The Manawatu Times. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 1, 1878.

Manawatu Times, Volume III, Issue 18, 4 January 1879, Page 2

The Manawatu Times. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 1, 1878.

Anthony. Tbollo,p,e must cert«iirily.have peeped'-intjp" futurity and had the following "modest paragraph', from the Sydney.' Echo,. in his mind's eye, when he accredited the. Colonies with an inclination'- to hlow. For, a, pu/e speci■men of'-Vthe^ pot^ palling \ he kettle bljick,'' commend irs to the following : — "Tt wilt be interesting to watch,"" the operations of tiie -"V-ictorian police sys.- . tern, and see if it, will roinnare favorably with that of- this coh»ny. 'i{;\re sii'-cess-in affeciiiig the 'capture of crin'iipals seems to arise from the fact, of the police' identifying ' 'themselves very closely wjtlt the habits of the people they move a,mph£st', and sg n close has tlii« cpurse been folio wed that a sergeant of the police, either m the country or tlie city, is generally. a,n cneyclopae(dia sof - biogi'apjtips of- all the people round ■liiriK Thi* does not appear the case .-wj;t-h the ' Victorian troopers, some, o,f are being sent lontr distances 'intjO a st.rauge locality, to trj^p the iit'elly'' and.' their confedjer^es. Such a .proceeding, places t.hem at a greater .di.«"a,i^a,ntage' than; the police here, ever -labor»d under. Here the. police, ferffedj'^out (xibson, who shot Sergeant Wal.l{ng>j, frpm ntnongst liln. con rederates.-; and ; had.' ssyh a eha..s,e af- 300 fni^vVjifVcr hl-m as vi'o.'uJ4 h< o*y.c0 *y.c\ delighted the Victorian police. It vronld be grjvti.fyip.'i' to know I lint some of- tin* New :.'So'rtMi Wales, police had a hand m sp-V-n'riing; the rjifh\an^. This may not be 'possible, unless the gang cross the bordJer, m winch case it may, from fpr.mej^ experiences, be imagined thai * hey i. will speedtly. run to earth." We/rl)\r no means wish to assert that #be Viotorjan. p.6lipe ha^ye come one of the .e^ueible with ftving colors ; but. "VurelyjNew Son th* Welshmen, mi^t be blessed with ypry.-.tr.eat'he.rpus, n\e.mprijes if tHey have forgotten the reign of which kept every colonist from

of anxiety some dozen years ago, Have they fqrgottqn"tb,e 'deeds of Ben Hall, Dunne, Lowuy,' Q'ATeally, ' Gilbehtl Vane, Bpi^Kß, the two Ularkes, not to speak pt' Gaudiner, Mokqan, jind a host q| other scoundrels of tho same ;stamp,':an.il it woi^ld be interesting to ran.thVbu'^h the catalogue of captures and. 7 discovor how many had been made at;fthe':liand9 pf the now so-mdflh-.. vjagnted-^ppliQe. Ben Hall and |t|jL- ' e*|t cextainlv fell by the bullets of^'he trbpper4t^jb ut Ilf <t until they had^a-vag^4^-|K^ country for a much longer ha< been the career "•e^thV Etei,lys. Dunne and the two Clabkes suffered the penalty of thei.r crimeslon . life "scaffold";"* but pf^the remainder, O'Meally and Loway met their doom at-, the— hands of outraged- -settlers, BpEKE and Morgan came to grief m the Victorian '''co l unTcy''f''"TANE siiifrendered to a Catholic Rriest, who had known! him m t^e days pf his.childish innocence, and ■■■ persuaded nihi to th)e act; while Gaudiseb. was -.taken prisoner m i Queensland,-'' lqing'a-f ten he bas ahandojued his career of violence. Has the Echo, forgotten -the : ridicule and abuse ; which was "heaped upon Sir Pbede^ice Pottingeb for the glaring inefficiency of himself and his men to grapple wij;hT the dilMiltyv an& how thp provincial papers teemed witty taunts and threats written by the buslU rangers; under tljq very nose of the ji off. vau'fi ted^pplicier " " - Q ii r Ne w S ou th Welsh contemporary asserts that its police identify themselves plosely with the habits' of fhq people they move amongst, and tha^t is one reason, of .the success .obtained m" thj§' of criminals. We cannot speak as to the accuracy of either the cause or .result spoken of as at present ruliLfgrbilt' certa'nly we remember much of the non-sncQ£s,s.tp wiiich we have a-Uud.ed m the past'bein,g attributable to S.U3: picion tliat at that -tinje the poliQG .'d^dV "identify themselves,' closely with tlie hab.its/ of the.' people ftfteu..'w.bomthey were. sent. 'W e do hqt think tlm' ViQtorian .police have by any' means come up to the. standard pf efficiency which prfevuiled eitliex One, pc two de* cades ' since ; bu,t..fpr charity, a^kp let .those whp .reproach them be able to show clean hands' » au.d .altlrpugh with the qea,th of tlie leader's 'and dispersion of the gang,' freebobting'c.ame to an end ip New Sontli Wales, that it did.so w^s not entirely owing to the. efforts pf the police, and their, conduct or. efficiency at that time far froai warrants their admirers m pointing the finger -'of scorn at their Victorian brothers.