A select committee of 1869 supported his complaints against the appointment of police magistrates as officers and his recommendations, based on observations during extensive travel, for improved pay and conditions.

He showed his faith in the native police in 1880 by sending black trackers to Victoria, Australia to participate in rounding up the Kelly gang.

In the Brisbane riot of September 1866, he ordered his men to fix bayonets and load with live ammunition to disperse a large crowd in Queen Street.

After his request for greater legal power to compensate for limited manpower, the government introduced the controversial peace preservation bill, which permitted detention without trial for periods up to two months.

He had given some attention to social questions: his suggested new route via the Red Sea and Torres Strait for immigrant ships reduced the time of the voyage by half, and in 1878 he advocated a reformatory for girls under fourteen years of age.