The Argus at KellyGang 16/12/1878 (2)
Editorial
Men of this sort are never at a loss for a plausible lie to put themselves in a good position. They have lived in an atmosphere of deceit, and consequently every statement in which they figure to advantage should be scrutinised to see who it emanates from, and if it comes from them or their sympathisers the gloss should be taken off. Thus, if the facts, and the facts alone, of the tragic death of Sergeant KENNEDY are considered, the ruffians stand in a very different light to that in which they desire to be represented. We know how KENNEDY was surprised in the open, and the tale of his last moments which has been told on behalf of the KELLYS, and which purports to come from them, contains the admission that the moment the sergeant began to fire instead of "bailing up," his assailants hid behind the logs. When he had come to his last shot he fled for shelter, and the evidence of the trees with the bullet marks upon them has shown how the gang commenced to fire when his back was turned. It was while they were screening themselves from the sergeant's shots that they allowed M'INTYRE to escape. When KENNEDY fell the KELLYS could stop by him and talk to him until their companions had returned from the pursuit of M'INTYRE, and then when it was necessary to move on, the finishing shot was given in cold blood to the helpless KENNEDY. There was the chance, as the narrative says, that M'INTYRE was wounded, and would drop, and if so, then, with KENNEDY silenced, there was no living witness of the surprise and the murders. Not one man, we presume, who has had any dealing with the criminal class will pay a second's attention to the statements about twinges of remorse; to the offers to give KENNEDY a gun, to the declarations that bloodshed was never contemplated, and to the other touches with which the tales that reach the public from the gang are adorned. They killed KENNEDY and attempted to kill the unarmed M'INTYRE because it suited their convenience, just as they would now murder other men who crossed their path in any way.
A better understanding of the character of the Greta thieves is calculated to elicit a thorough sympathy with the police, and the more hearty and complete that sympathy is, the more spirited are likely to be the exertions of the men and of the officers. We should be sorry for the force to suppose that any attention whatever is bestowed upon the assertions the murderers make, when they converse with their captives, of the cowardice of this member of the force or the misconduct of the other, or the perjury of a third. Every thief and every strumpet makes the same allegations about the apprehending constables. These statements should pass away as the wind, and no doubt will do so. The force may be assured that, apart from any criticism on the plan of operations, the public will be slow to believe in any personal imputation on its courage or its good conduct, and will be eager to recognise the merit of their services.
Indeed one of the incidents which has caused most pain of any in the whole affair is the discovery that the allowances to the widows of Sergeant KENNEDY and of Constable LONIGAN have not been promptly paid, a neglect which is felt to be disgraceful and inhuman, and for which the Chief Secretary ought to call some officer to account. And when the subscription for a suitable monument to be erected over the remains of the fallen men is put before the public, we have no doubt of its meeting with a hearty response. The prayer of all will be that no blood will have to be shed in bringing the Mansfield murderers to justice, but the police have a right to know, what is the fact, that any delay in providing for the widows of those who have already died is accidental, and that when a man does fall in the discharge of his duty in protecting society against crime, his memory will be honoured, and his family will be supplied with something more than bread.
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