The Evening Star THURSDAY, OCTOBER 21, 1875.

Evening Star, Issue 3949, 21 October 1875, Page 2

The Evening Star THURSDAY, OCTOBER 21, 1875.

Rusiiwokth says the pillory was invented for the special benefit of mountebanks and quacks, “ that having gotten upon banks and ffcrms to abuse the people were exalted in the same kind."' Chambers says, “ Had the heroes of the pillory been only cheats, thieves, scandalmongers, and perjurers, it would rank no higher among instruments of punishment than the stocks or the ducking-stool“but,” says Forster. “Koble hearts had been tried and tempered in it; daily had been elevated in mental independence, manly self-reli-ance, robust athletic endurance. All from within that has undying worth, it had but the more plainly exposed to public gnze from without.” There atr but, few living who can remember the now extinct pilloiy, yet some can remember having seen the punishment undergone. In its last days the physical torture was trifling ; the danger was not from the pillory, hut from the mob who assembled to see the sufferer. With head pinned, the face toward the crowd, and hands secured so that moving tight or left was impossible, the prisoner was a tempting mark for tie rude and barbarous, who always used to meet in numbers fo enjoy the fun of inflicting torture. Provided with the foulest dirt, dead cats, rotten eggs, or any polluting filth they could procure, they bespattered and buffetted the helpless victim until on many occasions the punishment of the pillory proved punishment of death. We pride ourselves in these days 'hat we are guiltless of such barbarisms , and truly vve j have got rid of the ugly and unsightly pillory, nor does the mob explore the gutter or the cesspool for material with which to bespatter and befoul the innoYet the traditions of the pillory rem <in and enter iMo our political and * SUC..U life. “ I’inOW bill, ei hiii ■ - a ;iii,i I' BOlQ « uf it is Sim; to stick” was the maxim on which the crowd acted ; and, judging by the tactics of the Opposition based on that principle, one | woultl imagine they had had the I Ministry, and especially Sir J. Vogel, in tire pillory. The latter especially stood in that ideal position, as he was helpless to rebut the statements made against : him. He has been assailed with insinuations and direct charges • nni ' v . o1 ‘ ll, y motives have been imputed to | him both in the House and out of it; I not content with criticising his public | actions his private affairs have been before the public with the intention of imputing corrupt motives regarding the purchase of the Port Chalmers lino of railway by the General Government; and altogether, in regard to both him and the rest of the Ministry a course of conduct has been pursued intended to shake public opinion in their probity, alike disgraceful and damaging to those who have adopted it. We know of no lines more appropriate than those of Defoe’s in his “Hymn to the Pillory,” in which he was placed in return for public services not equal to those rendered to Hew Zealand by Sir J Vogel. fei! thorn the men that placod him lioro Ar»- scandals to the line s ; Arc re a it iris tu (inti his guilt, And can't commit his crimes. Hie crowd valued Defoe, and on bis second appearance in the pillory flung him garlm .hj in nee of rot .an eggs, and | nrank Ins n■ t• tJi w'di reel;n>;. r i. ns ; 1 and we vaTrn ro s.-y that iu. spile of Biv J, Vogel’s detraotorrj in the Legie- i

lative Council and House of Representatives, aided by the unsubstantial visions of Mr Bridges and his banking flimsies; in spite of the pretentions financial review by Mr Fitzherbert, Wicked by the fervid imagination of Sir George Grey, the mass of the people of New Zealand will imitate their example, and show their approbation of what Sir J. Yogel has done and suffered for the Colony. Justice requires that from the list of detractors Mr Macandrew must be excepted. In a very handsome and straightforward manner, when the Bank of New Zealand was charged with putting pressure upon the Government to compel the purchase of the railway, he defended the transaction, and explained that it was not the Bank of New that he, as Superintendent, in the interests of the Colony and Province, pressed the Government to buy the lino. Of itself the explanation was sufficient; but it was not enough to wipe off the dirt cast upon the reputation of Sir J. Yogel \ and his colleagues, therefore, most loyally determined that the country should be in possession of the grounds on which the pretended laches rested. The charge was based upon the word of i the manager of a Bank, a person whose position is always supposed to imply a sense of honor and veracity equal to that expected of a Minister of the Crown. In order to secure the utmost plainness of speaking, an Act was passed to protect the witness from all consequences. Tno committee put the most searching ques'ions, which wen- evaded in a most di^creditable way. and at last it appeared that the whole was an inference based upon a banking arrangement of sti icily a private character, having no reference whatever to public business, and involving so paltry a sum that even a child would know better than to misconstrue it. In the words of the manager of the Bank of New Zealand at Auckland (Mr Murdoch): “Theimputation apparently meant by MiBridges is simply a wicked and malicious invention.” The Select Committee reported i liat the imputations and inferences of Mr Lkidcjes, to '.ho effect that some improper influ euce has betn exercised by the Bmk of Now Zealand on .Sir Julius VoGELin connection with the purchase of the Fort Chalmers Railway and otherwise, we absolutely unwarranted and without foundation. To the honor of the House, the announcement was received with cheers. Who should now be pilloried ?