THE Mount Ida Chronicle THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 1877.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume VII, Issue 413, 22 February 1877, Page 2

THE Mount Ida Chronicle THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 1877.

The miserable mismanagement in connection with the execution of the Picton murderer, and the implied, but disregarded, doubt as to the justification of the execution of Curtin in Auckland, draw attention to the subject of capital punishment, and crime generally in New- Zealand. It were, idle to conceal the fact that our gaols are filling at an ■alarming rate. In 1875 the innocent had to and keep 4064 of the guilty, the. greatest number in confinement at any. one time being 1006. To relax punishment, it is said, would be to increase the number of the guilty. Many say, or think, that to be merciful would in reality be but to be cruel. Our present.-Minister of Justice is apparently not with the philanthropists. He would not listen to the plea for mercy urged by Messrs. Swanson and Macfarlane. Mr. Swanson is no philanthropist, and the ground upon which he based his intervention must have been substantial. "We dismiss altogether any idea that the Governor was in any way responsible for the carrying out of the.sentence in Curtin,'s case. Many consider the Minister of Justice as being something of a novice in the technicalities of his department.. In this a mistake is made. On this very conflict between Justice and Mercy, between the hangman and the philanthropist, Mr. Bowen has held strong opinions for at least sixteen years. He tells us himself, in, a well-written paper on Peru, published in 1860, that when in Lima, talking to a friefid at his hotel, an attempt was made to blow up the house of a wealthy citizen with a sort of clumsy infernal machine : " The crime of the proposed victim Was " the possession of'wealth, and the im- " mediate cause of this attempt was " that he had not answered threatening " letters requiring him to send money " to places.named. The would-be as- ' " sassin knew that, if taken, nothing J " very serious 1 would happen to him." So far the narrative is plain as the cursory gleanings of a traveller, but now comes a deliberate opinion, which is worth a note at the present time, of course remembering that even Mr. Bowen is not to be tied down to undue length to opinions expressed sixteen years ago:—-" The republic of Peru is " so much in advance of its age that., " its Legislative abolished capital pun- - " ishment. This was one of the senti- " mental steps which has been consid- " ered more useful than practical pro- " gress. I would invite the' attention of English philanthropists to " the remarkable success of the Peru-' " vian experiment." It is to be remembered that our New Zealand traveller near missed his train for Callao, because, according to the custom; when an outrage was perpetrated, all travellers, innocent and suspiciouslooking alike, had to keep within the doors of the hotels. It is not likely that the traveller of 1860 then contemplated that his contempt of the Peruvian sentiment of mercy would he more practically attested than, by printers ink in Henrietta Street. It is perhaps unwise, but we cannot help thinking an error may be made in being to severe. Our punishments appear to be on the increase. Boys of respectability are now being sentenced in Dunedin to be flogged because unable to resist the charms of an orchard. We have disgusting accounts from "Wellington of the results on adults of flogging of a more severe kind. Lastly, we have these bungled executions, the murderer's murderer, although hunted out of Picton, boasting of his deed, and rolling drunk in the streets of Wellington. If capital punishment is to be justified by its terrifying effect on others such justification is utterly wanting in the Picton case. The doubt as to the executioner, the engagement of one, the bringing up of another to claim the spoils, of which he considered himself unjustly deprived, the trip back to Wellington in the Government steamer of the lucky earner of the £lO, aud his subsequent drunk at the capital city, together constitute a sum of mismanagement depriving the death of the victim of all its horrors, and investing it with an air of hideous jocularity not even to be paralleled in Peru.

The rather daring experiment of basing a year's estimates upon a possible borrowing contingency has answered perfectly. We undertake to carp no more at finance, which is as extraordinary in its conception as in its execution. The country, or at least the Ministry, which is the same thing, is safe for another year, and a direct property tax in 1877 will not be necessary. Mr. George M'Lean has negotiated for half a million from the Bank of New South Wales, and the Premier has arranged another million from the Bank of .New Zealand. This is not borrowing, and is certain, not being borrowing, to enable the Colony to regain its credit, which was somewhat impaired by previous negotiations. Sir Julius Yogel is instructed to intimate that New Zealand has entered upon a course of retrenchment, and no further loans are to be negotiated for two years. What a relief all this is to or-

dinary minds ! Hovr refreshing are the congratulations from Home for our wise economy ! It is so Scriptural, too, for our left haud is not allowed to know what our right hand is doing, at least for two years.

Two years' lease of life for a Ministry that is such an admirable adminiconstellation, although according to its friends happily devoid of genius, is worth a considerable payment of public money. A Ministry that cannot be extinguished however roughly treated, but is possessed of the highly developed kaleidoscopic art of re-arrangement of particles should be retained in office at any cost. At the expiration of the two years his Excellency's hand-will be gently shaken. The resignation of the Ministry will be gazetted by " Dear Maling," who- has been mercifully preserved from the cruel Eussian, and-the following day New Zealand's new Ministry will be proclaimed under the hand of his Excellency the Most Honorable George Augustus Constantine Marquis of Normanby and Baron Mulgrave of Mulgrave, &c, &c, &c..:— Sir George M'Lean, K.C.M.G., Premier, Native Minister, and Borrower-General ; Major Atkinson, Agent-General in Egypt; Mr. Whitaker, Inspector of Big Pumps and Minister of Justice ; Mr. 0. C. Bowen, Attorney-General and Accredited Minister to the Court of Peru ; Mr. Ormond, Controller of the Central Lands Eepudiation Office ; Dr. Pollen, Commissioner of Police; Mr. I). Eeid, Inspector of Converts and Collector ot Pastoral Bents. The Borrower-General in making his Financial Statement in 1879 will sternly denounce the reckless administration of the late Ministry, and the extravagant resort to local borrowing. " The !' policy of my _ Government, Mr. " Speaker, is to raise such moneys as " are necessary publicly in the markets "of the world. New Zealand securi- " ties, we.consider, should not be fri- " volously wasted in irregular loans. "In the future, with the aid of our || colleague Major Atkinson, who has, " at great inconvenience and personal " sacrifice.agreed to visit Egypt and "consult with the Khedive, we intend "to introduce order in the place of " disbrder/ and to raise New Zealand " to the highest rank among nations "at the expense of posterity. We " consider, Sir, that foreign money " productively expended is what is " needed, and that it ia suicidal to " draw our own people's money from " the local banks «vhich otherwise would "be available for local speculation. I || ask, Mr. Speaker, this House to ex- " tend a lenient consideration to the " infant throes of a new Government." One point is not quite satisfactory. It certainly appears that Sir Julius Vogel is defrauded of the prestige and pickings accompanying the raising" of a loan in London. This is not fair, for he has borne the burden and heat of the day, and in this matter is not fairly treated.. It was for this that he went Home, and now so commonplace a financial operation has been had resource to behind his back as a little arrangement in two Bank parlors. Since Sir Julius Vogel's Financial Statement was made laßt session a correspondent in the ' Guardian' reckons up the accumulation of debt in the half year as follows : Sales of debentures of "Consolidated Loan Act ...... ..-. £IB,OOO Defence Loan (December quarter) 250,000 Public Works Loan (September quarter) • 660,100 Public Works Loan (December quarter) ._ , 444,867 Debit balanco Defence Loan on 81at December, 1876... 490,603 Borrowed at Sydney 600 000 Borrowed from Bank of New Zea- ' land ... ... ... ... 1,000,000 £3,253,57