The Ashburton Guardian. Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. MONDAY, OCTOBER 1, 1888. GASPARINI'S ESCAPE.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1958, 1 October 1888, Page 2

The Ashburton Guardian. Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. MONDAY, OCTOBER 1, 1888. GASPARINI'S ESCAPE.

No farther light appears to have been ' obtained upon the question as to whether ! Gasparini, the extradited New Caledonian escapee, has really succeeded m regaining his liberty, or whether the waters of the Pacific have closed over his dead body. Detective Walker maintains that the former hypothesis is altogether untenable and that tho search made upon the steamer on the discovery of his disappearance was so complete that he could not by any possibility have been stowed away anywhere, and he stoutly contends that the only way of accounting for his disappearance is the theory of suicide. On the other hand #jere are many people who believe that the detectivp is wrong, and that sooner pr later we shall hear of Gasparini turning up somewhere or other aliye and well and m safety. Meanwhile tho French Consul m Wellington is furious about the matter and appears to have conceived the idea that the whole thing is what is described m thieves' argot as " a put-up job," and oven appears to imagine that some of the authorities were, and are, m the secret. Wo do not believe that there is the slightest ground for such a suspicion, and if Gasparini has escaped alive the Consul has, wo think, himflpjf to thank or to blame for it, for anything more foolish thun the arrangements made by him. under which the detective was sent as a saloon passenger and his prisoner m the steerage, it is not possible to imagine. Not that it js a matter wit}} which tho Government has anything whatever tq do, for Gasparini once gi-ven up to the Consul all responsibility for his safe custody passed to tho latter, and we entirely concur with our Wellington contemporary, the " J?ost," iv deprecating any step* being taken whiqh would be equivalent to admitting any responsi bility on the part cf the colony. That fonrnel has the following very soneible remarks on the subject : — " We have noticed several statements to the effect tbtf $fc Cpm»ioj9?pn.er of Police ig

about to institute" an enquiry into Detective Walker's conduct m regard to Gasparini's disappearance, and that the Detective is likely to be reduced m rank as a punishment for having lost his prisoner. If the Commissioner entertains any intention of the kind, thg Governraen should at once instruct him to abandon it. Detective Walker was not acting j as a New Zealand police officer when m charge of Gasparini on board the Wakatipu, and therefore the New Zealand police authorities have nothing whatever to do with what he did or left undone there. Walker was practically on leave of absence, the Government having released him from duty and perr mitted him to temporarily enter the

service of the French Eepublic as a military warder. Ho was, wo believe, sworn m m that capacity, and was entirely under the orders and control of the French Consul, by whom his expenses were defrayed and all the arrange ments for the passage of the prisoner and his escort made. How injudicious these arrangements were ia shown by the fact that while a cabin passage was taken for Walker, the prisoner was only provided with a steerage passage, an arrangement which of course separated the two at night. What ought to have been done would have been to send two warders so that one might always have been with the prisoner, or to have arranged for a special cabin for the one warder and' his prisoner. To leave the prisoner without a guard during tho night was to offer the utmost facility for the disappearance which actually occurred. The New Zealand Government, however, was m no way answerable for the arrangements, and it must be very careful not to assume any responsibility for the result of thofie arrangements. From the moment Gasparini was surrendered by the gaol authorities to Walker, m his capacity as a French military warder, all responsi bility on the part of this colony ceased. To hold Walker m any way amenable to the New Zealand police authorities, for what afterwards occurred would undoubtedly imply a certain responsibility on the part ofthose authorities for his conduct, and for the safe custody of the convict. This it is especially desirable should be avoided owing to the somewhat peculiar aspect which matters incidental to Gasparini's case have since assumed. The only proper attitude for the Government to take up is to say to the French authorities, •We gave you up the prisoner and permitted the officer you selected to enter your seVvice for as long a period as you desired. He is not responsible to us for what he did while m your service, and we have nothing whatever to do with Gasparini after you took possession of him.' Any enquiry into Walkei's conduct would, of course, be quite inconsistent with this attitude."