Sentence:  Nothing was too small to receive attention, if a supervising eye could suggest improvements likely to conduce to the common welfare. Mr. Gordon Burnage, for instance, personally visited dust-bins and back premises, accompanied by a sort of village bailiff, going his round like a <WSD>commanding</WSD> officer doing billets. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  Tending to give commands, authoritarian.