WHIPPING A NATIVE GIRL.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 592, 21 August 1909, Page 5

WHIPPING A NATIVE GIRL.

QUALIFIED ACQUITTAL. Missionary keenly criticised. (By teldßi-aph.-Pl-oSB ABibclatloh.-Oopyf-lcht.l - Brisbana, August ?0. The findings of tho commission of inquiry into the charges of cruelty to natives made against tllo llov. Nicholas Hey, of the Aboriginal Mission at Mapoon, which havc*becn made availablcj show that the members of tho fionllnission (which dismissed the charges) disagreed. Mr. Milnian, the polico magistrate, found that tho methods adopted of' punitiiing tho girl Ellen (who is alleged to have struck Mrs. Hey, and who was wliipped for it with a stingarcb tails' whip) wCro warranted under tho peculiar circumstances Hey was in at the time, and that no suggestion of cruelty or harshness on tbd part of Hoy cropped up during the course of tho inquiry, though plenty of opportunities Wore given to Baltaer, tho accuser, to present tJiem. Another magistrate, Mr. Jmdino, expressed tho opinion that the punishment Inflicted by Hey atld- his assistants was carried out with uhnoce'isary harshness und sovority, more especially when their railing was taken' into consideration. Mr. Howard, Chief 'Protector of tho Aborigines, considered that EUen was most cruelly treated, arid that it.tvas.also evident that other.natives wero beaten in a more things severe manner, with the full kilow-' lodge of Hby. He adds: "I cannot conceive how those who profess to teach the higher principles of religion and humanity could so prostitute tihoir calling by such inhuman actions as. those disclosed to mo." ■**"■'' ' '' ''