NOTES OF THE DAY

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 265, 3 August 1921, Page 4

NOTES OF THE DAY

Supreme Court sentences in some of the .recent cases of theft and embezzlement have been the subject of popular criticism, and some littlo time ago The Dominion commented on the difficulty in understanding the basis on which some of the punishments were allotted. That difficulty is not lessened by the recent finding of the Court of Appeal in an Auckland case and Mr. Justice Salmond’s interpretation of its meaning. On July .13 a young man was brought before Mr. Justice Salmond at Auckland and charged with the theft of his mate’s Savings Bank book and the forgery of a notice of transfer of the account. The prisoner bnd previously borne a good character and the probation officer recommended his release. Mr. Justice Salmond refused the application for probation end imposed a sentence of twelve months’ imprisonment with hard labour on the ground that the offence was deliberate and without extenuating circumstances, and that it should be fronted as (serious in view of the extraordinary frequency of the crime of forgery. When the case came before the Court of Appeal last week the Court ruled that it was "certainly one in which probation would be granted according to the practice which has prevailed for many years,” and quashed the sentence. Mr. Justice Salmond on Monday had another prisoner before him, who pleaded guilty to having altered a cheque from £1 16s. to £lO 16s. His Honour said that in the ordinary course li<? would have Imposed a sentence of six months' imprisonment. He had, however, to be guided by the ruling of the Court of Appeal "that an offence of that description is net one deserving of any punishment.'* His Honour added that the effect of the Court of Appeal’s ruling was that "every man is entitled to commit one theft or one forgery with safety and remain at liberty.” It will be noticed that this is not at all what the Court of Appeal itself eaid. It acted, in its own words, "according to the practice which has prevailed for many years.” What is that practice? The Supremo Court at Auckland and the Court of Appeal in Wellington are in most marked disagreement over it, and the incident once more directs attention to the need for some guiding principle as to the scale on which sentences in these cases are to be imposed.

Before Bolshevism scattered its blessings over Russia a rouble used to be worth 2s. 1.6 d. After nearly four years of Lenin and Trotsky and the Russian Socialist Federal Soviet Republic a Petro, grud citizen—in a city that once had a population of 2J millions—has the choice nf the eight tramcars remaining in operation and for a short ride has to pay 89,000 roubles. That is to say, that what was once the equivalent of -£BOOO in Russia is now required to procure a tram ride worth a few pence- The local Extremist organ In Wakefield Street has on occasion referred to Lenin as the greatest man who ever lived. At the same time our Extremists are never weary of denouncing Capitalism for the increased cost of living in New Zealand. How much better Lenin would have managed things for us! Instead of paying as now. say, -C2 for a pair of boots, under the Bolshevisod prioe-list as disclosed this morning wo would have to take down in a hand-cart paper money the equivalent of .£30,060 to get them. It is one thing to destroy capitalistic society, but it doos not seem very easy to provide anything better—or even as good—in place of it. Tlie cranks who have tried by planting little Socialist communities out in the wilderness have all failed. The Socialists refused to be dismayed by these failures, for the thing, they averred, had to bo on a big scale or not at all. Lenin has tried it on a population of 182

millions, tho biggest scale possible outside Asia, and the moral seems to be: the bigger tho scale tho bigger tho smash.

Greece victorious in Asia Minor, Turkey and Russia in alliance, and the Great Power each pursuing its own separate interests is the spectacle now presented in the Near East. It has yet to ba established whether the Greek successes aro more than, temporary, and it is certain that if the Greeks attempt to rule populations predominantly Turkish they will soon have all the trouble they care about. The Russo-Turkish Alliance has been in the air for some time. In face of tho reputed condition of Russia it seems unlikely that she will be in a position for some time to do more than piously hope for Turkish successes. Tho scope of the alliance has been variously represented. An Athens r.owsaper recently asserted that it included activities extending from Afghanistan to Mesopotamia, as well as in Egypt, Palestine, and India. Special stress was laid on an alleged arrangement made under which the Turkish Nationalist Government in Angora was stated to have already taken charge of that branch of Bolshevik-agi-tation which affects Islamic countries. Tho danger of the situation in tho Eastern Mediterranean arises from the lack of any common policy among the Powers. France and Italy have their eyes mainly on the concessions they hold in Anatolia. They have no sympathy with Greece, while tho British Foreign Office seems to see in a strong Greece a useful check on the troublesome Turk. What the situation most needs is an impartial examination of the claims of the rival Eastern nationalities. If ths League of Nations wore functioning as intended this would be a most useful field of activity for it. In diplomatic conferences on tho Near East it has seemed impossible to get any further than a temporary compromise on clashing national interests.

Europe has been jolted out of old ways by the war, and subtle changes have been creeping into national habits. Some are for the better, some for the worse; and among the latter - mus«> bo classified a strange revival of bull-fighting' in France. In Spanish cities and popular resorts such as Madrid and San Sebastian, tho traveller expects to find all tho world and his wife at the bull lights. But Spain belongs to another age, and survivals are to be expected. In Franco bull fighting has never totally ceased in tho south, but its existence has been on the whole shamefaced and furtive. Of lato a change has come about. Vichy, ono of the leading watering-places of Franco, hus boon advertising broadcast a series of bull-fights extending ovex four months. At Dax bull-fights are being held in a new' ring, aud tho local newspapers have been reporting them at great length in a most laudatory strain. At Bordeaux also a new arena has been built, and fights also have been taking place in Provence. The development of tho business argues tho employment of considerable capital. New rings cannot bo built, nor old ones renovated, without capital, nor can toreids be hired, nor bulls and horses bought and transported long distances for nothing. At Monte Carlo traj) pigeon shooting 'has been suppressed, and clay pigeons substituted, as the result of a campaign by British visitors, backed by the Nortlicliffo Press in London. It has been suggested that a similar campaign by the numerous British visitors to the South of I' rance would result in the suppression of the new vogue of bull-fighting.