Changes

Both Superintendent [[Winch|WINCH]] and Sub inspector LARNER have demanded boards to inquire into and report upon their conduct, and Ministers have acceded to the request. As we have said before, the Government has practically no choice in the matter. It was bound to override the report of the Police [[Royal Commission-followup|Commission]] by granting these boards instead of giving effect to the report, unless it is prepared to take a much more serious stop and override the statute law. Nothing in the whole career of the Police Commission is more surprising than that it should have assumed judicial functions, and should have not only tried men in a fashion of its own, but should also have proceeded to pass sentence upon presumed offenders, thus usurping powers which were not conferred upon it, and which could not be conferred upon it. The commission has, indeed, no more right to degrade a civil servant than it has to send a criminal to Pentridge without reference to judge and jury.