THE GLOBE. THURSDAY, JANUARY 13, 1881. THE CHATHAM ISLAND MURDERER.

Globe, Volume XXIII, Issue 2148, 13 January 1881, Page 2

THE GLOBE. THURSDAY, JANUARY 13, 1881. THE CHATHAM ISLAND MURDERER.

The sentence of death passed on Wharepa, the Chatham Island murderer, has been commuted to imprisonment for life. If the Executive have erred in this matter, they have done so on the right side, namely, on that of mercy. They have most probably been much influenced by the action of the jury at the time of the trial. It will be remembered that the foreman stated to the Judge that they were unanimous as to the verdict, but that they wanted to know whether they could bring in any recommendation to mercy on account of the wife’s adultery. The Judge then told them that they were sworn to find their verdict according to the evidence, and there was no evidence of the adultery of the wife. Whereupon the jury retired, and in three minutes returned into Court with a verdict of “ Guilty,” with no recommendation attached. The executive may well have considered that, virtually, the jury had testified their desire to recommend Wharepa to mercy, but had been debarred on technical grounds from carrying their purpose into effect, and no doubt this is the main reason why the sentence has been commuted. As long as the interests of society are not trifled with no reasonable objection can be offered to the prisoner getting the benefit of a supposition that a recommendation to mercy would have been made had the jury been allowed to offer one. And when calmly considered, imprisonment for life may well be thought to offer a more appalling outlook, particularly to a Maori, than death itself. The irksomeness of constant confinement, with no prospect of release, must have in it something terrible to one of a race who are constitutionally averse to all restraint. The murderer Tuhi met his death with astonishing phlegm—in ordinary cases we should call it fortitude —and it is very doubtful whether he would have received a sentence of perpetual imprisonment with the same nonchalance, The deterrent effect of the example made of Wharepa may consequently be as great under present circumstances as it could have been had the sentence of death been carried into effect.

While on this subject we cannot help glancing for one moment on the extraordinary antics played by our contemporary the “ Star ” in connection with this painful subject. In its well known style it took up the cudgels for Wharepa, and, in extremely bad taste, cried him up at the expense of his deceased wife. It cast general reflections on all women who married Maoris, and, consequently, by implication, on all men who married Maori women. This so-called Liberal journal was unable to conceive that any Maori was capable of education, or was at all able to raise himself to a state where ho might very well marry a European. This, to say the least of it, was singular in a print which has taken npon itself to cry down the present Ministry because it is supposed to be hard on the Natives. When endeavouring to make political capital, the Maori is represented as an enlightened and noble human being. When advocating the cause of a murderer, the Maori is declared to be the scum of the earth, and any woman who would think of marrying one is stated to be utterly abandoned. But the conclusion of the story verges on the ridiculous, In a letter, apparently emanating from Gloucester street itself, the “ Star ” is congratulated on the victory it has achieved in saving Wharepa’s life ! The Ministry are supposed to have been converted by the crushing arguments adduced by our contemporary, and by its brilliant style. The picture of the Executive crowding round a copy of the “ Star ” was evidently present in the mind of the writer of the letter. The article has been cut out and pasted in the minutes, and the Hon. John Hall and his confreres have been “ knocked out of time ” by the pungency of the writing. This may well bo termed “ rising to the occasion,” and if the process conveys any pleasure to the mind of the “ Star,” we feel confident that the public will not grudge it the sensation.