Royal Commission second Report Part II (page 5)
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The Royal Commission Second Report -Part II
11.-THE KELLY COUNTRY
That portion of the North-Eastern district known as the Kelly country may be said to embrace the triangular tract lying between the points formed by the townships of Mansfield, Benalla, and Beechworth, together with the country lying to the west of the line of railway which extends to the Murray, including the vicinity of Lake Rowan, the Warby Ranges, and the neighborbood of the Woolshed. This constitutes a large and diversified extent of territory, measuring about 1,600 square miles. It is in parts well suited for agricultural purposes, and settlement of late years there has been rapid and permanent; but in the main, especially to the north-east, it consists of mountain ranges with innumerable spurs, forming steep ravines and slopes so heavily timbered, covered with scrub, and encumbered with huge boulders, that for the greater part it is almost inaccessible. The country is intersected by numerous creeks and rivers; and recently bush tracks have been cut, and roads capable of vehicular traffic constructed; land has been taken up eagerly, and an intelligent, honest, and hard-working population is steadily settling on the soil. It was, however, evident from the first that the peculiar characteristics of the country afforded special facilities for the operations of such lawless characters as the Quins, the Lloyds, and the Kellys, who, if pursued by the police, could seek refuge in the fastnesses of the mountains and defy all the attempts of the authorities to arrest them. The district tying to the north and north-west of Mansfield , in the vicinity of which Sergeant Kennedy and Constables Lonigan and Scanlan were murdered by the Kelly gang, is exceptionally wild and broken. Here the various branches of the Broken River , King River , and some smaller streams take their rise, flowing in a northerly direction, while the principal ranges trend in lines nearly parallel with their courses. In this isolated and still sparsely inhabited spot, not far from the junction of the right and left branches of the King River, and about 40 miles from Mansfield, Glenmore is situated. The homestead of the elder Quin lay directly in the track - the only one existing in the early days - between Mansfield and the Murray. It was principally utilized by cattle stealers, who, owing to the rugged and inhospitable character of the country, were enabled to pass to and fro without risk of being intercepted by the police. The arrest of Power the bushranger pointed to the necessity for a police station at Glenmore. In 1870 one was accordingly erected, and two constables placed in charge, with results highly satisfactory. The proximity of the police became intolerable to the criminals in the neighbourhood, and various means were adopted unavailingly to induce the Government to withdraw them, until finally the Quins sold out and left the district. The policy of abolishing the Glenmore police station has been frequently adverted to in the course of the evidence; and, with due regard to all the circumstances, it seems to your Commissioners to have been a grave error of judgment on the part of Captain Standish, the Chief Commissioner of Police, to have consented to its removal. In 1872 Superintendent Barclay strongly recommended the abolition of this station, on the grounds that the place was remote from settled population, that there was no crime in the neighborbood, and that its maintenance was unnecessarily expensive. Acting upon the advice of his subordinate officers, and that of many respectable residents in the locality, the Chief Commissioner declined to accept Superintendent Barclay's suggestion. In 1875 the representations of this superintendent proved more successful. He directed Inspector Brook Smith to report on the subject. The views of the latter coincided with those of his superior officer, and, upon their recommendations, supported by the opinions of certain residents in the district, Captain Standish, in a memo. dated 17th November 1875 , approved of the removal of the Glenmore station to the place recommended by Superintendent Barclay, viz., three miles above the Nedi station. The inadvisability of this step should have been apparent to Captain Standish at the time, inasmuch as he must have been aware of the state of the district.
For many years anterior to the outbreak offences against the person were of frequent occurrence in the North-Eastern district. It was the scene of the exploits of many notorious criminals and bushrangers, and horse and cattle stealing was carried on systematically by gangs of thieves who acted in concert on both sides of the River Murray. Those engaged in the traffic were associated with the families of the Quins, the Lloyds, and the Kellys, and constituted a "ring" that became a standing menace to the respectable and law-abiding people of the district. A return compiled from official documents shows the extent to which cattle stealing prevailed in the Kelly country for eight years prior to the outbreak. In 1871 the number of cases of cattle stealing reported was 101; 1872, 108; 1873, 97; 1874, 80; 1875, 93; 1876, 130; 1877, 132; and 1878, 101. It is true that a certain percentage of the animals missing, and reported as having been stolen, were subsequently found, but there seems every reason to conclude that in the majority of instances horses disappearing, if not permanently appropriated by the criminal classes, were freely taken and utilized as occasion served, and were then turned adrift into the bush, where they were sometimes recovered by the owner. The plan frequently adopted was to drive mobs of stolen cattle from Victoria across the Murray , where they were impounded by the New South Wales police. In due course they were disposed of, when the thieves attended the sale, and purchased the animals at a nominal price. Fortified against prosecution by possessing the sale note obtained from the poundkeeper, they retraced their steps to their homes, carrying with them the fruits of their criminal enterprise. Cattle stealers across the border pursued a similar system, driving the cattle lifted in New South Wales into Victoria , purchasing them when sold by the poundkeepers, effacing the brands, and taking them back to the districts from which they had been stolen. In 1877, Inspecting Superintendent Nicolson drew attention to the prevalence of this description of crime in the North-Eastern district, which drew forth a strong remonstrance from Captain Standish, addressed to the officers in charge of the North-Eastern district. Numerous witnesses, notably Captain Standish and the Hon. J. H. Graves, have deposed to the almost incredible extent to which for many years cattle stealing was carried on with impunity in the North-Eastern district; nevertheless, not only was the Glenmore station abolished, but the strength of many other police stations in the district was reduced. Further, excellent and experienced members of the force were removed from important centres and replaced by others wholly incompetent and unacquainted with the district.... .
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