The Chronicle. PUBLISHED DAILY TUESDAY, JUNE 28, 1910. THE CASE OF POWELKA.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 28 June 1910, Page 2

The Chronicle. PUBLISHED DAILY TUESDAY, JUNE 28, 1910. THE CASE OF POWELKA.

Petitions praying for a coiiimiitntion of tin* sentences passed upon the iuceiidiarist and thief Powelka lire now in circulation alt Levin and utiller places in the Ilnrnwhynua Con lit j*. AVc had thougli t wlion we wrote our leading 'article of last We (In ex day week we Ji;i;l made our |io.sibioii siiflicieiitly clear; -hint, sc>eiig (hat the petition was placed bc'ore us for signature yesterday afiernoon we, feel it necessary to state >ihv again our objections to the present agitallion for a remission of 'ho will-merited punishment put up>ii 'this dangerous criminal by the >a.ssionlrss judge who tried ,his case. iYe reprint verbatim, to-day, our ■emarks of tlio 15tli .fiin-e last, More >eiiig .nothing in them thait we. wish o minimise After tlio fortnight of urther thought that has been given o tlio caso. "Wo then observed hat perhaps ifc was nof. to bo wonerod' at—the' widespread sympathy or Powelka that was indit-nted in mhlie pi a ccs and in print. A ;ren,t section of the community beieves tliat youthful criminal was riven into crime by certain unforunate domestic and oilier exporince,s that befel him; and right long the lengthy course of his misemeanours audi escapades there ave arisen 'numerous apologises for is actions. It may be (that a good eal of exaggeration has been inulged in regarding ,his domestic cperiences and other alleged causes f his wrongdoing, hut it should he imemhered that even were everyling exactly as alleged, Powelka •imes were sordid nnd commonplace '■i\ the greater part. They gave .diications, too, of being the work man with mind unbalanced, ■en in the early stages wherein iey were prejudicial to property tly, and nht to life and limb, as hseqiumtly they becamc. It seoims ns thai) a ""great deal of tlio sym'thy for Powelka springs from emo>nal sources, and that Ito a, large 'tent there is in operation the iniitiye passion which for ages past

(i has exalted into heroism tho acts of anyone who sots his own individuality against the mighty forces of public opinion as expressed in the provisions for enforcing law and or(k>r: forces that are based upon t'he absolute necessities of every eoniI mi unity. That particular .aspect of the case should be insisted upon; it 'is a fact not recognised as clearly ■as it should be that I'ow-olka was sentenced to imprisonment because plain William Brown and Thomas Jones and Henry Thompson, and .n a- million other citizens of New Zea- " land, have said that the very few ~ thousands amongst them who traus- ( gross certain laws made for the protection of everybody must go to prison by way of punishment, and also .as a warning to others who may be hesitating about committing crimes. Powelka according to several of his apologists and admirers. R' went abroad stealing furniture and ■stripping houses of their roofing be- — cause marital experiences and resulting nerds drove him to such acts. Tf that is re-ally the case, an unbalanced criminal disposition clearly remains io be reckoned with. II everyone w-lioso marital 'experiences are not to his liking were to go out stripping houses of their roo-f lead a great many of those excited people who are at present addressing public meetings at- Wanganni or signing petitions in .Wellington would be kept too busy spurring on the detectives and police to run to earth the purloineis of their rooftrues to have any sympathy to waste on I'owelka and other properly treated malefactors. Anyone whose memory is long enough to trace backwards the criminal careei of Powelka must know that he had shown decidedly criminal traits long before lie became notorious through escaping from custody. IT is apologists say that the crimes he committed subsequently were- chiefly robberies made compulsory by hunger. y It is trie that sonic of his rolibericis were in this category : but what- are we to say to the crime of arson? \s I'l'cm the rj 11 :t 1 iitv of some of the arguments put forward by the Toll welka .apologists, we are almost pre--1 pared to hear one of them contend, |, in regard to the wilful burning o-f the I'almerdon Xorth High School, that the poor man had to get a tire sonu how, to cook his meat by. Tlii-s, . it seriously contended, would' be J only n few ilegrr;"- more nonsensical than some o| the apologies already made for the man. Tnto the iju-s----t-ion of whether Mr .Tu-tice CVmpcr's sentence was too severe we do net propose to go. beyond saying that His Honour passed son fence after having heard all the evidence and havine; given consideration to all the p i;."e reports on prisoner's char:,(ter an antecedents. Knowing that .judge lor an upright, conscii u-tiou.sand-we :niisr add, in the lighl nl his latest j:c : ; proiKinnci - ment a morally courageous man, We are content to accept as ( |iiitc correct his judgment in sentencing I'owelka. the armed and desperate to a term of twentv-onr ,\e.'ix !!• p"'.v>ii!tiei.t. The pronounceHlcil! Wli.S vi lit I if<:t {I'Hi of iii;> f;i\v. and.an unmi--1 ■ hath. indication t- ; iV'-ak-inindi 1 yet hc.a.-'droug .■-ri:n----inals in posse thai society's K'liM-ds were not to be trilled with I'ndnly and with impunitx-. \ r rt ' :1 ''••■■l of emotional sympathy is being given i'\j>re.->:io!i to- ji isj 'I'W. but it will be found in thc'cii•l'in'ng stages that the deep im,': V-" "lid seldom express...] force of legifil"lhli(' "pinion will result in a maiiiitenance of fh;> proper standards ol right and wrong in i,hi> ''•'>'e as in various otheis. and that '■''J' pi""per course of justice M -ill hi lelfc nntiiriied. in spite of the froiliv philt ppics ot an iik onsiderable but "-'K v minority of the population.