CO129-283 - Acting Governor Major Gen Black - 1898 [5-6] — Page 105

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If the petitioners had been honest men, as

they now claim to have been, and had really reported the gan-

bling house to the Inspectors on the Detective Staff, they

would undoubtedly when they found that no action was taken

on their reports have brought the fact to the notice of some

of the other Inspectors, the Chief Inspector or myself.

How comes it that no report was ever made of

the house to a Police Officer whose name or number was not

found on the list of recipients of bribes?

I have only to add that as I have already

pointed out in reporting on Stanton's Petition it is not the

fact that I issued an order to the effect that the Detectives

were not to trouble themselves about the suppression of gam-

bling (vide paragraph 9 of the Petition).

I repeat that all I did was to take the sole

duty of suppressing gambling out of the hands of the Detec-

tive Staff, and to make the Inspectors on Charge Room duty

in the Central District share in it.

In conclusion I beg to state that in my opi-

nion it was absolutely necessary in the interests of the pu-

blic and of the Police Force to summarily dismiss and banish

the Petitioners.

Their power for mischief inside and outside

the Force, had they been allowed to remain in the Colony,

would have been enormous.

I venture to say there is not a Chinese in the

Colony who believes in the innocence of any one of them, and I

consider

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