THE "OBSERVER" CARTOONS

Observer, Volume 3, Issue 70, 14 January 1882, Page 281

THE "OBSERVER" CARTOONS

No. 4 — Mb StrPEKiNTE> T DENT Thomson, A.O. The subject of the cartoon which we present to our readers with the present number is Mr Superintendent Thomson, J.P., of whose official career we have gleaned the following particulars : Mr Thomson, we believe, is a native of the South of England, and was ' originally intended for the legal profession, but being imbued with a youthful spirit of adventure, and his imagination fired by the glowing accounts that reached England from the Australian El Dorado — Ballarat — he abandoned the idea of joining that profession, and with the relxietant consent of his guardians took passage for Melbourne. He landed in the City of Canvas in the early days of the goldfields with buoyant -hopes and great expectations. After experiencing the many " ups and downs " and instructive vicissitudes incidental to colonial life in those days of the blue shirt and swag, he was induced to join the Victorian Constabulary, a body which at that time contained a large per centage of young fellows of good family and education, who had been attracted from various parts of the old country to the Australian:

Colonies by the "ami sacri fames" but after a more or less lengthened and chequered experience, finding that the golden prizes were few and far between and that the rough life of the diggings was uncongenial, exchanged its fluctuating attractions for the liberal pay and good times of the Victorian Constabulary — at that time the crack foi'ce, 2 Jar excellence, both as to. number and efficiency in the Australian Colonies. Having spent several years of stirring and active service in Melbourne, Ballarat, Bendigo, and other Victorian towns, and earned the reputation of a zealous and smart officer, Mr Thomson, we are informed, left for Otago about the early "part of 1863 under engagement to the Provincial Government of the day, having been specially selected for the appointment and highly recommended by Captain Standish, R.A., the Victorian Commissioner of Constabulary. During the greater portion of the period Mr Thomson remained in the Otago Police — at that time acknowledged to be the best organised force in New Zealand— he represented its able Commissioner, the late St. John Branigan, Esq., in the Dnnedin Police Court, then presided over by Mr Stroke, E.M., where Mr Thomson conducted the whole of the police business. In those days this was often exceptionally heavy, and owing to the strong bar practising at Dunedin, called for no small degree of legal knowledge, acumen, and judicious tact on the part of the prosecuting Police Officer. J2n passant it m&j be remembered that Mr Branigan was one of the best officers the Colony has possessed, and when the Colonial Forces were demilitarised by the late Sir Donald McLean (a man who knew how to judge merit and appreciate it), Mr Branigan was selected to carry out the change, and placed at the head of the new Armed Constabulary Force. His untimely death was a great loss to the Colony. In the latter end of 1869 the services of Mr Thomson were, with the consent and approval of the Superintendent of Otago, Mr Macandrew, transferred to the Greueral G-OVGl'mnent of tlie Colony, at the official request of the latter. Mr Thomson received the commission of an Inspector in the Colonial Armed Constabulary, since which period his dutios have been confined to the North Island ; and during the last five years he lias been in charge of the Auckland police district, which, as we find from the Blue Books, is by far the largest police district in the Colony, and must from its extensive area, mixed European and native population, and in many places difficult communication, entail very considerable anxiety, labour, and care upon the Superintendent. We find also that it contains no fewer than 40 police stations within its limits. Commencing at Cape Runaway, a long distance south of Opotiki, it runs along the coast line to the North Cape, a distance of upwards of 500 miles ; thence by the West Coast to Aotea harbour, south of Raglan ; thence by an imaginary inland line south of Lake Taupo and the Hot Lakes district; and thence across the East Coast to the point of starting, Cape Runaway. This extensive district comprises no fewer than twenty counties, and nearly half the entire territory of the North Island. It would be superfluous to add that by his urbanity and courtesy, combined with strict impartiality and firmness, Mr Thomson has secured the esteem and respect of every lover of law and order in the community. The condolence which poured in xipon him" from all quarters, and the daily visits of sympathy by people of all classes after his recent accident' and while confined to a sick bed, furnished abundant proof, if any were wanting, of the respect entertained for him and the appreciation o£ his services as a public officer. Superintendent Thomson, by virtue of his commission, holds the relative rank of Major in the Colonial Forces, and for upwards of twelve years lnis been a Justice of the Peace.