Changes

Owing to the pressure of Parliamentary business, the [[Chief Secretary|Chief Secretary]] has been unable to devote attention to the report of the Police Commission. The recommendations made to the Government in the document affect either the position or status of no less than ten persons, four of whom are officers, viz. – Mr Nicolson, assistant commissioner; Superintendent Hare; Superintendent Sadleir; and Inspector Brook Smith. In Mr '''Nicolson''''s case it is proposed that he shall be allowed to retire with a pension, as though he had reached the age of 55 years. Superintendent '''Hare''', it is suggested, should also be permitted to resign under similar circumstances, but that, in addition, he shall receive a yearly pension of £100, in consequence of the wound which he sustained at Glenrowan. In Mr '''Sadleir''''s case it is proposed that he shall be placed at the bottom of the list of superintendents, which means in reality that Superintendent Palmer, who is his junior, shall be gazetted above him. Mr '''Brook Smith''', however, has a more serious disability attached to his case. It is proposed that he shall not only be called on to retire, but that he shall only receive £100 for a pension, which means depriving him of nearly one-half of the amount to which, in the course of two or three years, he would become entitled under the regulations of the service. In respect to the other persons whose conduct has been the subject of review, '''Wallace''', the schoolmaster, is the only one whose case has been considered by the Government. He has been suspended, and it is understood that his suspension is only the preliminary step to his dismissal.