The Argus at KellyGang 20/10/1881 (4)
Royal Commission's report ry
Having remained in charge of the district for nearly seven months, the chief commissioner and Superintendent Hare returned to Melbourne, and were relieved by Mr Nicolson. Captain Standish alleges as his reason for leaving Benalla that during his absence the affairs of the head office had fallen into a frightful muddle, owing to the incapacity of the assistant commissioner. Immediately upon Mr Nicolson taking charge of the pursuit, very large reductions were made in the number of police stationed in the district, and in the amount allowed for expenditure in connexion with the pursuit. The Garrison Artillery were also withdrawn, and thus situated, Mr Nicolson had recourse to the system of employing secret agents, and abandoning search parties, which he, in common with Superintendent Sadleir, looked upon as mere fooling.
At the time that Captain Standish and Superintendent Hare withdrew, in June, 1879, the prospect of capturing the outlaws appeared more remote than ever "The alarm," the commissioners urge, " caused by the daring outrages of the gang, had to some extent subsided, but a strong feeling of indignation prevailed throughout the country at the prospect presented of four young men, three of them only about 20 years of age, defying all the resources and power of the Government, and remaining in almost undisturbed tranquility in what one of them described as their mountain home. Mr Nicolson's peculiar mode of dealing with the outlaws is said to account for the apparent listlessness of the police at this stage. He made the most of the materials at his command, but his evident design was to lull the outlaws into a false sense of security, to induce them to believe that the police were utterly at fault in every attempt to trace their whereabouts, to surround them with a cordon of spies and informers, and to be ready in the event of their leaving their fastnesses to pounce down upon and capture the entire gang at one blow. When Captain Standish returned to Melbourne the authorities were without specific information as to whether the Kellys were really in the country, or had gone northward to Queensland.
Six weeks after Mr Nicolson took charge he received reliable information of the gang being secreted in the ranges near Greta. He appears, however, to have taken no action to capture them beyond subsidising the informers to continue to serve the police, and keep them supplied with the latest intelligence regarding the movements of the gang. There are several incidents connected with Mr Nicolson's administration at this period enlarged upon in the report. Allusion is made to the fact of a search party that had been organised to start from Benalla in September, 1879, having been disbanded under somewhat remarkable circumstances, and for which the assistant commissioner is blamed by Captain Standish. Mr Nicolson's explanation is given in the report, and from this the blame seems to be placed upon the shoulders of Mr Sadleir, who had neglected to bring with him the informer who would have led the police to the spot where the Kellys had been seen.
The relations of Mr Nicolson with Jack Sherritt are also dealt with, more particularly the interview which is said to have taken place between Sherritt and the assistant-commissioner on the 13th November, 1879, when the police were informed that Dan Kelly had called at Sherritt's hut about 7 o'clock, and had promised to call again at 8. An effort appears to have been made to throw discredit upon the statement made by the informer, who, when before the commission, declared that on the night in question the entire gang had called at his place at 8 o'clock , and that had Mr Nicolson acted promptly upon the information then given the outlaws might have been captured. The commissioners appear to think that the balance of testimony is in favor of Mr Nicolson's statement, who maintained that it was not until 9 o'clock that Jack Sherritt came into Beechworth, and that it was then too late to take any action.
About April, 1880, intelligence was received by the police of the robbery of mould boards of ploughs in the vicinity of Greta and Oxley, and the inquiries made proved that the thieves were the members of the Kelly gang. About a month later the secret agent known as "diseased stock" wrote a letter to the assistant commissioner intimating that the object of the outlaws in stealing the mould-boards was to manufacture armour preparatory to making another raid on one of the banks.
The circumstance which it is supposed had the effect of inducing the authorities to withdraw Mr Nicolson from the North-Eastern district was the receipt of an anonymous letter forwarded to Mr Graves, the member for the district, and forwarded by that gentleman to the chief commissioner of police. In that document the character and conduct of Mr Nicolson were unsparingly criticised in connexion with the pursuit. It was forwarded to Mr Nicolson for explanation, and in a week afterwards that officer received notice of the intention of the Government to supersede him. The writer of the letter was suspected by Mr Nicolson to be the school- master, James Wallace, whose conduct in connexion with the outlaws forms the subject of a special recommendation on the part of the commissioners.
Wallace denied, when under examination, that he wrote the letter in question, but in a communication subsequently addressed to the commissioners he stated that it had been concocted by Jack Sherritt and the outlaws in order to have Mr Nicolson removed from the district. In referring to the causes of Mr Nicolson's removal, the report says -
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