Rather than confine themselves to police
work alone, the newly organized Canadian
constabulary was pressed into service as col-
lectors under “The Goldfields Act,” which

assessed the miners for a licence. Gold com-

had there been so few disturbances, or so
few crimes against life and property.
When Commissioner Pemberton retired
to become a County Court Judge, Brew took
over the reins, as well as filling the position

]

Parliament Buildings, Victoria, B.C.

missioners had been appointed under the
Act, and to each one was assigned six
officers.

First POLICE ORDERS

The first orders ever issued by the gov
ernment to its police, indeed, the first orders
of their kind issued in Canada came from
the Governor.

They were: “Your establishment will
consist of six men.

“You will hold courts of Petty Sessions at
a place near to your headquarters, which
may be proclaimed for that purpose on such
days as shall be most convenient, giving suff-
cient publicity to same.

“You will carry out the general policing
of the district, taking especial care that
drinking and gambling are as
much as possible put down. The

of Magistrate in the interior. After nearly
12 years of faithful service, Chartres Brew
died on May 31, 1870, at Richfield, in the
Cariboo.

In all the history of the Provincial Police,
the name of Chartres Brew stands out as the
forerunner of the present high position the
force holds today.

During the pioneer period of policing
British Columbia, justice was swift. The
whisky peddling ring had been successfully
broken up. Indians were learning of white
man’s justice.

In 1866 the Colonies of Vancouver Island
and British Columbia were united, police
headquarters being established at Victoria.

In the Cariboo, a system of gold escorts

sergeant of your party will act
as chief constable and his duties
will be those ordinarily belong-
ing to such officers.”

One problem confronted the
government. The control of
police was divided. To over-
come this, Chartres Brew was
appointed Chief Gold Commis-
sioner, with headquarters at
New Westminster.

No story of the British Col-
umbia Police would be complete
without mention of that stern
countenanced authority, “the
travelling judge,” Chief Justice
Begbie. He was known through-
out the length and breadth of
the Colony, loved by the people,
feared and hated by criminals.
His firm sense of duty, coupled
with a staunch character, per-
haps did more than anything
in the nineteenth century to
establish the firm foundations
of British jurisprudence on the
western seaboard. The Chief
Justice, taking modern convictions as an
example, was horribly severe, but he was
protecting the rights of citizens in almost
primitive surroundings. The consequence
of his rule in the Province was that never
in the settlement of any section of America

OCTOBER, 1938

On Patrol—Moberly Lake, B.C.

had been founded and express company
shipments of gold on the stage coaches
usually had an escort of mounted constables.
Many constables devoted their full time to
police work and later became government
agents and court registrars.

The upholding of law and order became
a most serious business. Offenders, even
for the most minor misdemeanours were
shown no mercy. The story is written of
an American who, in a fit of anger, kicked
the door of the Canadian Customs Building
at Wildhorse Creek, in the Ymir area. The
accused was arrested, escorted through vir-
gin territory, all down the mainland and
across to Victoria for trial by Constable
Carrington. Upon investigation it was dis-
covered that his heinous crime had been
refusal to pay duty on a ham.

Next notable to come to the public eye
in the annals of B. C. Police history was
Superintendent Horace Smith, who gained
his reputation through his dealings with
the savages. When Indian forays were a
source of trouble on Southern Vancouver
Island, Smith set out to clean matters up
with dispatch. He landed under heavy
fire at Kuper Island, where a savage Pene-
lakut band, a particularly bad branch of the
Cowichan tribe, were creating havoc among
both whites and natives. Smith ran to earth
a number of murderers, took them by naval
vessel to Victoria, where they were hanged.

Superintendent Philip Hankin succeeded
Smith in 1864, continuing in office until
1866. A man of many accomplishments,
Hankin, in the course of his official duties,
completed a survey of Northern Vancouver
Island, which included the first overland
trip between the head of Tahsish arm, on
the northwest coast of Vancouver Island,
to the mouth of the Nimpkish River on the
east coast. A former officer in the Navy,
Hankin combined a canny knowledge of the

—By Const. W. C- Murray, B. C. Police.

_coast with a fluency in Indian dialects. He,

too, was faced with the task of running
down Indian killers. When they were
caught, Hankin arranged for trial aboard
ship, and hanged the guilty ones from the
yard arm.

Page Fifteen