The Argus at KellyGang 31/3/1882
FRIDAY, MARCH 31, 1882
The public who have followed the case of Sergeant STEELE in our columns will not be surprised by the result of the board of inquiry Sergeant STEELE is the officer whom the Police Commission in its wisdom, and with its peculiar sense of justice, recommended should be degraded to the ranks. The offence he was more particularly charged with was that he did not take it upon himself to supersede his immediate local head on a special occasion. The inspector in question was ordered to perform a certain mission. The Police Commission arrived at the conclusion that Sergeant STEELE was the better man for the work-which was true enough-and they insisted that Sergeant STEELE ought to have formed that opinion also, and ought to have acted upon it by setting the inspector said neglecting his own special duties in order to do so. Many subordinates have a firn belief that they are far better men than their commanding officer and were the views of the Police Commission generally acted upon, we might expect some very remarkable results. When the folly of this position was made clear, a second defence was set up.
We were told in the press and elsewhere that what really influenced the commission was the evidence given that Sergeant STEELE had inhumanity fire at a woman with a child in her arms at Glenrowan, and had made an offensive boast of his conduct. An independent board has now inquired into this charge and the report is not only in acquittal of Sergeant STEELE, but it involves severe reflection upon the Police Commission.
The board commenced by saying that they "took steps to insure the attendance of all witnesses who have evidence against Sergeant STEELE and whom he had no opportunity of cross-examining." Here we have a picture given of that burlesque of justice which delighted Mr LONGMORE and Mr G W HALL, and against which we felt called upon to protest in the interests of society. Not only in the case of Sergeant STEELE, but in many other instances, evidence was taken behind a man's back, and the first the accused knew of a charge being seriously entertained against him was the intimation that he had been found guilty, and had been sentenced. In this case, the moment a defence is permitted the charge collapses. The wonder is that it should have been sympathetically treated by the commission. Not only did the tale contain internal evidence of being manufactured, but it was absolutely contradicted. Suspicious as the conduct of Constable Arthur was, the commission passed it over.
However, we have now the true tale of Sergeant STEELE at Glenrowan before us, and it is but just to a deserving officer that we should recapitulate the points. At the time the Kelly gang made it appearance at Glenrowan, Sergeant STEELE was in charge of a party of police at Wangaratta. The moment he heard of the departure of the special train from Benalla, he was on the qui vive. He proceeded to the railway station to assure himself of the safety of the party, having warned his men to be prepared for a call. Listening intently for the sound of the engine, he heard distant firing, and instantly he collected the Wangaratta police in order to proceed to the spot. Constable BRACKEN came galloping down the line in hot haste, and gave details of what had occurred, and Sergeant STEELE pushed on with such speed that he arrived at Glenrowan about 5 o'clock .
Only Mr HARE'S party was on the ground, and the hotel was imperfectly watched at the rear, where the ranges lie. If the outlaws were to effect their escape it would be in this direction, and if they received aid it would be from the ranges also. Sergeant STEELE posted his men so as to command the position, and from that moment the fate of the gang was sealed. He took the most dangerous post of all-within 20 yards of the house-himself. While it was still dark, the Benalla police arrived. As they got out of the train the outlaws came into the verandah, and opened fire upon them, and the police from both sides of the house opened a vigorous return fire upon the outlaws, whose armour must have protected them. This was the heaviest shooting of the day. It was Mrs REARDON'S misfortune that she had chosen this moment to effect her escape, her presence, of course, being unknown to the bulk of the combatants. That she should lose her head when the bullets were whistling about her, and should imagine that the police were firing at her, is but natural, but, as the board remarks, it was impossible she should know, and it was also impossible, if anyone did aim at her, that Sergeant STEELE should be the man.
We know upon whom Sergeant STEELE'S shots did take effect. It was NED KELLY. KELLY, with his armour on, made his way under fire to the hotel, and would have reached it probably, but that Sergeant STEELE, instead of making way for the portentous and apparently invulnerable figure-as did one or two men-marched up to him, and brought him down with a shot at close quarters. In a hand to hand struggle with KELLY for his revolver, the outlaw in his armour rolled over upon the Sergeant, and so hurt him as to render him incapable for active service for some time afterwards. With these facts in mind, we can cordially echo the finding of the board that "Sergeant STEELE showed himself to be a courageous man and an excellent officer." Nor should commendation stop here. The evidence is full of passages indicating how much the sub- officer was relied upon. It is declared that he did wonders in the way of watching the gang from Wangaratta after the fatal mistake of breaking up the special police station had occurred. He was consulted after the outbreak as to the plan of operations. He was never found wanting. The impression in the district and amongst the superior officers was that he would be rewarded by promotion, and his claim, we imagine, can now hardly be passed over.
The Police Commission have some times complained about our remarks but we are sure that many of them will be grateful to us now. We have had to impute bias and incompetency in some instances, but we have never supposed that any of their number would with his eyes open do otherwise than right. And they have been saved from a grievous wrong. Perhaps there can be no more bitter feelings than those of the judge and jury who find that they have reduced an innocent man to the condition of a felon. In this case the commission would have allowed the guilty to go free, and would have degraded and ruined, after a long career of creditable service, "a courageous man and an excellent officer." They will thank us because, if they had been allowed their own way, they would never have forgiven themselves.
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