The Argus at KellyGang 3/7/80 (2)
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Editorial
‘Now that the burst of congratulation which followed the extirpation of the infamous Kelly gang is over, we may well give a little serious attention to a few of the circumstances which preceded and attended the event. The moral pointed by the police operations seems to us to be that the constabulary force requires reorganisation. We presume that an official inquiry will be at once ordered into the conduct of the four men who were secreted in SHERRITT’S house on Saturday night, while two of the outlaws were going at large and threatening violence within reach and hearing. We shall, therefore, say nothing concerning their conduct at present beyond expressing a most profound conviction that the community at large does not endorse the rider which eleven of the coroner’s jurymen desired to add to their verdict concerning the death of the murdered man. These easily-satisfied gentlemen considered that the constables had done their duty on the occasion ― an opinion with which, we fancy, very few will be found to concur.
Then, again, the mode of attack on the Glenrowan public house appears to need investigation. We should not like to see the principle established that whenever a person’s house is taken possession of by outlaws or criminals of any sort, the innocent occupants must be prepared to take the chances of a bombardment. Whatever may have been the cause of Cherry’s death, there can be no reasonable doubt that Mrs Jones’s little boy was shot―accidently, of course―by the police. Some people say that the constables should either have taken the risk of rushing the place, and arresting the outlaws, without promiscuous firing, or that they should have established a blockade. Without presuming to pronounce dogmatically on these points, or to underrate the difficulties and dangers by which the attacking force was confronted, we certainly think that some steps should be taken, if for no other purpose, to furnish rules for the future guidance of the police in similar circumstances. Speaking generally, we submit that events have shown a need of a totally different sort of mounted force for service in difficult country from that which we possess at present. In place of middle-aged, comfortable house holders, with wives and family ties to suggest caution, we ought to have a force of young, lithe, dare-devil bushmen―men who could endure anything and go anywhere, and who would be able to meet members of the Kelly fraternity on an equal footing, and to beat them with their own weapons. The Kelly country will require garrisoning like a district in a state of siege for years to come unless it is to be allowed to travel the rest of the way towards barbarism, and such a force as we have described, under active, intelligent, and daring officers, can alone do the duty effectually. These young men, as their blood began to cool, could be drafted to more “comfortable” districts in the plain country, and transferred to pedestrian corps and city quarters. Mr RAMSAY seems to have GONE INTO THIS Kelly business energetically, and we do not doubt that he will carefully scan the lessons it is calculated to teach.
“Now that the Kelly gang have been brought to grief,” writes the North-Eastern Ensign, “we would advise an inquiry into the condition of this district so far as sympathy with crime is concerned. It is well known that not a few sympathisers have done their best, even in Benalla, to encourage and by practical means show their affection for lawlessness. Perhaps, as suggested to us, a quiet inquiry would guide the police to the discovery of the sympathisers with the criminals. It would relieve the district of a stigma to show that the friends of the outlaws were few and ignorant. As it is, we find strangers accepting the statement that all are equally responsible for aiding and supporting the gang.”
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