Mataura Ensign GORE, FRIDAY, APRIL 11, 1884. ABOLITION OP CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.

Mataura Ensign, Volume 6, Issue 347, 11 April 1884, Page 2

Mataura Ensign GORE, FRIDAY, APRIL 11, 1884. ABOLITION OP CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.

The present may be considered by many a very inopportune time to discuss the subject of the abolition of capital punishment, owing to the exceptional brutality -which is so marked a characteristic of our present day murders. It is not, however, our purpose to speculate upon the probable advantages or disadvantages likely to result from the abolition of the death penalty. For the present we prefer glancing at what tbe chances are which the philanthropists have of their desired reform being realised. As we understand it, their main hope rests upon the arrival of a time when public sympathy will be bo refined and sensitive that the taking of life at the instigation of the law will be viewed with such aversion that no Government will be able to persist in it. That public sympathy is, like everything else, obeying the law of progress, few, we think, will deny. Indeed the improvements whish have been effected from time to time io the modes of execution, since the days of burning at the stake, point clearly to this fact. Fpf^instarice, beheading was certainly a less barbarous form than burning ; and 'allowing the corpse to swing in a tarred bag from a roadside gibbet, nqtrible^ though' it was, wai not sp revolting Vft? pbheading, e ° au *''J^g£ e s of blood : again, public executions, whei;e;the body was re.mdvefi soon after death, were less forbidding spectacles than those, presented by the old cross-roads, gibbets; yet again, the last change, to the present method- of 1 hanging in puvate, was undoubtedly a concession to a public sympathy which had grown so sensitive as to acutely feel the outrage inflicted upon it by the degrading scenes witnessed at public executions., These successive modifications point to the advance of a merciful public feeling, and, wo think, entitle the abolitionists to cherish the belief that their jjhope rests upon a surer foundation than the , delusive dreams which too often temporarily illuminate the path of the reformer. There are, of course, numerous other evidences of the growth of the faculty of sympathy, such as the laws passed for liuiitiug the hours of children's labor in mines and factories, the formation of societies for the prevention of cruelty to animals, and the growing feeeling in favor of reformatory punishments. How rapidly the sympathy for children has grown will be seen by recalling the statement of Johbt Howabd, the English philanthropist, who tells us that in the reign of George the Second it was tha custom in some of the schools " to work and lash the children like slaves ;" it being usual for the boys to receive " as many as sixty and a hundred lashes for errors in arithmetic." Another hope of the philanthropists is, that as the masses oecome more intelligent they will accept the teaching at present being promulgated by some of the world's leading medical scientists ~ namely, that the desire to murder is an outcome of a dis»< H9?d or abnormally formf d brain. It is believ.ed that when the masses grasp this idea tfaejf jvill have no more desire for the death of th© murderer than they now have for executing the insane, and that My Bright's opinion, that the gallows fa ft a resource of bafbarism," will b» uuivereijlJy held. While we derive considerable pleasure in acknowledging the strength of the arguments put forward by the philanthropists In gupp<H>oJ? fcjje growth of sympathy, we may be pe«»Ufcs[:J to question whether the" approach t& 8 foi#/on days, they so earnestly desire is co «ws? $s to be within measurable distance.

Flowers and evergreens will bo thankfully received to-morrow morning at Holy i Trinity Church for Easter decorations. It is rumored in Dunfdin that several I large firms in the city have stopped payment. Frozen meat is now bringing a fair price ' in the London market. The cargo of the Doric, from New Zealand, is Belling at 6£d i per lb for ordinary mutton. The Gore post office will not be open to- ; day, and on Easter Monday the office will only be open from 9 till 10, and for a delivery : of letters from 7 till 8. Mails, however, will , be despatched as usual. Churchmen are reminded that, agreeably to custom, the offertories at the Anglican Churches on Easter Sunday are given to the clergy. The property at Mataura lately occupied by Mr J. S. Anderson was sold on Tuesday for about L6OO, the purchasers being Messrs Thomson and J. 13. Humphries. On Monday last at a meeting of the tradespeople of the Mataura township, it was decided to close all business houses for eight days in the year, this number comprising all the regular public holidays, ,and further to close at 9 p.m. on Saturdays. Mr J. H. Baker, who was at one time chief aurreyor of Southland, and who has been discharging the duties of a similar position in Canterbury for the past seven years, has gone Home in tha Ruapheu, having obtained leave of absence on account of ill-health. In a Dunedin seduction case, Terence Dunne v. Hugh Morris, in which damages of L 250 were claimed, Judge Williams found for the plaintiff for Ll6O. The girl, aged 18, was engaged in the same photographic gallery as the defendant. The railways yesterday were crowded with excursionists, the points of attraction being Oamaru and Christchurch, where volunteer demonstrations and races respectively are being held. The bulk of the volunteers passed through Gore by special train about one o'clock this morning, their number including the Mataura contingent of hussare> to the ipt&l of six or seven. The manager of the Mataura Paper Mill Works, Mr Thornley, had his left hand badly crushed and burned on Monday through its being drawn between the felt rolkrs and one of the drying cylinders. This occureed during some alterations in the erection of the new machinery. The injuries were not of a particularly serious nature, and in the necessary absence of the local doctor at Wyndham were attended to by one of the proprietors of the mill. Following is an extract from a letter received by the Government from Mr R, Bourchier, Sheep Inspector in Lake Wakatip district : — " I wsb last week on a station at Wanaka Lake where a mob of hoggets were attacked by keas, and in one night no less than 200 sheep were killed. The shepherds killed most of the birds, however. The use of bonus for the destruction of keas is such that it gives a great impetus to men to destroy the birds, and sometimes it is hard earned. The owner of one run in this district gives contractors 4s per beak, and his shepherds 3s per beak ; and the consequence is that this shearing, hardly a sheep was marked bj them, and the death rate of his sheep was reduced by nearly one-half. The total number of beaks delivered at my office was 1674." ■ ■ • The Committee of the Gore Athenaeum met on Wednesday last. There were present Messrs Dolamore (president), Bonriey, Piller, . Souness, Buttle, Douglas, and Hare. It was Gore^Pown ' Board ;for very acceptable donation of LIO to the funds. The secretary and treasurer were authorised to make arrangements for gravelling the footpath from the street to the athenaeum door. The committee having L3O or L4O at its credit in the Bank, it was resolved that catalogues of books in stock be obtained from he principal booksellers in Dunedin, and that the committee meet on Tuesday week to make & selection. At that meeting each i member of the committee will have the privilege of naming a number of works he desires to see on the shelves, and any ; suggestions from members of the institution ! regarding the selection of books will be gladly 1 received. They may bo placed in the suggestion book now in possession of the librarian. Some evidence of an intention to race has been obtained at the inquiry just concluded in Melbourne into the collision between the Wairarapa and the Adelaide. Mr Turnbull, agent for the latter steamer, stated that when on board the Wairarapa the previous day, Mr David Mills (the Union Company's agent) jokingly suggested to the engineer that she (the Wairarapa) should show the Ade- : laide a clean pair of heels down the harbor i next day. • The evidence as to which vessel ! was in fault in bringing about the actual collision is decidedly contradictory. Those . on board the Adelaide blame the Wairarapa people, and vice vSrsa. The Navigation Board in delivering its decision held that the Adelaide, being the overtaking vessel, was bound by the regulations to keep out of the way of the Wairarapa, and Captain Lockyer was therefore responsible for the casualty Taking into consideration the darkness and the dangers of the channel, the Bsard conj sidered it highly reprehensible to proceed at such a high rate of speed, the vessels being in dangerous proximity. 3he Board suspended the certificate of Captain Lockyer for two months, and severely censured both masters, and cautioned them as to the future. Captain Derbin, nautical assessor, entered a . protest against the finding of the Board, being of opinion that both masters were responsible for the collision. r" : Mr~DrHtfitaey Farmers' Arms Hotel at V Wyndham is nofr out of the contractors' hands, and a ne: t commodious looking strucj ture it is, Th ; building has a concrete foundation, and walls of brick. The frontJ j Age to Jthp main street is 41 feet and that to ' | Scutari sjtreeit is 58 feet, The buiiding con- ' I tains on fche gro nd ftopr, front parlor, best 1 dining ;room, bi r, bar parlor, long diningJ room, kitchen Bad the three rooms for the ' landlord's'use, in plualng a comfortable parr lor. Proceeding lalong a .^spacious hall, and 5 up the " winding! stair," we find a parlor and bedroom adjoining, exceedingly 1 qwtftep for thoße|en their, honeymoon. On t 1 the opposes $£c j^re two rooms very similar r ; in size aud desig£. T^ remaining rooms 3 ' are bedrooms. All the furniture as mi, placed yet, but glancing at the finished rooms" one ■ £f got help concluding that Mr Milne 'is 6 flpa^iig n# p^ns and expense in providing a ' everything $ jftp j^ aua,lity. Electric >• ( bells are erects i in every roo;np, and' water - | laid on £rora elevated .talks'. MVasrs BrownS Jlq and Springfield, th e contractors, Reserve } # woi'd oi i 2&i«e for the workmanlike tnan- ; ne? ia wh£oh they hav^ ex«eujed their w r k. fe It is Jilmost superfluous to state that MrF t W, B urweil w#B the artofctect, and he has to s be congratulated upon fcis design fqr' the hotel just completed. Tfc e proprietor muTt * ; have sreat faith in the jrfesent and future of >, tise township, and we feel sure many will ioia JUS IU wishing hug success ' I

Telegraph offices are now open at Mandevi)le, and Riversdale. A requisition to the Hon. E. Eichardson to stand for the Kaiapoi seat has been largely signed. It is rumored that Mr Alfred Saunders will oppose Mr Richardson. Services will be held in the Gore Anglican Church to-day at 7.30 a.m., 11 a . m ., and 7.30 p.m. A children's service will be held at 3 p.m. Mails for the United Kingdom and Continent of Europe (via Brindisi), Inds China Japan, Egypt, the Australian Colonies, etc. close at the Gore post office at 7.15 a.m. on Saturday, 12th inst. The Oxford - Cambridge boat-race was rowed on Monday, and was won by Cambridge. There have now been 41 yearly contests, of which Oxford has won 22 and Cambridge 18, and in one year (1877) there was a dead heat. The valuation lists for Gore and Gordon, prepared by Mr M. R. Bree, give these figures as the amountsfupon which the Board may levy a rate of Is in the £ :— Gordon, L 2376 ; Gorfe, L 6245. Of course the Assessment Court may alter these amounts, and there is the contingency— a very remote one indeed— that the Commissioners may levy a rate of less than Is in the £, A very promising lad about 13 years of age, eon of Mr A, Ludewig, Pinnacle, died in the hospital, Invercargill, on Monday last. He was buried in the cemetery, Gore, yesterday, the Rev. W. Wright officiating, and the superintendent, teacherß, some fellowscholars of the Sunday school, and a few other friends of the family attending. Some pretending swaggers have committed robbery at Cherry Farm, near the lignite reserve, Waikaka. Goods Ao the value of about L2O were abstracted; Constable Fretwell has a clue to them, .'and it is to be hoped they will soon be in iris lhands, as this was not the only robberythey are suspected of. The Gore Schsol Committee met on Tuesday evening. It was agreed that the Easter holidays should commence to-day, the Bcholars to reassemble on Wednesday morning. Orders were given for necessary firing during the winter months, and a communication was directed to be sent to the Education Board regarding a faulty chimney in the infant room. Two accidents are reported from Waikaka. On the 3rd inst, Mr and Mrs James Hay were simultaneously descending a ladder from the loft on their premises when the support broke in the middle. Both parties fell heavily to the ground. Mr Hay escaped without injury, but Mrs Hay was not so fortunate and was severely shaken and bruised. The other'accident happened to Mr Sarginson, who on Wednesday evening was also coming down a ladder from his loft with a sheaf of oats, when he slipped, put his foot through the ladder, fell to the ground, and dislocated his shoulder. Both the sufferers are under Dr Macaffer's care. Mr Sargin" son's shoulder was set on Wednesday night. San Francisco possesses a right good judge named Toohey. Take notice of the way he dealt with a hoodlum named, Charles Joselyn who was convicted of a criminal assault, in sentencing whom he ia reported to have said :— " Leniency to you could only seem aaencouragement ! to other bad , men to emanate your nefarious example. " Therefore/"^ j aw has conferred on me powep^jjuni§ n : cr i me> I intend to apply such your' case, and, [in that of other like offifaders, that the-imost i^^^t^^cnminals ypll shudder at the thought of affronting jany woman— old or young, rich or poor^-wi^bin the boundaries of this city and county .jgljfcave carefully considered this. matter, and in neither youth nor character do you show grounds for extenuation ; but in deference to the> respectful recommendation of the jury, I mil make your sentence much lighter that it would [be without their mediation. It is the judgment and sentence of this Court that you be imprisoned at San. Quentin for forty years. At Wednesday's meeting of the Otago Land Board, it was decided to issue a license to S. B. M'Gowan for deferred payment section 12, block IV, Waikaia. — The following applications to purchase deferred payment lands were approved : John M'Phail, section 24, block V, Pukerau ; Patrick Dee, section 29, block V, Pukerau ; executors of the iate P.O'Donnell, section 17, block VIII, Waikaia. — A. M'Pherson having failed to show cause why his deferred payment license of section 3, block XII, Crookston, should not be forfeited for non-payment of rent amounting to L&54 19s 6d, the Board were asked to consider the case. On the application of Messrs Connell and Hoodie, consideration was deferred for a week. The Chief Commissioner mentioned that three previous holders of this section had failed to pay their rent. — The following tender for perpetual lease was accepted : — Jane Renshaw, section 7, block 111. Wendon. The Gordon Town Board held its monthly meeting on Tuesday evening, when there were present — Commissioners Smaill (chairman), Mansford, M'Gill, A. Brown, and J. Mac Gibbon. After an opinion thereanent from the Board's solicitor had been read, it was decided to apply to the County for a refund of slaughterhouse license fees paid by Aitken and Milnes, It was also agreed that the Clerk take necessary steps to ascertain the quantity of deferred payment land in the town district that had passed from the Crown since the formation of the Board, and apply for the Board's proportion of same for roadmaking purposes. The solicitor reported that defaulting ratepayers were being sued with , all the speed possible. The clerk, in intimating that the valuation list for the town had been prepared under instructions from the Judge of the Assessment Court, said that J while last year the Board only rated to the tune of L6O, this year they would have LI 18 , for collection. The clerk further said that , the Board's probable income for the current year would be L 260. The following accounts were passed for payment: — James Turnbull, 18s; 'Southland Times,' 16s ; 'Southland News,' 6.8 ; K. Bree, Ll2 7s ; Alfred Dolamore, I/n3ss Mrs Rowe, L 4. The Clerk having reported that the Cpunty Council were making the main street, a long discus? sion ensued as to the fixing of permanent levels for the town, it being considered that these should have been fixed before the main street was altered. Mr Brown pointed out that it was proposed to reduce the incline between the railway and his store by four fee^t, and f £hp contemplated works would seriously inconvenience kffi> the County having decided upon sloping' the ground from his store to the street' formation in such a l manner that carts would' be unable to stand near bis doop. The matter having been discussed, it was agreed that Mr Brown's complaint' shou d" '^e remitted W the County Council, accompanied .by a.recommeDdationi t tha,jb the .present' levels of tie street should be retained so far as that particular cutting was concerned ; at same <ime the Board were desirous the street should be formed to its-full , Widib, The J3pafd theii adjourned, '

Jefferson Davis now figures as a humorist A. Cincinnati editor wrote to him not long ago I brying to establish relationship. Davis re- ' plied : " Some years ago a correspondent endeavored to trace my relationship to King George 111., connecting therewith a theojy that the writer and myself were the proper heirs to a large fortune in England. I replied that I must surrender all claim to the fortune, being quite sure that I was in no degree akin to George, but an editor is a different thing, and I shall be very glad to be assured that I am a relative of yours." Cardinal Newman entered the Romn-c Catholic Church when he was 45 years old and Cardinal Manning was a clergyman of 'he English Church until he was 43. Chicago newspp per reporters have demonstrated that lady reporters are a decided failure. Not that they do not gather in all the news, even down to the most minute occurrence, but from the fact that they invariably publish the local intelligence all over the city three hours before the fastest lightning presses are able to disseminate the news contained in the printed pages. I. S. Sirason has a farm for sale. P. Calder, Gore, inserts a business notice. Mr Gilbert (Clutha) preaches at the Templars' Hall on Sunday. Tenders are invited fov the erection of a house on Argyle station. The Mataura R.M. Court and Assessment Court will not sit till April 28. An amateur entertainment will be held at Gordon on Wednesday and Chatton on Friday. Valuation lists for Gore and Gordon are open for inspection, and objections must be lodged before dates specified, in our advertising columns. Subscribers to the Gore Athenpeum are invited to name in a suggestion book any works fiey desire to sec on the library shelves. Mrs Buchana,n inserts a notice relative to the Club, Hotel, Ihvcrcargill, which has lately been rebuilt and is now open to the public. It is intimated in our advertising columns that the Otago Bible and Tract Society, for which Mr Macdonald is travelling ngent, has opened for a few d^ys in premises on the esplanade, Gordon. The stock is a very general one, and the works offered for sale are of a superior class. The following new auctions are announced in this issue :— L. Maclean, stock at Clinton, April 17 ; Green and Souness, contractors' plant and sheep at Gore, April 19 ; J. O. M'Ardell, stock, at Wyndham, April 22 ; I. S. Simson, sheep at Gordon, April 26 ; Green and Souness, property at Gore, April 26.