CURRENT TOPICS.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1420, 30 November 1886, Page 3

CURRENT TOPICS.

The other day, in an account of the autumn manoeuvres of the Imperial troops—at Aldershot or elsewhere—we read of ball, instead of blank, carttfidgaahaving been accidentally used, blit .fortunately without a single casualty to life or limb. And now we find the Auckland Evening Bill asserting that

[ the Old Country dots not stand alone as regards instances of such culpable negligence, and that it can supply evidence of a similar state of things at “ the great review held by Colonel Sir George Whitmore on the Prince of Wales’ birthday, on which occasion ball cartridge was also used, but with a different result from that in England, for no inquiry was thought necessary here, possibly the authorities deeming the affair too trivial.” All we can say is that, it the facts are as stated, there ought to have been an enquiry, and somebody ought to have been severely reprimanded. For not only the volunteer who loads with hall instead of blank is deserving of severe blame, but officers commanding companies, and also officers commanding battalions deserve the like or even more severe censure. For in inspecting companies before a field day the precaution should always be taken to examine pouches, and take away any ball ammunition found therein, and neither the company officer nor the field officer should be held excused for the neglect of a precaution which it is the duty of the one to carry out and of the other to see carried out. In the same way, also, after every review—though that is a minor matter —before the men are dismissed on their company parades, every unexpended blank cartridge should be given up to the company seigeants, as otherwise there will nearly always be two or three babies bringing disgrace on the whole force by blazing away on the road home, to the annoyance, or even scaring, of quiet householders.

of matters military, isn’t it almost an open qestion whether, dreadful as are the horrors of war, it wouldn’t be better to have a big European war than to carry on the enormous expenditure involved in keeping up the present state of armed peace. There could be no doubt at all about it if we could only make sure that when the war was over we should have altogether done with the fighting business, and with the crushing taxation involved in the maintenance of immense standing armies. Indeed, probably but few people have any idea of the enormous number of armed men maintained in Europe at the present moment, and it is startling to find that the standing armies of the several Powers now contain no less than iz millions of men, and that their annual cost is ;£i6cjOOO,ooo, Add to this the;£ 108,000.000 which it is estimated would at the least be the value of the work of these men if employed in productive labor, and it will be seen that no less than 000,000 of money are wasted every year to keep these millions of men in idleness, to say nothing of over 000,000 more per annum which represents the interest upon the national debts piled up through the wars of the past. This is not a very satisfactory result after nineteen centuries of Christianity it must be confessed.

Judging from certain information which we find in a recent issue of an Auckland exchange (th z New Zealand Herald) we shall not be surprised to see the development of an entirely new phase in the Great Barrier murder case, by an nt'empt being made to prove that Caffrey is, and was, irresponsible for his actic s Indeed it appears that it is already reported in Auckland that the defence of insanity will be set up. Under these circumstances it may interest our readers to learn what grounds, if any, there are for such a defence. This is what the Herald says;—‘We are informed by Mr Jackson Palmer, solicitor, that Caffrey is suffering from a severe blow that he sustained to his head about nine months ago. At the time mentioned he was captain of the Sovereign of the Seas and she was lying at Edwards’ firewood yard where Caffrey, in attempting to jump down on board from the height over the wharf, caught his foot on the side of the vessel and fell headlong with great force, striking his head just above the right eye, and causing the blood to rush out through both ears and from his nose, and making a great gash over the right eye, which is visible yet. From the effects of this fall he remained insensible for nearly an h n , and for five months afterwards discharges came continuously through the right ear, showing that the head was very much affected by the fall, in fact it was so bad that Caffrey could not lie with his right ear on the pillow when sleeping. To make matters worse, Caffrey caught cold in the head at the time, and ever since suffers pain from the effects, and if he takes any drink or worries over any trouble he becomes quite deranged.” If Caffrey is mad, or was mad at the time of the murder, there was unquestionably a great deal of method in his madness ; but it is quite possible that if the foregoing allegations can be proved in evidence a jury may give him the benefit of the doubt. In that case he will save his neck, but will be committed to a lunatic asylum, which most sane persons would regard as a scarcely preferable fate.

Some lew weeks ago we reprinted from the American papers accounts of various foolhardy feats, or attempted feats, in connection with the “ shooting” of Niagara, the most sensational perhaps of the lot being that of the daring but brainless individual who went over the falls in a cask, and yet lives to tell the tale. But the old adage that “ one fool makes many” is, it seems, to receive an exemplification on the most gigantic scale ; indeed, the belief seems to prevail that there are so many fools of this particular sort that it is possible to turn into dollars their deficiency of “ sense.” For (according to an exchange)—“A strong company has been formed to work the following pleasurable business :—A boat is being made, covered in on all sides, and fitted with watertight chambers, so that it cannot sink. This will be taken to the river above the Niagara Falls, and passengers will book their tickets for a trip over the water-falls. The boat will start, and it and its living freight will be carried over the terrible abyss, and floated down the river for a considerable distance. Then it will be paddled to the shore, and a monster derrick will lift it out on to the dry bank. Then a special railroad will convey it to the spot from whence the start was made, and the performance will be repeated.” Referring to this idiotic scheme the authority from

. W nch we quote the foregoing sensiuly i u. marks : “ How often, and how f long the company will survive to leap t dividends from the sensational public, r depends upon the extent to which f fortune smiles upon the foolhardy, and \ until a frightful accident and loss of i lire compel the legislature to step in , and prevent such a mad indulgence i to be continued. There is only one r good feature in the new company’s r operations. It is expected that the • number of good-for-nothing sensationalists 1 in the world will be largely diminished by its operation.”