Royal Commission report day 6 page 12
The Royal Commission evidence for 31/3/1881
(see also introduction to day 6 )
Francis Augustus Hare giving evidence
1339 And at times in the telegraph office, and he did office duty there?— Yes.
1340 And he restricted himself to that?— Yes. He was not suited to take charge of a party of police, on account of his age and the character of his experience. He has been in the office thirty years, and to put him in charge of a search party on a mountain he would have to rely on his men. The men look to their leader, and he would have been most unsuitable.
1341 Do you know really in your own mind why Captain Standish went up there at all?— I do not. He went up after that affair occurred at Euroa, and he found Mr. Nicolson knocked up, and he sent for me. I do not know why he went. I think the Government insisted on his going there.
1342 Are you aware that Mr. Berry, as Chief Secretary, before he went to England, told him that if he were the head of the police he (Mr. Berry) would go up and stay there till the Kellys were made amenable to justice?— Yes, he told me to that effect; and Captain Standish wanted to return some time before he did leave, and Sir Bryan O'Loghlen advised him to remain.
1343 Then for all practical purposes he was not required to remain in the Benalla district?— I did not say that. We required the brains of half a dozen men to decide upon the intricate matters constantly coming in. I will give one instance. The Euroa bank was stuck up by the outlaws, and they went away riding three bay horses and one grey. For months after that we used to get reports from every side of the district of three men on bay horses and one on grey. The sympathizers and the lads in the country did it on purpose. I used to get one grey and three bays reported from Shepparton one day, Wodonga another, Strathbogie the day after, and we could not allow one single iota of evidence to drop without enquiring into it when the information came saying the men had been seen.
1344 Then you believe that in the active pursuit that you were following, in going out with the search parties, it was necessary to have some responsible party in Benalla to conduct the correspondence and so on?— No doubt of it.
1345 While you were in charge in that district of the parties that were there in pursuit of the Kellys, can you say what were the instructions to the out-stations, such as Wangaratta. Could the men act on their own responsibility, and go and follow any traces when they got them; or had they to remain in till they got instructions giving permission to go out?— No; their duty was this: to report the information they received to Benalla, where we had a board of officers, and it was referred to all of us. We considered what was best to be done, and if we so decided, the men who got the information were sent off to enquire into it at once. (JJK)
1346 Were the same instructions acted upon when you were there before Mr. Nicolson relieved you as apparently you gave to the men on the final occasion?— No; there was a difference, because of their parties. There was no party large enough to go in pursuit of the Kellys at any place but Benalla; but I would rather you would let me go on with my statement. The first time I was out we had men at all those places, and each of them had parties.
1347 They could act independently?— Yes, but always consulting us first, which only took about five minutes.
1348 They had to consult head-quarters first?— Yes, but it only took five minutes. I could show the danger of letting the men go out without letting us know at head-quarters. We had six and eight and ten parties out at the same time, and they might meet and clash. The constables did not know each other, and might be firing into each other. We had to work the district so as to know where every man was. Say a man at Mansfield got some information from the Wombat, and he telegraphed down to Benalla, and we gave the directions “Go and look after it yourself, and see if there is anything in it,” or in like manner; we used to get information irrespective of the men and sent them out to search.
1349 You must be aware that the papers have frequently stated there was a lot of “red-tapeism,” and that officers were not allowed to take any action till they had received orders from head-quarters, and in one case there was said to be a delay of eight hours before the men could take action?— I heard all that, but I defy anybody to say a delay of ten minutes elapsed when we got information.
1350 I can understand that head-quarters ought to know; but suppose the police at Wangaratta sent to Benalla saying they had received information and asking whether they were to act, and you replied “Send out a search party,” and they received information at Benalla to go to a certain point, when the search party arrived at that certain point—if they there received other information, could they go on further without coming back for further authority?— Most certainly. I say that without any hesitation, and I do not think you could find a leader of a party who would come forward and say he was hampered in his instructions, notwithstanding what has been said in the press that they could not go on at once.....
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