LIFE IN THE ISLANDS

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1404, 2 April 1912, Page 5

LIFE IN THE ISLANDS

MURDER AND CASUALNESS. AN INSTRUCTIVE CASE. (From Our Ow.j Correspondent.) Rarotcnna, March 21. The trial of the ui.-in Nou-ongn for (lie 'inirder of his wile Rongomaie on Sunday, December II la-i, was commenced on March t before Judge MacConnick and « jury of six. The case for the Crown was in the hands of Chief L'ct/ctivo M'Uveney, of Wellington, ,„„], m , OT uu-e! living i;,.,,,, provided for Ihe accused, lie Rev. II Baill | j amPS „, „„. ~„,„,„,; -Mission J-oeiety. wntehul the proceedings V.": ,c11,,1f After a tour-day J'lal, a verdict ef manslaughter was reIj'i'iicd, H having been abundaniiv proven jlinl the man was (1) drunk. 12) subject to its of pas-ion when drunk, (II) labouring .nder he on'fcts of jealousy, engendered >>> l'ast acts of infidelity on the part of the deceased woman, (!) that the gun .*.;! «as not a safe weapon to bo in the Hands ol either European or Native "ving to a defective lock. This last fact V'l tR f subject of a rider, nskin- the b m th--sa.isfactioii at the sentence of three years' imprisonment with hard labour, which '■«* imposed, as they consider that (he man should have born hang'd To ev'i ''.','r, T ,°!' .', h0 com,.„,j7it.v, how' ? ' a ? rfe ", 11,i,t "'f sontence isa very with fhV" ,""[' 'VI BP ".'' ,ral w til he conduct ol the ea.-e by the Chief »} an shades ol political opinion in Karotonga, winch is somewhat remarkable, perhaps. Baring tj, e trial it was abuudantiv Provci, tin, drinking bush beer I t ham controlled or suppressed, de-r-; e the remarks of the Resident Cnimtlione jury went so far as to bring in another >'!'"' on dm matter, which caused eortollnn- ° ..tV' 1 "' 1 -' 3 ' U «■«* »™'rdcd as tAr J, '° >. m Z ■■"'-' <"' the opinion that tins case is the outcome cf bush ''inking, and would ask the autkorin" 10 . ti'lio strong measures towards the ami the resulting drunkenness." HU em-!','!-' *"/' n' ml - h ° "• n " 1 ' 1 MB (Ilnt this ommKs ol (he jury were presented in tiie proper iiuarter. Iron, the evidence, it appears that Sim- ' f , f ." vo " l-: "l d ''A' l'-r l»er drink's, and tie |„et was elicitnl from six s ,',T C n ™" Sl ""''<l.' share and Mute alike, the contents of a six-iallon >eg ot beer as strong as rum between the ■■ours i. 11 a.m. and"6 p.m. They all lulimticrl that they were drunk, that four or nve g asses began to affect [hem, and ,1 T'," 1 7'" ! »»« «'as that a man did not get sober after drinking piucapple beer (espceially if made with least as this was) until he had | la ,l „ , !( , c ,;' Jiven a murder (rial is not without its himiours, s-rious though it is, and when, liming Jie examination of a witness keg was produced, and was the subject of a remark from his Honour that ho "did not finite see the relevancy of this oviifrnce, the Chief Detective replied to his Honour that that might be so at that ..iase, bin would become more apparent later on perhaps," a broad smile was plainly visible on the faces of the audi.oiice. His- Honour is at present staying 4 Agatipa with the Kcsident Com'mis. sionor, who has mado remarks about the "nilking of bush beer which are nothing short of unfortunate. Noo-cngo was sentenced on Wednesday afternoon to three years' imprisonment ill Karotoiiga and it is quite in keeping «iih the whole Cilbertian situation that mi the fol owing Tuesday he should avail nmseh ot the fact that the gaoler and the sergeant cf police were at the picture show-aud go himself. I'luiuo At half-time there was a Chief Detective raging outside the hall about the fact a gaoler who was not worrying us the prisoner had not been handed over to His charge, and a worried-looking sergeant °t police .V-o-ongo had no doubt felt lonely at homo, and so had miite naturall} looked for amusement, but it was impolitic on his part that he should have H., ni" f"X [ m \. iKO srat s removed from the Chief Detective. Anyhow, no harm was tonkas a civilian, meeting him, cavo him a pie and a couple of ici-crcams •'■■( suggested that lis should go liomo. •Ihis he very obligingly did. It is said that'when this civilian was reni-rustrnted with for , feedin- the prisoner,' he passed the remark, "i'ri-on-er. 1 led no prisoner," and when further faxed with it, said, "Now, how was J. to know that he was a prisoner* Oil" does not expect prisoners to bo at the picture show." A„d ,' t is not recorded what the (. luet Detective said. Later it is also sau I hat one of the officials 'got very heated on receiving a flat denial that Noe-ongo was m the .picture show and ' the reply, Towelka. 1 A visitor standing outside the hall on : iiearingot the appearance of the "prisoner" at the show stood amazed for a short space of tune, and then he said in a dazed sort of way "But if I tell my friends n Auckland that, they will call me a liar. Ho received the comforting as- ' would believe hall of what he was pre- ' pared to tell them, though the residents knew the same to be true, so he need not mind. All men are liars who tell the truth about the comedy of Ccok Islands itfiairs," is how one man put it, "we have no votes. 'Hie hard labour Xoo-ongo is under- ; going is, of course, of the usual liarc- '■ tongan brand and seemingly consists of ' sitting down, and talking with fellow- ' prisoners, there being little or no super- ' vision exercised.

Another matter causing some comment is the fact that in the preliminary inquiry under Div Baldwin, die persens responsible for preparing the ease made no mention of drunkenness in the matter, though it was a matter of common knowledge that it had figured largely, and one or two ptoplc were enabled shortly afterwards to discover who were supposed to have been present. This information, however, the Chief Detective (ossieked out tar himself with distinct success; even going so far as lo produce, a gentleman troin the office of the Resident Commissioner himself, in the person of Mr. Steven Savage, the Government interpreter, wno had seen the accused man and sundry others on their return from the mountain in a rather advanced state of intoxication. Comment on the methods of the administration on thi:. matter are perhaps heedless, ami it is certain that thev will be distasteful lo the pavers that be. It would seem that a proper and reasonable police investigation was not coiiducttd until the arrival of Chief Detective M'llveney, even though a man's life stood in the balance. The general opinion is that if the Chief Detective could be sent to these Islands for. say, six months to shake things tin, and institute some ,-orl of method, aiid instil some knowledge and nous into'the I'tihce Department, it would be a step in the rightdiiecti.ru. Incidentally (he same gentleman might'be empowered tu a-Kt in straightening out that tangled sta(« of the (Vol; Wands law, which will sconer or later put (he New Zealand Government lo considerable expense in settling actions for damages unless attended to in the near future. Knlighlonntont is the order of the day just at present, and the legal position is peculiar, lo tav the very least of it. ANOTHER CASE. The sematinn d" the Xon-nnga trial had hardly Milr-ided before it became known Hint a Xiao man had assaulted another man with a heavy cane knife, a woanon with a It-inch blade, and' had cut him badly over the head. Or. Dawson was railed m sam? hours afterwards, as I he Natives were unable to stripe the haemorrhage, and put live stitches in one cut on the man's head and mis c ], in another. The Chirf Detective pei anally t.rok the maliev up that night, aiHhaving .b?™ t ; ,hl by the local police that no damng? had ken done." and after a considerable walk, under the guidance of a civilian who knew the track, arrived <m the scene. II is snitl that he was im-T.rc-ucH with th» gravity of the cll'onoo and took measnrrs for I he apprehension ol the man's assailant, with the result [hal a. man named Ken was lined .f;i for bi-i'ini!}: lin-h Leer, anil at a -■ittin;.; of the Court was lined ,t2ii, |„ |„. paid i-ilh?! 1 in a lump sum ,„■ |, v monthly | iiislaliih'iils- i,r Jj;l. ~,■ in <!: i'ntH t«',i .years impn.-.aiiiiieiit with hard labour in handling;!. This sentence was t-iven bv Judge MacCoriniel;. nol lliraugh a'nv sympathy for the accused, bni on ..count of the lact thai the man was the sj| P sup. port of his wile and child, and one or two adopted children. AI lb." conclusion of the ease, the assaulted man was put -ui the, dock and hncd £3, alss for brew-

jag hu-ii beer, .and both of them were (da tlint another appearance would bring llieni something iii (he way of a fine Hint would impress them. That al. last 11 stand ha= born ma.'.n in the mnltrr of this turbulence and drinking is entirely satisfactory, and is in pteu-anl contrast with the conduct of aflairs in (he past. With two shooting case- and at least tfirce eases of violent as-aull in the past twelve months, it -;iught to be evident to everyone that unless stern nuasures are adopted (here- will be still iurther happenings of a serious mill unpleasant nature.' A fuel. U> be pointed out and impressed on the nublic is this; That all or nearly nil cases of sbnoling and violence have been perpetrated, not by Karoiongans, but liv nutislanders and people who have come here In seflle from other parts. 11 is, theretore, very evident that the imposition of a sentence of deportation inflicted on one or two delinquents would not be at all a bad method of curbing the lawless behaviour of Hie people responsible.