The Globe. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 4, 1875.

Globe, Volume IV, Issue 460, 4 December 1875, Page 2

The Globe. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 4, 1875.

The enquiry into the cause of the late fire at Mr Wright’s furniture shop has terminated unsatisfactorily to all parties concerned. The jury could not agree upon a verdict, and consequently they cannot be discharged until the next criminal sitting of the Supreme Court. There seems to be but very doubt that the various fires were intentionally lighted, but the evidence forthcoming was not sufficient to lead to the apprehension of any person for the diabolical act. The block of buildings, of which Mr Wright’s shop forms a part, is very old, and in many part a mere shell. A fire once getting hold of such a block would rage with the greatest fury, and, from the fact of a well-known hotel being one of the buildings close by, a number of lives were likely to be jeopardised by the perpetrator of the arson. As the foreman of the jury very truly remarked “ there exists a villain in our “ midst who requires to be hunted out.” We do not think there have been very many cases of the crime of arson in Canterbury. One notable case did occur some years ago, and the criminal ended bis file on the scaffold. A similar fate might have happened to the villain who set fire to Wright’s shop, if his plans had not been upset by the promptness and bravery of Constable Wheatley. The members of our detective force bear good names for acuteness and diligence, and it is to be hoped that their exertions to discover the author of the late fire may be successful. Certain it is that all residents are interested in his capture, and that in such a town as Christchurch, composed as it is of so many wooden houses, a sense of insecurity will prevail so long as we know that the fire-raiser is still at large. Though we have butfamt hopes of the discovery of the incendiary, yet the vigilance of the police should be stimulated by the late attempt, and the watch kept upon suspicious characters, who may be supposed to know something of the late crime, must not be relaxed. With increased population we must prepare ourselves for an increased number of the criminal class, though the percentage of this class amougst us is not so large here as in many other colonies. The police force in this province has lately beeu receiving numerous recruits into its ranks. Some of them may become in time useful members of the force, but amongst the latest additions there are to be seen some specimens which lead us to believe that the Commissioner muifc be 4 very hopeful man. With

the practice of their duties there may come a certain amount of smartness, but at present there appears a vast amount of stupidity. We say this in no unfriendly spirit, but the fact is one which is commonly observed by those whose duties lead them to watch the conduct of the members of the force. Any one who takes the trouble to spend a Thursday morning in the Resident Magistrate’s Court must come to the same conclusion. Still we are prepared to give the police credit for performing their duties with diligence, and we can but trust that their efforts to hunt out such miscreants as the person who attempted to burn Mr. Wright’s shop may prove as successful in the future, as they have been in the past.