FALSE SYMPATHY.

Evening Star, Issue 3532, 18 June 1874, Page 3

FALSE SYMPATHY.

To the Editor. Slß,—-I notice an attempt on the part of spme writers in ; the 1 Guardian* to elicit the sympathy and assistance of the Dunedin public in order to regain the release from well-merited hard labor, of the notorious “ squatter Smith,” the loafer and well-known cheat, who has been gaining a somewhat Precarious existence for some years past by giving himself out to he a squatter, and other fcimilari falsehoods, to deceive the public. There might be some excuse for public sympathy and interference in favor of a man of sterling, honest, moral, and business good conduct, as Stead was well known to have always been ; but there cannot by any possibility, be any advantage to the public sufficient to cause people to strive and get such a notorious pest as this Langmuir Smith from the only place where (to judge from his numerous previous convictions) be feels himself at home. As to the other case mentioned, as it is yet untried, I will allude to ib no further than to mention that about L 5 5s for a legal gentleman should be very easily raised amongst his acquaintances, particularly since his landlord has kindly volunteered Ll Is to wards it; and there is evidently no cause sufficient to justify the collection tf a large pnyse, merely to satisfy the insatiable cravings of the law and those who live by it. ■We, of the public, should never wish to encourage wrongdoers with the belief that they ydll by apy possibility receive the support qf public ©pinion. That opinion, when nghtly directed by the Press, rarely fails to find out the merits and demerits of most cases, mid I trust we may be a long nhile before we hear of another Tichborne ease, when it might be considered necessary for pprposes to stop the newspaper sifting. Free ventilation in the Press is the one necessary in order to cleanse and swpeten ajl matters of public interest, and Judges should be very cautious how they interfere with it, for without free ventilatiou public opinion often errs; but with a free inquiry through the Press, a sound public verdict en almost any conceivable case is almost—nay, quite-—certain, if continued long enough.— l am, *c. t Scot, June 16.