He said:
"I see by this morning's 'Gazette' that some fellow of the name of
Jones has been made a police superintendent, and here am I, an
imperial officer, used to command and discipline, left out in the
cold, while that counter-jumper steps over my head. I can't
understand your policy, Sir George. What will my friends of the club
in London say, when they hear of it, but that the service is going to
the dogs?"
So Captain Smith obtained his appointment as superintendent of
police, and with a free sergeant and six convict constables, taken,
as it were, out of bond, was turned loose in the bush. He had been
for twenty years in the preventive service, but had never captured a
prize more valuable than a bottle of whisky. He knew nothing
whatever about horses, and rode like a beer barrel, but he
nevertheless lectured his troopers about their horses and
accoutrements. The sergeant was an old stockrider, and he one day so
far forgot the rules of discipline as to indulge in a mutinous smile,
and say:
"Well, captain, you may know something about a ship, but I'll be
blowed if you know anything about a horse."
That observation was not entered in any report, but the sergeant was
fined 2 pounds for "insolence and insubordination." The sum of
60,899 pounds was voted for police services in 1844, and Captain
Smith was paid out of it.
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