The Argus at KellyGang 19/3/1879
editorial
The conviction of the man WALTER LYNCH and the sentence of two years imprisonment passed upon him are events upon which society can be congratulated. It was a barbarous act under any circumstances for anyone to write such a letter as that sent to Mr EDWIN MONK, purporting to come from the Kelly gang, and telling the man who had assisted to find the bodies of the murdered policemen that worse would be done to him than had been done to Sergeant KENNEDY; that whereas one of the ears of the Sergeant was cut off, MONK'S eyes would be put out. But of course the circumstances of the day and of the district aggravated the wrongdoing, and took the epistle out of the category of ordinary threatening letters. MONK was seriously alarmed by the communication, and the news of its receipt seems to have spread like wild-fire, and to have intensified the belief that no man who assisted in the pursuit would be safe from acts of revenge, either dealt directly by the KELLYs, or indirectly by their sympathisers. This is the feeling which has paralysed the police, and which still enables a gang of horse stealers, who have developed into murderers, to elude justice. Events have shown that without aid from the civil population-the aid they have a, right to expect-the police are crippled, and we cannot hope to obtain assistance from men who live in the wilds, unless the law is vigilant and stern in their defence. No one would have grumbled if the culprit LYNCH had been withdrawn from the rough and rude society of the Wombat ranges for twice two years, but still the sentence, as it stands, will read a useful lesson. It will tell the friends and the companions of LYNCH that the law is not to be mocked at, that they had better restrain their sympathy with crime, and that any overt act on behalf of criminals is likely to bring with it a punishment both swift and severe. This is a good result, because there is a time for all things, and the present is no time for leniency. If there is to be terrorism at all, it is a great deal better that the criminal class should be in terror of the law than that decent citizens should live in fear of the criminals.
THE PURSUIT OF THE KELLYS
[BY ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH]
(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT) see also
BENALLA, TUESDAY.
The following search party returned, after an absence of a week, this evening, and as the Kellys are still at large, it follows that their mission was a fruit- less one, viz -Superintendent Sadleir, Sub- inspector O'Connor, eight troopers, five Queensland black trackers, and five pack horses. Although the cold is against the blacks, the entire party looked somewhat fresher than might have been expected.
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