The Evening Star. TUESDAY, APRIL 25, 1871.

Evening Star, Volume IX, Issue 2554, 25 April 1871, Page 2

The Evening Star. TUESDAY, APRIL 25, 1871.

We do not imagine anybody in Dunedin will be much surprised At the eccentricities of Mr. Barnes, whose reputation for plain speaking stands much higher than his character for urbanity of manners or politeness. Other communities may perhaps be astonished when they learn that the gentleman who figured so ungracefully in the police court, is a member of the Corporation; has aspired to legislative honours; and may be feeding ambitious thoughts with visions of a mayoral chair. Had the course of conduct followed by him of provoking and interfering with an officer in the execution. of liis ditty been merely in his

capacity W John i Barnes, contractor, it Vould have been v highly discreditable to him j but, when it is considered that he is representative of one of the most important wards in the City, it is still more reprehensible. From a person in Mr. Barnes’s position, society -has a right to look for support in every arrangement tending to the well-being and safety of society; but instead of that his every word and action in his parley with Carey, at the Water of Leith, evinced a determination to set the constituted authorities at defiance, and to bring the acting constable into contempt. The plain facts of the case are these : both Mr. Barnes’s men and the Maori prisoners under the care of the warder had permission to take stones from the bed of the Water of Leith ; Mr, Barnes claimed to take them from a particular spot, and it so happened that was the very place where the Warder was ordered to employ his men. It must be evident to every man of common sense that it could make no difference to the Warder where or what the work : his duty was simply to see that the men under his charge not only did not escape, but that they held no communication with civilians. Had it been absolutely necessary to prevent the escape of a prisoner he must have fired at him, and for the safety of the prisoners and those working in their neighbourhood, in case of it being necessary to resort to extreme measures, it is necessary to place a wide space between those in bonds and the free. Mr. Barnes ought to know all this, and most likely did. He ought to have known that Carey was acting under orders, and was responsible to the authorities who issued them ; and that if, in accordance with those orders, his privilege was interfered with, Carey had no authority to decide between the right and the wrong of the matter. But all these considerations, so obvious to every man of coranion attainments, seem either to have been unknown or forgotten by Mr. Barnes. Instead of contenting himself with ascertaining by whose orders his own men were sent away, and the stones he claimed taken by the prisoners, he proceeded to lord it over the Warder and to override his instructions by forcing his own men and himself within the proscribed distance. He insulted the man for doing his duty, instead of supporting and assisting him in it; and, in fact, his whole language and bearing were such as would have justified his prosecution for an attempt to incite a riot. Nowall this might havebeen overlooked by us had there been any evidence that it was merely an outburst of temper, followed by reparation and apology. Such ebullitions sometimes do lead men to do and say what their cooler thoughts condemn : but this does not appear to have been Mr Barnes’s case. Every bad feature in it has been aggravated by his attempt at vindicating his conduct, and throwing blame upon the Warder. How either he or his solicitor could imagine that he could stand justified before the Magisterial Bench, it is difficult to imagine. It was impossible for the authorities to overlook a public offence like that of which he had been guilty. To have passed it over would have led to the imputation of conniving at contempt of authority when committed by a well-to-do citizen and town councillor, which a poor or less influential man would have been prosecuted for. As it was, impediments were thrown in the way of the prosecution which ought to be inquired into. By the Bench they were described as part of the “ circumlocution system.” Whatever they were, they are disgraceful to us ; for no matter who it is that does wrong, high or low, rich or poor, there should be the same summary means of remedy. The evidence brought forward by Mr Barnes himself would have justified a much heavier penalty than has been inflicted on him. We regret that in this instance he has not maintained the reputation he has hitherto held for a John Bull love of fairplay. Had he acted fairly and generously, he would have admitted his error, and praised the Warder for the firm and uncompromising manner in which he fulfilled his duty. Mr Barnes placed him in a idifficult position, and has tried to throw blame upon him. We believe we express the common sentiment, when we say that he has upheld the reputation which the Otago Police Force and Warders of the Goal bear for exhibiting as much self-command as can be fairly expected of men subjected to the insult and abuse of irritated, unthinking men, and we think it only just they should know it. We will close these remarks by relating for Mr Barnes’s edification an anecdote which shows how a king acknowledged and rewarded faithful, though slightly inconvenient, fulfilment of duty in a subject. When George the Fourth was a boy, he was walking with his father George the Third, when they came to a boundary where a sentinel was placed, who had orders to allow no one to pass but the King himself. The prince being some paces behind was arrested by the sen-

tinel in obedience to his orders, and in spite of his kicks and struggles, kept prisoner. His Majesty missing him turned back, and, hearing the story, released him, at the same time presenting the sentinel with a guinea, saying he wished every one of his subjects was as loyal and faithful in the discharge of his duty as that man. We should have liked Mr Barnes to have acted in ■ a similar spirit—the guinea would not have been needed.