The Evening Mail WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE NEW ZEALAND AGRICULTURIST. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 1878.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 821, 29 November 1878, Page 2

The Evening Mail WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE NEW ZEALAND AGRICULTURIST. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 1878.

It has been decided that we are to be deprived of the head of the police department in this district, Sub-Inspector Smith, and we are melancholy about it. We do not see in the system recommended by the Commissioner that investigated the charges brought against the management of the Wellington gaol anything to entitle it to adoption ; and, if the suggestion that heads of the police and gaol departments should be occasionally removed is the most satisfactory outcome of the Commission, the Colony would have lost nothing had it never deliberated. What virtue is there in removing a man who has been guilty of misconduct or neglect of duty ? That will not make him either better behaved or more assiduous. The cure for the serious misbehavior of a man holding a position of trust is not removal from that position, but dismissal. We do not say that officers should never be removed, fvsvu One district to another ; but that there should not be any hard and fast rule laid down in regard to the matter. A certain officer may be too officious for the district in which he is stationed, and may be urgently required elsewhere ; another officer may not possess the natural qualifications to enable him to fill well his position ; or his district may have grown beyond his control. Removal in either of these cases would, of course, be desirable. But the Commission caught Mr. Inspector Aitciiesox in flagrant? delicto, and, like Herod, who gave orders to slay all the "children of Bethlehem in order to ensure the death of one, they intend to make every man holding a position similar to that of Inspector Attohe.son, whether innocent or guilty, suffer the penalty of that officer's wrong-doing. It will be scarcely necessary to adduce much argument to prove the absurdity of the system which, strange as it may appear, owes its existence to the deliberation of astute men, because it is so selfevident ; but there are a few objections which raise their heads above the numerous others that surround this question. In Great Britain, if an officer in the police or gaol departments is found guilty of any dereliction or misbehavior he is dismissed, and very properly so ; but if such an officer's transgression is such that it does not materially interfere with his ability to fulfil the duties of his position, he is made an example of by removal. This is his punishment, and is intended to have a salutary effect upon his after conduct. Can anyone doubt that in nine cases out of ten the punishment is complete ? Such men are married, and have families, and family ties and endearments bind them to the places in which they may ! have resided for There is the addi. tional probability that men in similar positions in the Colonies have become possessed of a little property, to which they look as a means of helping them to properly train up their families, and to provide for them when past work. Again, in Great Britain it is recognised that the longer an officer holds a particular position, the more competent is he to fill that position. He obtains a thorough knowledge of locality and people, and the peculiar circumstances of the locality in which he is stationed. He is acquainted with any social disease that may exist, and, if it comes within his province to administer a cure, he can lay his hands upon the specific. There are no rogues or vagabonds that can

elude his vigilance, because experience and long acquaintance have enabled him to acquire a thorough knowledge of their peculiarities, their haunts, and their associations. We have given two of the main reasons why the system of removing heads of the police department from one place to another should not be adopted here. It will be seen that the first objection, whilst appeai-ing to be one affecting the officers only, and with which the Government has nothing to do, is as important to the Government as it is to anyone else. It takes a smart man to fill well the position of principal police officer—such a man, indeed, that could succeed well in many other occupations. Let it become the custom to allow these men no abiding place, and the efficiency of the department will suffer. The second objection aims directly at the vitals of the service, and through it the usefulness of the smartest men would be neutralised, and in some cases their energy and perspicacity rendered abortive. If the real object of Mr. Smith's'removal to Marlborough is to secure an able man, we give Mr. Smith's superiors credit for their good judgment. Much as we would like to keep our present SubInspector amongst us, we would not permit our appreciation of him to lead us do so, even had wc the power. But we dispute the wisdom of removing such officers as Mr. Smith without really good cause, and we fear that this change is but one of the first fruits of the inauguration of a system that will be injurious to the administration of the Police Department of the Colony. If Mr. Smith is being removed merely to fulfil the requirements of an empty and meaningless

principle, then, we say, he is required here more urgently than at Marlbrough. Anyone that supposes that, because this district enjoys an immunity from startling crimes, the elements for their production are absent, makes a great blunder. The administration of the Police De2:>artment by Sub-Inspector Smith is, in a great degree to be thanked for the security that we enjoy. Every day of our lives we, in this Colony, rub shoulders with men that would not think the Mansfield murderers too wicked for associates.