The Evening Star. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 7, 1875.

Evening Star, Issue 3781, 7 April 1875, Page 2

The Evening Star. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 7, 1875.

The charges of Judges Gillies and Williams are suggestive of the changes which are rapidly taking place in the character of crime, in consequence of the altered condition of society. In days of old crimes of violence predominated. Macaulay tells us that two hundred years ago, in the northern parts of England, life and property were insecure through the lawless character of the people “many miles south of the Tweed. ’» He says;

There was still a largo class of moss troopers, whose calling was to plunder dwellings and to drive away whole herds of cattle. It was found necessary, soon after the Restoration, to enact laws of great severity for the prevention of these outrages. The magistrates of Northumberland and Cumberland were authorised to raise bands of armed men for the defence of property and order; and provision was made for the expense of meeting these levies by local taxation.

This is not a very pleasant picture of social life as it was, and in comparison with the rudeness of that age, the more cowardly crime of the present may be considered a blessing. But what the author of “Physics and Politics ” says is true : “ Civilised ages inherit the human nature which was victorious in barbarous ages, and that nature is, in many respects, not at all suited to civilised circumstances.” Method of robbery has changed : the fashion of taking what belongs to another has passed from force to fraud ; the robber has become a sneak instead of being a ruffian. So far, so good. It is quite enough to lose one’s cash, without having to fight fer life. If the spread of education has effected nothing more, it has, at least, feared half the evil. But it has done much more than this; it has isolated the plunderer. In the times of which MAOAULAr wrote, the propensity to robbery by violence was the prevailing sentiment of large classes of men. They were brought up to the practice, trained in it, thought nothing wrong of it, made it a means of livelihood. They did wrong in masses, and openly in the sight of the world. All this is changed. Ihe remains of the barbarism occasionally show themselves in JNew South Wales, where bushrangers emulate the atrocities committed in the neighborhood of London in the days of William and Mary, and on very rare occasions in this Colony we are reminded that the old leaven still works. But robbery now-a-days assumes a form personally safer both to the robber and the robbed, and exhibits itself in petty forgeries and swindling. Perhaps even in these matters, too, we are apt to be misled through the class of men who now figure most in our police courts, charged with these crimes. There is a tendency to attribute those offences to the spread of education, as if they had not been practised before systematic education of the people was adopted. Many partially informed men persuade themselves that since forgery, attempts at swindling through valueless cheques, and other methods of fraud, require, as remarked by Judge Williams, “a certain amount of education to perpetrate successfully,” education itself should be withheld, unless on conditions that they themselves would prescribe. They Eoint to those crimes to which education has elped, and say “See what it does.” Just in the same way did politicians oppose the adoption of the ballot at elections, which they said was calculated to foster corruption and hypocrisy, as if the very prevalence of those vices was not the reason that rendered it necessary. But all history proves that, in proportion to the diffusion of educate, even crimes of fraud have diminished. The doings of politicians and courtiers in times gone past appear to hav® been fraudulent from beginning to end, and they were mainly the class who could then be termed educated. With a powerful pen Lord Maoaxjlay describes the politician of Charles the Second’s v, 18 Bcarel y an exaggeration to say that the moat unprincipled public men who have taken part in affairs within our memory would, if tried by the standard which was in fashion during the latter part of the nineteenth century, deserve to be regarded as scrupulous and disinterested.” The “good old times ” which have so great a charm for the imaginative must have been risky days to live in. Men in these dayi complain of eduoation rates and taxes for police, but they little know how much of present comfort is due to these contributions. We have those amongst us too—men in influential positions —who hold the theory of limiting popular education to the smallest dose. They seem to imagine that because they happen to be born to fortune, or to have achieved one through effort or circumstance, they have the right to dictate that 'the less successful shall only know so much as will fit them to be respectable breakers of road metal, hewers of wood, and drawers of water. It is a poor return for the blessings they enjoy, as, but for the spread of eduoation, they themselves would have been groanm serfdom. We commend to them Judge Williams’s remarks, which we reprint for their consideration :

Aii education was more widely diffused, it was reasonably to be expected that crimes of violence would diminish, but it was unfortunate if crimes of fraud increased. Noble efforts were being made to promote education, but education to be complete must develop the moral sentiments as well as the intellectual powers. Children should be taught to admire what is noble and generous, and detest what is mean. We must, in fact, look to the education of the emotions, as well as the mechanical requirements of knowledge, if we wish to reap the full benefits of education as a preventive of crime.

The Hon. the Minister for Immigration today visited the Mosgiel Woollen Factory and the Immigration Barracks at Caveraham. In the class . firing at Greymouth the following splendid score was made by Dr Monce Third class, 69; second class, 66 : first class, 66. '

* Lady Audley’s Secret” was repeated at the Princess’s last night, and Miss Howard’s impersonation of the heroine was again received with much favor. To-night “ Camille” will be played.

Mr Leather Broad, R.M. at Nelson, has passed the necessary examination previous to admission to the bar, and was highly complimented by Judge Johnston, who conducted the examination.

Fnnoy “Sleepy Hollew” absorbing a ship-load of immigrants I From the • Mail ’ we learn that all the late arrivals found employment, and the barracks at Nelson are now empty.

On leaving Oamarn, the Bev. F. 0. Dewsbury (W esleyan) was presented by his congregation with a gold lever watch, with a massive albert guard, both articles being valued at twenty guineas.

The annual tea meeting of the Wesleyan body in Port Chalmers took place last ovening, but we are not able to report the proceedings, owing to our representative at the Port not having received an intimation of the meeting. This is with a vengeance going from Heme to hear news. In a recent issue of the ‘ Oreymouth Star ” appeared the following astounding local “ Bequests of about LIOjOOO, to bo divided equally between the Benevolent Institute and Female Befuge, have been left by Mr Smith, of Auckland street, Dunedin, who died lately,”

As mi interesting proof of the eagerness with which Mr Gladstone’s “Expostulation” is sought after and read in this part of the world, it may be mentioned that nearly 3,000 copies of the authorised Australian edition of it have been sold in Melbourne, and that the demand for it appears to have undergone very little abatement. At the Court of petty sessions at Oamaru one Arthur Thoms applied to be exempted from jury service, as being Inspector of Nuisances, but the Bench decided that the table of exemptions in the schedule of the Act did not provide for the exemption of such an officer as the applicant, whose name was therefore retained.

Yesterday afternoon an accident occurred at Murray’s Floating Dock, Port Chalmers, to a man named William Davidson, who,’ while engaged scraping the side of the s.s. Beautiful Star, fell from the stage into the dock, and striking on a spare rudder in his fall fractured his cheek bone, besides reoeiving other bruises. He was taken to Dunedin Hospital by the 5.30 p.m, train. The quarterly meeting of Court Robin Hood, No. 3,991, A.0.P., was held in the Masonic Hall, Port Chalmers, last evening. The report of delegates on the alteration of laws was read, and Bros. Asher and Morris appointed delegates to the next district meeting. Bro. Menelaus was re-elected auditor. Prom the quarterly financial statement submitted it appeared that the total worth of the Court’s funds was L 624 15s 4d; that Ll3O had been invested during the past term on mortgage on frehold p«g»erty at 9 per cent.; that the increase of the general fund during the quarter had been L2O, against a decrease of incidental fund amounting to L 8 and that Ll3 10s had been paid from the incidental fund for the excavation of a section, the property of the Court. A P.C.R. certificate was presented to Bro. Middleditch, in recognition of services rendered by him to the Court.

The directors of the Dunedin Waterworks Company, through the deputy chairman, waited on his Worship the Mayor at his office in the Council Chambers, yesterday morning, for the purpose of presenting the silver key voted by the shareholders of the company at their last meeting. Mr Eliott deputy chairman, made the presentation in a few well chosen remarks. His Worship suitably replied, thanking the shareholders of the company for their kindness, and expressing his gratification that he had occupied the position of Mayor on the important occasion of the transfer of the works to the city. The silver key, which is a very handsome one, bears the following inscription : l^ 68611^ Ramsay, Esq,, Mayor of Dunedin, by the shareholders of the Dunedin Waterworks Company on transferring their works to the Corporation, 31st December 1874.”

They have lively times of it in the Westland Provincial Council Thus in a recent debate we read ef Mr John White telling a Mr Seddon, as to something the latter had said “1 he utterance to say the least of it was utterly at variance with the truth, and if that was not a strong enough contradiction for the gentleman he would be compelled to express it in a monosyllable. ” To which Mr Seddon replied “Whenhe (Mr Seddon)came to the Council he expected a certain amount of respect would be shown by each mem ber both to himself and to other members. It would appear, however, that such was not the case. Had the monosyllables as referred to, been applied outside the Council, and were it in his case, he would soon retaliate by throwing back the term and probably following it up with something else.” Then, speaking generally of the Council:—-“ Anyone would imagine if to be a rat-pit, in place of a Provincial Council One bobbed up here and another there.” Mr Donovan rose to speak, whereupon Mr Sheddon remarked, “there was another bobbing up.” Mr Speaker on being appealed to upon a question of personal demeanor, replied—“ he could not be expected to teach members good manners.” Mr White, referring to Mr Todd, said—“ That gentleman seemed to bow down constantly at the shrine of I the Government, and would leave his mart either day or night to vote with the Government. All the Government had to do in his case was to introduce any question, and he (Mr Todd) would reply, as was the custom of ‘Johnny Trotter,’by calling out ‘Correct.’ °

t wiU address the electors at the Institute Hall, Roslyn, at eight o’clock on Friday evening. Mr B. Short will deliver a lecture on Mutual Luxe Insurance, at Caversham, on Friday evening, 9th instant.

A telegraph station is now open at Geraldine, in the Province of Canterbury.