Manawatu Herald. [Established Aug. 27, 1878.] SATURDAY, JUNE 25, 1904. Wanted—A Sherlock Holmes.

Manawatu Herald, 25 June 1904, Page 2

Manawatu Herald. [Established Aug. 27, 1878.] SATURDAY, JUNE 25, 1904. Wanted —A Sherlock Holmes.

It is now some months since the Te Awaite tragedy occurred, and no trace has yet been discovered of the assassin. We do not wish to cavil unnecessarily at the methods of investigation adopted by the Police Department, but in conducting the search for Ellis, they committed one or two grave errors, which accounted to some extent at least for the nonsuccess of their operations. In the first place a mistake was made in sending out posses of “ city ” police to search for the missing man.

These men were totallyjinaccustomed to the mountainous and bushcovered country of the Wairarapa, and had about as much chance of finding Ellis, who is reputed to be one of the ablest bushmen on the coast, as of finding the proverbial needle in a haystack. In the second place the Department acted most unwisely in not at first offering a reward for information as to the whereabouts of Ellis. Had the offer of £IOO now open been made in the first instance, the chances are that it would have excited the cupidity of someone, having a knowledge of where Ellis was to be found ; for it is scarcely credible that the latter has been seen by no one since the time of the murder. The consequences of this second error were perhaps not so important as those of the first, but it is nevertheless possible, even probable, that a big reward would have succeeded where police investigation failed. In the interests of the public it is regrettable that Ellis should still be at large; his escape is in fact a direct incentive of crime ; and it is not likely at this juncture that the suspected murderer will be captured, for it seems t'easonablft enough to presume that he is by this time in America or some other country beyond the jurisdiction of New Zealand law. We trust, however, that the authorities will take warning from the result of the search, and pursue a different policy in future, for if murderers are allowed to escape in this manner, it will very probably lead to an increase in the number of homicidal crimes committed in the Colony—a matter to be guarded against at all costs.