THE WELLINGTON POLICE AND AUSTRALIAN DEFAULTERS.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 4458, 3 July 1875, Page 3

THE WELLINGTON POLICE AND AUSTRALIAN DEFAULTERS.

The following is the correspondence in full relative to the arrest by the Wellington police of George Maurice Drummond, who was formerly manager of the Provincial and Suburban Bank, Melbourne, an article in reference to which from the Melbourne AryuS appeared in our columns yesterday ; Melbourne, Jan. 27, 1874. Embezzlement.—Provincial and Suburban Bank. George Maurice Drummond —£50 reward guaranteed for the arrest and 10 percent, on any moneys recovered which will reduce the claim on the London Guarantee Society. Photo, herewith.—W. Mainwarino, S. Inspector in charge. The Officer in charge of Police, Wellington, Dunedin, and Christchurch. Upon receipt of the above Drummond was arrested on the 12th February. 1874. lie was sent to Melbourne on the 10th March. Wellington, February 14, 1874. 1 Sik,—l have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of a letter signed by W. Mainwaring, pro Sub-inspector in charge of detective office, Melbourne, relative to George Maurice Drummond, charged on warrant with embezzlement at Richmond, Melbourne : and to inform you that Drummond was arrested here on the 12th instant, by the police under my charge, on board the Mikado. The sum of £470 in gold, all in half-sove-reigns, was found in the offender's possession. ' I have to request that you will bo good enough to send me one of your constables armed with necessary documents as early as possible, for the purpose of conveying the prisoner to Melbourne. You will be good enough to inform me whether I shall forward the money recovered as above to you by hank draft or by the hands of the constable. I may further inform you that Drummond had taken passages tor himself and Miss Austin from Dunedin to San Francisco, and paid the sum of £BB for the same. This amount has not been recovered.—l have, &c., F. Atchison, Inspector. Fred. Standish, Esq., Chief Commissioner of Police, Melbourne. Police Office, Wellington. March 16,1875. Sir,—The prisoner George Maurice Drummond is this day forwarded to Melbourne in the custody of Constable Leddy. , I shall feel obliged by your forwarding to me a bank draft for the amount of the reward, &c., guaranteed fortlie arrest of the offender in question, viz.:— Reward guaranteed per letter received from the Detective Police Department, Melbourne, dated January 31, 1g74 £SO 0 0 Ten per cent, on monies recovered on £470 , 47 0 0 Further reward, as per Police Gazette, Victoria, dated February 10,1874 .. 25 0 0 Total £122 0 0 lam, &c., F. Aiouison, Inspector. Police Department, Chief Commissioner's Office, Melbourne, March 18, 1874. Sin,—l have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 28th ult., respecting the offender G. M. Drummond, with bank draft for £403 12s. lOd. enclosed. ... , ~ In reply, I beg to thank you tor the prompt action taken to secure the money for tnc bank to which it belongs.—l have, & 0., Frederick Standish, Chief Commissioner. The Inspector of Police, Wellington.

Police Department, ‘ Chief Commissioner’s Office, Melbourne, 12th May, 1874. Sir, —I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 10th March. In repb r , I beg to inform you that the whole of the reward offered for the arrest of the offender, G. M. Drummond, has not yet been received. The reward of £SO offered by the London Guarantee and Accident Company, and that of £25 offered by the Provincial and Suburban Bank, are the only sums that have been obtained. The percentage of the money recovered on the arrest of the prisoner cannot at present be got, as there is a probability of a lawsuit between the Guarantee Company and the Bank respecting the money in question. I have forwarded the £75 to the Chief Secretary, informing him that the police in New Zealand are alone entitled to the reward, and requesting that the amount may be sent to the Premier in New Zealand, for distribution as may be decided upon by the authorities there. As soon as the amount of. the percentage on the money recovered on the arrest of Drummond has been received, it will bo remitted in a similar manner. I would accordingly suggest that you submit your claim tu the Premier, or to the officer appointed by ■ him, to decide how the reward is to be divided. 1 have, &c. Frederick St.vndisii, Chief Commissioner. Police Office, ‘Wellington, 26th September, 1574. Sik,—l have the honor to inform you that T have received from his Honor the Superintendent of this province, the sum of £75 in payment of the reward for the apprehension of G. M. Drummond. I would beg to draw your attention to the fact, that a commission of 10 per cent, on monies recovered was also guaranteed, and I should feel obliged by your taking steps to obtain the amount (£47), as early as convenient.—l have, &c., F. Atchison, Inspector. Police Department, Chief Commissioner’s Office, Melbourne, 7th November, 1874. Sir, —I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of vour letter of the 26fch September, with reference to ‘payment of the reward offered for the apprehension of the offender G, M. Drummond. In reply, I beg to inform you that the Directors of the Provincial and Suburban Bank have been unable to make good their claim against the London Guarantee and Accident Company under the bond, in consequence of which there will be no further reward beyond the sum already paid.—l have, &c., Frederick Standish, Chief Commissioner. November 23, 1574. Sir,— l have the honor to bring under your notice the following circumstances connected with the arrest of Geo. M. Drummond, late manager of the Provincial and Suburban Bank, at Richmond. In February last, I received a letter and a copy of the Victoria Police Gazette from the police authorities at Melbourne, informing me that G. M. Drummond had embezzled certain monies belonging to the bank at Richmond, and that in consequence the London Guarantee Society, “through their chairman, Sir George Verdon, had offered and guaranteed the sum of £SO as a reward for the arrest of the offender, and 10 per cent on monies recovered reducing the claim of the bank upon the society.” The offender was subsequently arrested here by the police under my charge, and the sum of £471 recovered, which sum was in due course forwarded to the Commissioner of Police, Melbourne. In May last, I received a letter from the Commissioner of Police, Melbourne, stating “that the £SO had been forwarded to the police through the Chief Secretary of New Zealand, and that the percentage, viz., £47 25., could not at present be got, as there was a probability of a lawsuit between the Guarantee Society and the Bank respecting the money in question, but that as soon as the amount of the percentage on the money recovered had been received, it would be remitted to New Zealand in a similar manner.” On the 26th of September last I addressed a letter to the Commissioner of Police, Melbourne, requesting payment of the ‘guaranteed percentage money, viz., £47 25., and received the following reply a day or two ago:— “ I beg to inform you that the directors of the Provincial and Suburban Bank have been unable to make good their claim against the London Guarantee and Accident Company under the bond, in consequence of which there will be no further reward beyond the sum already paid.” I beg to point out that the terms of the Guarantee Society made with the police, viz., £SO reward and 10 per cent, on monies recovered, cannot possibly have anything to do with any differences there may bo existing between the Guarantee Society and the Bank. The former, so far as concerns the police, guarantees the payment of a certain percentage on monies recovered without any proviso whatever. The reasons set forth by the Commissioner of Police at Melbourne, and above quoted, for the withholding of the sum in question are of such an untenable character, and so entirely at variance with advices received in February last, that I have been induced to communicate with you on the subject, with a request that you will be so kind as to give the matter your consideration.—l have, &c., F. Atchison, Inspector. Sir Geo. Verdon, Chairman of London Guarantee and Accident Society, Melbourne. The London Guarantee and Accident Company (Limited), Melbourne Branch, * 44, Queen-street, Jan. 5, 1875. Sib,—l am directed to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 23rd November, addressed to the chairman. It appears from the terms of your communication that the conditions upon which rewards were offered for the arrest and conviction of G. M, Drummond by this company have been misunderstood, In addition to the reward given by the Provincial and Suburban Bank, the sum of £SO was offered by us, fills has been duly paid. The commission to which you refer was payable upon such sum as might be saved to the company from the payment, if any, to the bank under its policy, by recovery of the money embezzled. But no claim against the company could be maintained at law, and the matter was compromised.

As this company gains nothing by the recovery of part of the money found upon Drummond, it is the opinion of my directors that they have done all that is required of them under their arrangement with the police office here, and that the reward they have paid is not inadequate to the service rendered.—l have, Ac., C. F. Yencken, Secretary. February IS, 1875. Sir, —Adverting to the arrest of G. M. Drummond, a Victorian offender, and to tile payment of the reward offered and guaranteed in the Victoria Police Gazette for the arrest of the said offender, I respectfully beg to state that the said offender was arrested by the police in Wellington, and the sum of £471 recovered upon him. The guarantee for that portion of the reward, namely, the 10 per cent, on the amount recovered, is now repudiated, and the percentage, £47 25., withheld, for reasons which I submit are not very clear to. me, nor very logical, and which if insisted upon may in the future lead to serious embarrassments in the furtherance of the ends of justice. I enclose herewith the correspondence relative to the whole subject, and invite your Honor to a perusal of the letter addressed to me by the London Guarantee and Accident Company. The law, it appears, was not invoked to adjust matters between the Bank and the Guarantee Company, and I am now informed that the matter was “compromised.” The reward in question having been guaranteed and published in the Victorian Police Gazelle of the 3rd February, 1874, under the authority, I assume, of the Victorian Government, I submit that the terms of the guarantee should be tulfllled. The police here recovered a large sum, which, I suppose, benefited •some person: and in place of being met promptly bjr the payment of what was guaranteed to them for their services, the opposite has been the result. I regret to say that my past dealings with the Victorian police in connection with the apprehension of absconders, and the subsequent payment of the reward offered, lias somewhat shaken ray confidence in the value of guarantees appearing in the Police Gazette of Victoria. I refer to tile apprehension of Alfred Cullamore, for whose arrest £SO was guaranteed, hut for which no more than £25 was ever received by the AVellington police. I submit that the term “ compromise,” as used m the letter from the Guarantee Company, is of itself sufficient to show that a concession of some kind was made, and that some person or persons benefited at the expense of the Wellington police. If the reply from the Guarantee Company (enclosed) is to be considered final, I cannot help thinking that wo have been most ungenerously treated in the matter. May I. therefore, request that your Honor will be pleased to bring this matter under the notice of the Hon. tile Chief Secretary of Victoria, with a view of removing the present unsatisfactory features of this case, and of preserving that harmony between the police forces of Victoria and New Zealand, so necessary in intercolonial relation in the • detection of criminals. It has been our good fortune to have arrested many Victorian criminals, for .whom no award has been offered ; and even Drummond would have been arrested, whether any reward had been attached to his apprehension or not, but I think that when a reward is offered in specific and unmistakable terms, as has boon done In this case, that it should be promptly paid, and that something called “ a compromise ” should not be set up as an excuse for evading a just responsibility.—l have,,&o,.

F. A Ton Ison. Inspector. His Honor the Superintendent of Wellington. Superintendent’s Oißce, Wellington,. April 20, 1875. Silt, —-Referring to my letter of the 22nd February last, in reply to yours of the 15th of the same month, relative to reward offered for the apprehension of G. M. Drummond, I have now the honor to forward you copy of a letter from the Colonial Secretary (April 27, 1876.) together with the. reply of the Chief Secretary of Victoria, and the enclosures accompanying It, to your letter of the 15th February last. You will please return the Chief Secretary’s letter and enclosures' to this oflico when you have perused them.—l have, &0.. William Fitzheiujert, Superintendent. F. Atchison, Esq., the Inspector of Police, \\ eilington. Colonial Secretary’s Office, Wellington, April 27, 1875. gm Adverting to your Honor’s letter of the 18th February last, transmitting copy of letter and enclosures you had received from Hr. Atchison, Inspector of Police, on the subject of the reward offered for the apprehension of G.M. Drummond, the absconding bank manager, and requesting that the matter might bo brought under the notice of the Victorian Government, I have the honor to inform you that your request was complied with, and I bog to enclose for your information a copy of the Chief Secretary’s reply and of the enclosures accompanying it.—l have, So, „ Daniel Pollen. Chief Secretary’s Office. Melbourne. April 6, 1875. gin,,—! have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 22nd ultimo, eneloslng communl-

cations from the Superintendent of Wellington, and the Inspector of the Wellington . Provincial Police, together with other correspondence on the subject of the non-payment of the reward of ten per cent, on the amount recovered from G, M. Drummond on his apprehension. •. I enclose herewith a report from the officer in charge of detectives, which will fully explain the circumstances of this matter. Mr. Atchison, the Inspector of the Wellington Provincial Police, is laboring under a misapprehension as to the position of the Victorian Government with regard to the non-payment, of, the amount claimed. He evidently thinks the Government is responsible, but how he can have formed such an idea I do not know. I forward copies of the two notices of the offer of reward that appeared in the Police Gazette, but in neither is there anything to show that this Government is responsible. To prevent the inconvenience that would follow’ from offers of rewards being inserted in the Police Gazette, and then repudiated by those who made them, the following notice is inserted at the commencement of each volume of th q Gazette: — “Rewards.—No notice of rewards offered by any private party or parties will for the future bo inserted in the Police Gazette, unless there be forwarded to the officer in charge of Detective Police the guarantee of some responsible person that the reward shall be payable to the person who performs the service for which the rew’ard is offered. The offer must be according to law’, tliat is, on the arrest or conviction of the offender, and not merely on the recovery of property. If such notice be communicated by telegraph, the addition of the words ‘guarantee received' will be sufficient; in such cases, however, the guarantee must be forwarded without delay.” The rule thus laid down is carefully acted upon, but the Government no more becomes liable for the payment of sums offered in this manner than do the proprietors of a newspaper for the payment of rewards advertised in its columns. When payments of rewardsso guaranteed are refused, it is usual to hand the guarantees to the members of the force who are entitled, and leave them to sue or not as they may think proper ; and if it be thought desirable, that course can be followed In this instance. I would invite your attention to the tone of Mr. Atchison’s letter, which is in itself objectionable, and but little calculated to preserve that harmony between the police forces of the two colonies which that officer professes to regard as of such great importance (as it undoubtedly is) in the interests of justice.—l have, &c.. Geo. B. Kerperd. The Hon. the Colonial Secretary, Wellington. Police Department, (Detective office) Memo. Melbourne, March 12, 1875, In reply to the Chief Commissioner’s Memo. I 2070 on the attached file, I beg to inform him, in the first place, that all guarantees for' payments of rewards are made out for arrest and conviction. The rewards offered for the arrest and conviction of Drummond were £25 by the Provincial and Suburban Bank and £SO by the London Guarantee and Accident Company, with 10 per cent, additional by the latter, as per copy of guarantee attached. It appears that Drummond was guaranteed for £IOOO by the above company, on the representation made (when the policy was opened) by Mr. Jamieson, the then manager of the bank, that he, Drummond, was free from debt. On his absconding the bank claimed from the company £406, which they repudiated on two grounds ; first, tliat the policy was null and void on account of it having been effected under a false representation made by the manager of the bank ; and also that they the company, were not liable, as the bank had become possessed of a draft for £987 165., which instead of retaining to reimburse themselves, they made over improperly to the Oriental Bank. In explanation of the latter ground, I must inform the Cliief Commissioner that the Oriental Bank Coiporn.tion have contracted to pay all cheques on the Provincial and Suburban Bank that were signed by the manager and countersigned by the accountant ; but on the day of Drummond absconding he presented a cheque for £9S7 not countersigned by the accountant. The Oriental Bank paid this cheque inadvertently, but the Suburban Bank would not acknowledge its liability. However, when the draft for £987 10s. was recovered it was made over by the Provincial and Suburban to the Oriental Bank. In fact, had the Provincial Bank kept this draft, which they had a perfect right to do, the Oriental Bank would have been the losers, and no claim could have been made on the insurance company by the Provincial Bank, as they actually held more in their possession than their loss amounted to. The recovery of the £471 by the Wellington police made no difference to the insurance company. The rewards in this case were offered for the arrest and conviction.

The Wellington police performed the first portion of the contract, and the Melbourne detective police the second portion ; and not without considerable difficulty. They also recovered £987 10s. by draft; yet they claimed no portion of the £75, which they might in all fairness have done. I think the Wellington police have no cause of complaint, as they were paid more than they were equitably entitled to for the service they performed, as it must be remembered that without a conviction the rewards need not have been paid. , , , In taking guarantees tor rewards, all that the police can do here is to make them as explicit as possible, which was done in this case ; and if any person considers that he is entitled to claim the 10 per cent, offered in this case, he has his remedy at law, and can sue for it. I should bo very sorry to have an application made by any one in this department under similar circumstances to be allowed to sue. I beg to draw the Chief Commissioner's attention to a portion of Inspector Atchison’s letter of the 15th February last, in which lie refers to ids loss of confidence. &c., and the Cnilamore case. His remarks, I think, are quite uncalled for, as the matter was thoroughly explained at the time: he also appears to have forgotten writing a letter addressed to the Chief Commissioner of Police, Melbourne, dated Wellington, March 15, 1800, in which he says—“ I have tiro honor to inform you that on the 7th January last Alfred Cuilamore was arrested here In consequence of information received from the Detective Office, Melbourne.” ... This was correct, as direct information had been sent, with photo, of offender, and his paramour well described, so that even had the reward been offered merely for the arrest, the Melbourne detectives wore entitled to share it with the Wellington police hut as it was distinctly for avrest and conviction, and the ■case being a most difficult one to prove, I think the Wellington police received as ranch as if not more than their share. Had there been no conviction, the reward could not have been legally claimed. It is most desirable to keep up the friendly relations now existing between the Now Zealand and Victorian Police Forces, but at the same time I do not think that such remarks as those made by Inspector Atchison should be allowed to pass unnoticed, —I have, &c., Fuedeiuck Secbktan, Sub-Inspector in charge. Offender, George Maurice Drummond. • Extracts from Police Gazette. See Police Gazette, January 27, 1874 p. 19. “ George Maurice Drummond, charged with embezzlement on'the Provincial and Suburban Bank of Richmond. Tho Loudon Guarantee Society offers and guarantees, through their chairman, Sir George Verdon, the sum of £SO sterling on arrest and conviction of the offender, and 10 per cent on monies recovered, reducing the claim of tho bank upon tho society. 0.571 February 3,1874." “See Police Gazette, 1874, pp 10 and 24.—George Maurice Drummond. Tho Provincial and Suburban Bank, Limited, guarantees a further reward of £25 for the arrest of this offender. 0,571. February 10, 1874.” -