The Oamaru Mail THURSDAY, OCTOBER 14, 1880.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 1319, 14 October 1880, Page 2

The Oamaru Mail THURSDAY, OCTOBER 14, 1880.

It appears that Oamai'u and the surrounding districts are to be deprived of Police Inspection, save the amount of supervision that Commissioner Weldon can from Dunedin bestow upon this portion of his district. The decision of the powers that be is, we are assured, ill-advised, for there can be no gainsaying the fact that crime in this district is far too rife, and the removal of an inspector ot police is exremely likely to lead to a still further development of the criminal proclivities of the floating population. The re arrangement of the police districts is by no means satisfactory, and, indeed, very serious doubts might be raised as to the wisdom of the course adopted by the Government in making such radical changes and reductions in the police force. It is a branch of the public service that least of all can, with impunity, be ■ tampered with, and the Government in '■ applying the pruning knife to the ' service is entering upon a dangerous 1 path. Once impair the efficiency of i the force and a state of things will be created that it will require years of labor to. repair. The Ministry has, however, decided to dispense with the services of a number of inspectors and suMnspflctors. While we view the proceeding as one fraught with very great danger, and I'cgret that so many excellent officers shoiild be turned adrift, we are willing to accept the decision as evidence of an earnest desire for economy. At the same time we hold that there are many better directions in which that desire for economy might have found greater scope for freer exercise. But it seems a failing peculiar to the Ministry that they cannot take commonsense views of ordinary things. The abolition of Oaraaru as a separate police district will meet with general disapproval, not only here, but in the outlying districts, in which very considerable good has been accomplished by having here a responsible, head of the force. But the regret that the injury that the stop will occasion will be intensified by the removal of so excellent an officer as Inspector Th'ompson. Trained in the veiy best of schools—in Ireland and Victoria—Mr. Thompson is in every , respect a thorough police -officer, ; Courteous and gentlemanly on all : pcckj ; sions, ever rfeady to accommodate tlie public, and prompt in the performance : of his duty, there are few men, indeed; WII9 possess to so eminent a degree the : gMflifications necessary in i Jj'lii'Hs |

officer, or who could, while strictly performing his duty, more firmly gain the confidence and respect of the public. His removal to Invercargill will therefore be a matter of very general regret, apart from the main point to ;be|<|snsidered, that Oamaru is to be deprived of police inspection and to be pladed at the mercy of Dunedin and the yaga- : bonds that its Prisoners' Aid Society I may send us.