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OUR YOUNG CRIMINALS.

The b.-id resuits 6t "w.mt of cListsifk-a'.imv in prisons ; have lieeii ponied, out in the" public prsss ; Commissions have sat ;m.t reported ; Governors oi gdois, and visiting justices have reiterated'the same c<>mplaini i judges and magistrates in passing sentence:; have.referred to. and lamented the'evil;— — but still, day after day. in every ; large : town in the colony, boys and young, nieir. " not yet hardened in crime, are ent. from courts of justice to prisons full of callous and incorrigible criminals, amongst whom they cannot tail to graduate-rapidly in wickedness, or end liy' becoming :i scourge' and a burden to the State, • Car - lyle says, the worst use you can make of a man is to hang him, —and he is ably right; but it cannot be denied that such a course is at least a cheap one, whilst our present custom is the reverse, and is not much better on general grounds-' than the other. We believe, that a largo : proportion of the younger inmates of "our gaols might be saved from a life of crime and misery, by the establishment of attaining ship in each of our principal ports. The expense would of course be consider - able, but inth'e long-run a positive saving would' be the~result. Sailors and firemen are in just as great demand now as any ~~ other .class of workmen, and there , would be no difficulty in finding employment for all our Arabs and larrikins on the after they had undergone a short training under good discipline on shipboard. When 6ailors on coasting steamers are asking and obtaining £8 a month, and firemen £' 12, it seems unreasonable for the State to be educating its stray children as-thieves r and vagabonds,; when it might just a 4 easily, make sailors and- firemen of them. It may be said that no sooner would theboys be able to-earn wages, than they would go away and be lost to the Statewith all their training ; very well; —;they may go to Hong Kong for all we care, so-- . long as they are not in our gaols, or helping themselves to our goods and- chattels: ; ; —' Timaru Herald.' . '>

A Clyde "correspondent to-a Dutiediiu ■paper is amusing if not accurate. He says :—While on the subject of Courts, I - : may mention that I was both surprised." and horrified in finding our worthy magistrate—himself a ;at -. his - usual place on the Bench on New Year's Day with a face imperturbable and placid as that of the Sphynx, destroying at one fell blow all my-preconceived and traditional theories of Scotchmen, whom' £ thought were bound on that day to be not • wise but fu\ dancing with savage gestures over, crossed -naked broad -swords, to the melodious Screams of the bagpipes. It appears that-a lady named Thereaa Goss, of high breeding and brilliant accomplishments, from the aristocratic neighof "Tinkers," was brought be-to-run a^m^k —it being Christmas, time--of course—W 3eeede<i deliberately to smash windows and i P eo P^ e 8 heads, :in both of whkh laud^ le d .f "gp s she t0 som * ex \. tent sujceeeded<. un *il seizedby a minion ot . an Government in the- : shape oTW^staD^?Hvs§^' her short in the midst -M^ er "h'iet butglorious career. The lady iss®^ n g 3O !. being remanded until the Bth insCW^ 1 nt * doubt she will receive the reward diligently and honestly earned. Un the"" same day the police sheet was disfigurechbya' solitary" drunk, who felt his position-; keenly, like the last rose of summer;, his' companions being all dead (drunk) aiid - gone;v! ?But here the Magistrate's national feelings were aroused in this poor;« r el|ow's behalf, as he could not find it to punish him. And with tears standing in his eyes,: called;' forth by the conflict of s feeling raging within him, —between his- • sense of duty and national inclination especially seeing a loss to the revenue of twenty bawbees, more or less, he thus addressed the captive:—" M y man; you. arc cautioned for your misconduct, but,, - being New Years Day, the case;is 'dismissed."

-On the subject of■ "shouting", the ' North Otago Times' says" We are utterly" astonished that someprivatf member of Parliament has not brought in a Bill dealing with the gigantic evils of ' shouting.' It i 9 bad enough to be able to get drunk for cash,' for credit, or barter, but . to. be able .to get drunk without any personal responsibility whatever, is a most seductive premium to intoxication. . The of ' shouting 1 ; is-i. surrounded -with difficulty,, but surely that-.difficulty could be xibviatedi by- keen legal sagacity. What an - immense amount of sagacity is brought t» bear on various kinds 'of legal commercial prosecution. Have we legal ecumen to spare for the unfortunate victim of dipsomania ?"

, " We will insert any communication* which are not libellous in our correspondence column;" says a-Victorian country newspaper,. and in evidence af how particular and careful it is in this respect there fallows a letter addressed :<> a. councillor by favor of tha editor. " must.compare you,*" says the writer, " t<y the slimjr* slug that creeps in the'darlc\ atid destroys- the fruit. of manV labor, but,is only:ta"ieea'i]e by the - slime- v he leaves "behind". It is in like maimer with you there is no mistaking you ; you can be easily followed up.by your dirty, * mean actions." «. (shvr ,JEgles t>i the .'Australasian') shouldn't eaie"much t<v. endure>the libel which this editor yrouUi I consider too strong for hi^paper,, this as an example-Csf c '-ment. . ■ _ y The sight of n drunkard : w a■ better man-'against tfuit virfe 1 tliari .thetmnst' elaborate that ev<'r'f»re«>vli- i -l, and,yet what' little does, eVeii

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/MIC18740116.2.19

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume IV, Issue 254, 16 January 1874, Page 3

Word count
Tapeke kupu
929

OUR YOUNG CRIMINALS. Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume IV, Issue 254, 16 January 1874, Page 3

OUR YOUNG CRIMINALS. Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume IV, Issue 254, 16 January 1874, Page 3

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