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came to the conclusion, an opinion that the laws in which I have reason to believe the Honourable the Attorney General had fully commented, existing laws relating to Branding, were simply sufficient, if carefully applied and enforced, to keep down public gambling, the only form of gambling with which the law concerns itself, and that if they had, up to that time, failed in their operation it was because of the unintelligent method in which they had been applied.
6. I requested that a fair trial should be given to the new system before any further report was called for. The change recommended was made, and until the month of June 1881, we were furnished with periodical reports from the Inspectors of Police showing the working of the new law. These were eminently satisfactory and there was nothing in them or in the remarks of the Captain Superintendent of Police to lend further investigation or to believe that a further report was needed.
Of course, we ought to have met and formally closed our proceedings, reporting to the government. The Members of the Commission were mainly of those points, and we accordingly recommended the change of system detailed above referred to, and our final conclusions. But there were many things that operated to prevent this. I myself resigned my appointment as Acting Puisne Judge in April 1880 and found myself at leisure.