The Temuka Leader SATURDAY, OCTOBER 14, 1882. MR INSPECTOR PENDER.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1017, 14 October 1882, Page 2

The Temuka Leader SATURDAY, OCTOBER 14, 1882. MR INSPECTOR PENDER.

Mu Inspector Pender, who leaves South Canterbury to-day to take charge of the Christchurch district, was presented, last Thursday evening, with a testimonial, consisting of a very handsome marble clock, and a purse containing 100 sovereigns. The presentation was a very handsome one, and did infinite credit to the people of Timaru, but it was certainly nothing more than thereceipient richly merited. During our residence in South Can ter bury few had a better opportunity of forming an opinion of Mr Pender’s capabilities and disinterestedness as a public officer, and we have now no hesitation in saying that we do not believe his duties could possibly have been better done, Of all the public officers we have ever met Mr Pender is the nearest to perfection of any, in fact we do not think it would be possible for any one to discharge the duties of an officer of police more effectively, and at the same time with greater regard to justice and fair play. There is a saying concerning the police which has almost become “ that every person they arrest is considered guilty by them until he is proved to be innocent.” This does not refer to Mr Pender. He was always the first to seek the discharge of the accused when ho found on inquiry that he was innocent. He seemed to have only one object in all his dealings, and that was to do his duty faithfully, fearlessly, and justly. But though ha was lenient in many ways to the indiscreet and foolish, who did no greater harm to society than to injure themselves by indulging too freely, or by somehow transgressing the law in a trivial manner, he was a terror to evil-doers of the criminal type. To those who prey upon society he gave no quarter, he pounced upon them without mercy, and woe unto them if they once got within his reach. We remember about five years ago a case in which one of those pests had been arrested for stealing about £64 from the pocket of a man’s coat, which was left by him on the roadside near Saltwater Creek. The same man had been arrested several times before in other towns on charges of theft and burglary, but always managed to escape punishment through insufficient evidence, though every one knew that he ! was guilty. The evidence against him

in the present instance was also too weak to convict, though Mr Pender felt certain he was guilty, and so strategy was resorted te. A man employed by the man who lost the money was placed in the same cell with the prisoner, and he succeeded in extracting from the thief information as to where he had hidden the money. Thus, by the shrewdness of Mr Pender, one of the greatest thieves in the colony was convicted, and the family of the poor farmer who had lost it saved from ruin by the finding of the .stolen money. A juror, well known for his knowledge of the bankruptcy laws, kicked up his heels at tin's plan of detecting crime having been adopted, and Judge Johnson, with that peculiar habit he has of giving the police a rap whenever the opportunity offers, began to blame Detective Neil for it, but Mr Pender rose in Court at once, and said Neil was not to blame, that if anything had been done wrong he was the man that did it, and would take the responsibility of it. Wo have also frequently seen Mr Pender interfering on behalf of a prisoner when his offence was not serious, and there is no doubt that there are a great many indebted to him for obtaining an abatement of their punishment. He has also made the town of Timaru the most moral of its size, perhaps, in the world. Timaru it also indebted to him for having prevented bloodshed on the occasion of the riots. Ho spent the previous night preparing for it, and it was to his coolness, discretion and good sense that things passed off so quietly. It is evident, therefore, that he deserved the recognition which was accorded to him last Thursday evening ; but it was not the first occasion on which his ability had been publicly recognhed. When leaving Christchurch for Timaru he was presented with 300 sovereigns, a gold watch, and plate to the value of over another £IOO. He is the possessor of medals for brave conduct during the Crimean War, and a medal presented to him by the Saltan of Turkey for some act of bravery. And yet no one can say that he ever sought or even expected any public recognition. He was not a man to carry favor with any one. He was courteous and gentlemanly to every man, but further than that he did not go, and kept to a certain extent apart from society, believing probably that it was not consistent with his position to be on too familiar terms with any person or section of the community. To sum his character up we can do it no better than in the words of Shakespeare, “ He was gentle, and the matters# mixed in him that nature might stand up and say this is a man.” Previous to his leaving Christchurch he Kas subjected to a most cruel persecution by his superior officer, and for a long time he was kept back from getting the position to which he was entitled. Through the machinations of his enemy some ten years were taken off his service, and thereby he was made junior to several inspectors who had not joined the force when he was inspector. The result was that at the time of the reductions he was dismissed, but when his true position in the service was made known to Ministers the dismissal was revoked. Since then his enemy has shrunk into insignificance, he has no longer power to injure Mr Pender, and the result now is that he is going hack to Christchurch, where he ought to have been Superintendent long ago, if justice had been done to him. We are very glad that Mr Pender’s services are at last meeting witli proper recognition, and we heartily wish him a long and happy future in his new home.