The Chronicle. PUBLISHED DAILY. MONDAY, AUGUST 22, 1910. THE CASE OF CHARLES NODINE.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 22 August 1910, Page 2

The Chronicle. PUBLIS HED DAILY. MONDAY, AUGUST 22, 1910. THE CASE OF CHARLES NODINE.

1 ~ j Tin: trial and n<<( iti tLai r»f Charles Xodino. at Wellington, on a charge of perjury, is fraught with various lessons lor those who roatl the ease 'riiinai'ily it accentuates t':e ;>i" tho old axiom that ' Mic Mian v. 1 '") is lii.s own lawyer ! .is a i' w il for h.is client." A casuist, might make capital I'rom tlic l'a.-t t!: -I X< din? was acquitted' afto? c milii: i inv; bis own case, but the oril. iua! I'act lemains for oonsiderati > i: that Xodine would have been saved l ioiii <!:iiiisc!f ha.l lie been guided by \\ 'so cnnnsols iii the civil case w!:orein lie first lt;<11 within the jrr*p c!' i''i<? criniinnl law. Ti:o criminal side of t*lo case, in essence, has gone to prove l<!iat to-day the law of the land takes cognisance of side issues ci uliicli blind-eye:! Justice, a hundred years ago, wodd have denied o.'on the existence. The effect of the jury's verdict, i\ liv'ercl in "Welli ii Lit hll last Friday. is that (lie aegis id' the law is to he thi':>\\n around neurotics who s::t. at defiance the eic'nary canons and ties l»y which pro-perly-balaiu od men are l.ound. 'I lie \erdi"! open.': up :> vv'. !-s v ; sta to the cont'Miiplatio;! of pliihsoplicrs, and evokes tie p?rLinent finery of, Where is it t.l have end? There is a school of philosophy which accounts all insane, and whiVh would acco.: :] kind treatment, as preliminary stages to effecting complete reformation, alike to the petty thief and the calculating murderer. There is something to be said in favour of this theoretical system, perhaps; hut when all is paid it amounts to the veriest sophistry. People, and consequently juries, are advancing

t retrograding to the stage at which sentiment and not reason will Uo the dominating influence in Llieir deliberations and verdicts, and at the present rate of progression the day will he soon with us when the plea of passion will be set up is a sufficient defence to most of the criminal charges. In ibis Nodine case the accused went into the box, while on his trial, and said "He believed now, and always would believe, that the agreement produced was a forgery. You can send me to gaol if you like; you can tear me to pieces: you can kill me; but I say that I shall always believe that document is a forgery. Mind, I don't nsk you to believe it."

To our mind, the last senetnee of Nodine's utterance marks him as calculating rather than impetuous, and makes his astounding false utterances (as found by the jury) savour more of recklessness than hallucination. It is evident,-however, that the jury deemed' Nodane irresponsible, as witness its findings to the seven issues placed before at :— 1. Did Nodine swear that the s'g-

nature to the agreement was not his signature?—" Yes." 2. Is the agreement a genuine document?—" Yes." 3. Was it in fact signed by Nodine?—"Yes.'' hi these questions are answered "Yes," then: 4. Did Xodiine, in swearing us above, do so in the mistaken belief that he had not signed the agreement P-'Te's." o. Was such belief without foundation P—"Yes." G. Did Xodine when giving his evidence, know that bis assertions that the signature was not his and that be did not sign the agreement were false? —"No, but he ought to ■have known." 7. Did he intend to mislead the Court ?-"Xo." In a desire to bo scrupulously fair to Mr Nodine, we add that the presiding j"<lge (Mr Justice Cooper) is leported to have said that the verd/'ct was a very proper one. Accused was tihen discharged. We have not the temerity to set up our judgment, based on necessarily fragmentary reports, against that of the learned judge who heard the whole of the evidence in X( dine's case, but we do say, unreservedly, that there lias been apparent in the last decade, in various countries, a disposition amongst men and juries to tread the easy paths of sophistical sliding instead of the thorny ones of. judgment and duty. And there are somo elements in the present case which seem to justify its inclusion in the category we have just referred to. This particular contention may be correct or .it may not lie; but in any case fflie moral remains that it is advisable in the interests of the whole community to have a strengthening of the moral fibre of our people, to the end that justice may be administered, and not a sentimental simulation of it.