty's dominions outside New Zealand, the men would have something to look forward to, and the stagnation which has been the bane of the Force for many years past, owing to the large number of old men kept in the service, would be at once and for ever removed. The newly appointed constables lately sent here from Wellington in point of physique and character also are a decided improvement upon the class of men formerly sent.

Inspector W. S. Paedy, Otago, Southland, and Lakes. A number of successful prosecutions in sly-grog cases have taken place in the Clutha district, also in other parts of the district As regards Clutha, there is such odium attached to persons giving evidence in these cases that it is with the greatest difficulty that any one can be got to do so. Quite a revival in mining has taken place throughout the district, thus considerably increasing the population ; but there has been no increase in the police in this district, the result being that police duties cannot be so succesfully carried out as they ought to be, more especially seeing that so much of the time of the men is taken up by duties outside of their police-work. An increase at the, central station, Dunedin, is urgently required, as at the present time 1 am always short-handed owing to the number of men away on escort duty, relieving duty and supplementing country stations, sickness, and other causes. The conduct of the sergeants and constables has been good with few exceptions, and have performed their duties in a satisfactory manner.

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