SIR GEORGE GREY TO THE EDITOR OF THE WAIRARAPA STANDARD

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume X, Issue 138, 9 June 1875, Page 2

SIR GEORGE GREY TO THE EDITOR OF THE WAIRARAPA STANDARD

Sir— -The great interest you haye $ taken in the constitutional questions now agitatingin the colony, nnrt the independ^ce and ability with which they, hive been discussed in your paper, induces riie to trouble you with this letter. , I have several limes ral'eti attention to the f'Ct that from the Bjstem of Government into which we have been gradually drawn by the action of tho General Government, and f'om the appointment of Governors for party objects, or as a reward for party service-", we may be led, upon a great variety of snbjec's, into the class feelings which disturb the order of society in the mother country. Nothing could be more hurtful to our interests than thit this should happen. Tho whole future of this young country, in all its aspects — life, property, social relations — would be sacrificed to class feelings which should have no existence here. &. would not be too much to say that the lives of very many people in New Zealand might for generations he hereafter embittered by our allowing such a state of things to take a firm hold in this coun'ry. I will illustrate my meaning b v y Instances in relation to the disposal of burrian life which have taken pace under such a system as lam alluding to; and I think great surprise will be created in finding the institutions which have from this part of the world been Beriousl.y proposed to the Home Government as modelp worthy of imitation, without the people at large being in the least aware that such subjects were under dis-ussion. A gentleman, of the name of Townley, murdered a younsr lady to whom he was engoged. From some cause a strong class feeling spr-ing up in reference to thiß murder. The poorer classes in England suddenly adopted the opinion that, in some manner or the other, his life, as he was a gentleman, would be saved. Indeed, hi^h legal and exceptional authority in England had declared, in re'e r erice to two other murderers whose lives had ben saved by the "intercep'ion of waalthy and influential friends—*' Had they ■ » been poor men, friendless and moneyless, I think they would have suffered death." — (Sir F. Kelly, M.P.) Since the system of private executions has been established many of the leading journals hwe,.within the laßt year or two, loudly complained of several csea in which the lives of murderers, who had influential friends, have been spared without any sufficient justification, and have loudly denounced oases in which, in their belief, the poor and friendless have been executed where there was every reason to think tint Ihnir lives should h^ve been spared if they could have found active and influential friends to interfere in their behalf. But, to return from this d'grewon, Townley was tried, convicted, and sentenced to deatff, and tlun reprieved on a plea of insnni y which was set up by his friends. Thereupon amongst the poorer classes in England a. feeling of the most violent indignation manifepted itself in rrany parts of the country, nnd a strong conviction took possession of the public mind that it was the rank and money of the convict which h«d savrd bis IKe. I may here mention that after Townley's death, which tookxplqce in 1866, shortly after his reprieve, it was shown by the most conclusive testimony that he wa« really of so'md mind and should have been executed. 'Whilst this violent class f<eling regarding the es2»pe of Townler prevailed in England, a decent nnd respectable mechanic, of the name of Wright,, wks <ried for the nvirder of a w man vith whim heha'l been living ns his wife. Wriehr, wi h (ha .exreptim of the crime. was admitted y amanof good character, be had unfnruoattly fallew under the infl lenci of this wonun, who was well known to bp of dis< s pnted and desperate habits, and of violent ten per; and been led to live with her, and during a violent; quorrel in the night had killed her. B>f >ro Wmht was tried an nnfortune class feeling again arose, and a conviction took possession of the minds of the poorer classes thai: Wright ought not to be punished with death) but that because h was a poor roan he" would certainly be f xecuted. Wright wan tried ; and heing a simple man he pleided gu'lty. The judge refused to let him withdraw this pea. Ec Wfisfouud guiUy and sentenced to death. Mr Sergeant Parry in his eviderce in this case sayß:— '•There ii a mofrt unhappy instance in which the judge refuned to let a man of the name of Wright withdraw his plea of ' guilty.' I know that that excited the greatest amount o irritation amongtt the working classes, th fellow laborers of this man; and if thnt case had gone to the jury and had been tried out there is no doubt they would have had more respect for the verdict of the jury than they had for the direction of the judge. lam almost satisfied that if the con use! for the prosecution, Mir 'Sieigli, had defended the man, he w quid have been acquitted of murder, it wnß-asudden act" Sir F. Kel'yt M.P., who had been both Solicitor-General and Attorney-General in Eoglabd, in giving his evidence in this case says: — "I was very much shocked when 1 read of that case of Wright, particularly coming rb is did at the same time as another case which we all remember, namely, that of Town'ey, where the man escaped. It appears to me to be something which shocks one's understanding." Wright was, however, executed. " Great efforts were made to save this man's life, but all appeals were made in vain. The feeling in the neichborhood of Limbeth, the scene of the murd r, aod where both the man and woman wore.kno*n, was one of intense excitement. On the morning of the execution thed'etdful pr< partitions were accompanied by loud shouts of ' bhame ' and • Townley.' The exjfiressious of Bympathy with Wright were most emphatic. Among the working classes the feeling prevails to this hour that a ereat injustice wns done in this case, and that Townlev was reprieved because lie belonged to 'a hiaher class in the community, and that Wright was male an example because he waß a p or man."— (T. Bipg .», Ksq ) Such waa the class feeling ot the working classes m lutglund in reference to these two cases. Unfortunately some of the higher classes became influenetd by an antagonistic dUss fueling. 'I hose am >ngst them who adopted this feeling mint have known nothing of the real merits of thecases of Townley and Wright. 'I he newspapers in the interet of thp higher clashes gave way to a feeling of indignat'on, and, in heir description of Wright's execuiion, stofed that it took place in front of Hors c mon^r Gaol, and that the convict was received by the nmltiiuie with enthusiastic cheers, and itood bowing on the scaffold, like a popular actor on the stage, ia acknowledgment of the applause with which he was greeted. The partu u'ars, f rom vitneases whose testimony cannot bs douMed, of the manner in which a convict was bound, hh face instantly covered, hnd the time occupiid in the ex-cu-tion, fihow how exaggerated euch accounts nre. The truth is tha; those fnends, who kuew that the wrtchd roan Wright was bnng wrongfully killei, did their utmost, from thar distant poation, to show their sympuhy and t) eive bun coursue to meet the last dremd monunt, »n<ithat he. fhuffling a» he could in the last minute of life, pave such reoojjnifon, that he knew that pitying frii nds felt for him as his bind, the vhite night- ap drawn over hie face, and his terrors permitted him to do Buc these statements iv the new;*] apers incrase^and prolonged in the minds of the uninforme< upper c'a«stß the feelings ot irritation whici tliia c.sj had already excited in them, nd these feelings

wera ia spread out la this part of the world, »n i to produce A still Bidder spectacle than that whi^h had bsen enacted ifl trdnt of Horeeraqnger. Qao\. Tlie lower classes had there secure i the satisfaction zl Banting to console their wrongfully slain friend by iiieir cheers ringing a« the last sounds in his dvi"g a ears. The other classes, however, had hung him out of the way, and so far the appaient advantage lay with ihera, as it also did in the next horrid scene enacted in Queensland. But lias the end iff ihii struggle come yet ? or is It yet to come ? . The Governor of Queensland, m §. F. Bowen, thus tells his story, in a state paper on the subject of private execution : — 4 A murderer, who was recently hanged within the precincts of the gaol at Briabme, was so completely paralysed with abject fear of death that he was uiiable to walk up the steps of the ecaffold. Aa* the officials present shrunk from helping the hangman in hU work, several of the Australian aborigine?, who happened to be in prison lor some minor offence, were condemned to carry the condemned man to the drop. Their back, li'he, naked figures, and wi d, ravage faces, grinning with Sendish glee at assisting in patting to death one of the white lords of the soil, contrasted with the pile, agonised features and drooping form of the convict, vividly remiuded some of the few spectators of those . pictures of the Jast judgment which represent the devils hurry.tig sinners to their dooim. Is not a scene like this. When described in minute detail in all the public journals, more likely to produce a den rrent effect than a scene Such ac that recently descrlbtd in ' the London newspapers, when a convict named Wright, executed in front of Hor?emonger Lane gaol, was received by the multitude with enthusiastic cheers, and stood bowing on the scaffold, like a popular actor on the sta?e, in acknowledgment of the app'ause with which he was greeted ? " The Governor, in the same despatch, strings together a few otlur observations for the consideration of the Home Government. They may be somewhat crude and ilUdigested, but ' the British authorities must take them " for what they are worth " " But it is bel eyed by many persons that the private executions which took place within the Tower of London, and the Baslile of Paris, and in the dungeons of the Council of Ten at Venice, inspired a wider cense of terror than the scenes which were enacted in froit of Newgale. It will a'so be icdalltcted that the ancient Greek historians, when recording the fate of f>tate criminals, and of tha victims of revolutions, often heightened the effect of the narrative by simply Etating that they were made to disappear." Ihe Sta!epxper drew forth no rebuke; it was deemed to redound to the credit of the writer, and to constitute a claim to reward. Its merits are not easily to be discovered. The actual introduction upon earth ot whtt we rrjfly deem »s merely representing a gross imoge of the hell conceived by tha human mind eeein< no meritorious at It seems terrible to desire to influence the human ra:e by striking terror into them, and, for that end to bring black, lithe naked, so called devils upon earth, who! printing witli fiendish glee, dreg sinners to apainfuVand dipgraceful death. It seems wicked to /set a native colored race t>, in nlain words, murder a white man, for the mtie p'easuro of witnessing the dying agonies of a member of a race which they regard as Superior to themselves. It seems sinful to irrinte the white race by exhibiting that inferior race before them in most Jo itluome nnd repulsive form, showing what innata eiueity sometimes lurks in the savage ramd, and in what manner the worst men be s of a tavuge ruce might deal with the white race, whenever strength, numbers and oppo-t'inities were in tbeir favor.. "Who fan fell how many of the nmrderi of 'whit' s by blacks in Australia ii'By pprirg from this one net at Brisbane? How many cruel rttali a • tons may, as h consequence ipringing f-om it, be ii fl'Cted by stockmen and shei herds on the blacks? What right have we to triumph \a uvmcempiatlng or ■ «»t!ns tha worj- extreme of human mSenng, unl ot human degradation, or to attempt to exorcise a deturent effect upon^the human race, by Bubjeotiog a wretched criminal, whom the law m>ys is pimply to be pujt to death in a certain way, to insult, torture, degradation, in hi< lass supreme moment of buffering. But it is the hitred of class whiih lead* to such things; and the fame class feeling that would take aw»y its laat sohice from the extreme of ea'thly misery and de asjment would not hesitate to take away the last restraint on earthly p .wer,- if such restraint, in their bslief, interfered with their interests For the third time in this, shocking cue in Brisbane k&o'» thejjoor.-r elafes^B appear again to have been worsted; but pppb bly from this ca<e wiil Fprinsr this advwrft»,ge, which will ultimately produce great eftqets, and that is, that in many minds a stern resolve will be formed that, no matter what . may. .be the risk or difficulties encountered, persistentteflorts shall he made to prevent the establisKrffcrjt in New Zealand of a sistiitn by which such class feelings can ho engendered here, and to insist that money taken by taxation from the people oi New Zealand shall be no longer applied to assist in maim aining such a system in Great Britsio. The nature of the* proceedings in the Tower of L'ndon, the B^stile, and the Inquisition are probably sufficiently known; bat for the information of the numerous persons who knew little about the mode of action of the Ccuncil of Ten at Venice, I quote a few extracts from a recent number of the Quarterly Review ; — This is one of the maxims for their guidance — "Last ; y, if any party leaders are found in the provinces they must be exterminatid under Borne pretext or another, but there must be no recourse to ordinary justice. Let poisou do tha work of the executioner. This is less odious and more profitable." The following is one of their sentences: — " It is our will that in the night of Wednesday to Tuesd-iy, which will be the 22nd of the current month, r,e be strangled in his prison, as secretly as possible, «and tyiat his body be buried with the greatest t^ecreey also." These are some descriptions Vff this Council : "It established despotism/ and posre sed nothing of liberty but the name." — (Sism ndi) '• They were chiefly known 'as an arbitrary and inquisitorial tribunal, the standing tyranny of Venice. Excluding the regular court of criminal judicature, not only from the investigation of treasonable charges, but of several other crirms of macnitude, they enquired, they judge d, they punished, according to what they called reason* of state. The public e> c never penetrated the mysteries of their proceeding. The accu-ed was sometimes not heard, never confronted with witnesses, the condemnation was secret as the enquiry, the punishment undivulged, like both."— (Hallam.) '"rho ocouood was never confronted with witnesses who were sworn to secrecy. Certain interrogatories were administered in the dark." "The Council provides that, with the greatest and most secret precaution, the prisoner be deprived of li.'c, either by poison or drowning. This execution is never to be revea'ed under penalty of death " '• That poison was frequently employed by the agents of the tribunal in obedience to i s orders, is beyond dispute."' '■So late ns 1767 a packet of poison was sent from the Council of Ten, with directions for its cautious use in ridding them and the world of a person reported dangerpus." I have the honor to be, &c, G. Gket. Auckland, May 27, 1875.

A contemporary gaya that the Darwin theory has received a slight confirmation from an unexpected quarter. The performing xftonfceys of Barton and Taylor's circus travelling in Victoria have been smitten with a disease pronounced by medical experts to 1 be measles. Two of them have died from the disease. The Guardian speaks irreverently j of some members of the General Assembly—MessriS Shepherd, Creighton, and Stdwurd. There has recently been a "crisis" in the Otago Council— the Reid " Ministry" was ousted, and a Bastings "Ministry" took its place, but no sooner had the members of the new Government taken their seals than Mr Steward, erst a sort of outriding "whip" of the General Government, gave notice of a motion of "no confidence," upon which the Guardian thus discourses :— " The newly'fledged member for Oamaru county may fairly be congratulated on having driven the last rusty nail into the rotten old provincial coffin;" and further on it says/ '• and pray who has any confidence^n Mr Steward ? He is a member of the Assembly it is true, everybody knows that. Everybody knows also that he was one of those "vultures' who, with Messrs Creighton, Shepherd, and otbeja* 'sat upon a rail' during the Parliamentary crisis, and only pronounced their opinions when they were assured of the future." The language is rather hard, but unfortunately it is true. The following description of a nice specimen of a wife is given by the Argus of the 27th ultimo: — "A case of 'husband-beating' occupied the attention of the Footscray Police Bench yesterday, when Kate Phelan, the wife of an hotelkeeper at Footscray, waß charged with assaulting her husband. From the evidence of the complainant^ he was the recipient of both the provocation and (be injury. On Sunday evening Mrs Phelan went for a walk with a lodger, a young man named Fumell, much against her husband's wishes. On their return, Mrs Pbelan wanted to have a bottle of brandy, but Phfllun objected, when his fair partner threw a heavy metal chimney ornament at his head, producing anything bu/ ornamental results. One large brui/e extended across the upper part of the man's face, the blow causing also an incised wound on his nose, which my jury would have been dangerous bpt for prompt attention by a chemist living next door. Mrs Phelan got the brandy then, and after regaling herself, Bhe aud her lodger friend took another walk. Phelan refused to admit them when they next came back, and they remained away all night. In the' morning the lady returned home, a^d threw a kerosene lamp at her spouse, following it up with a threat to stab him. Sde had do defence to make, BIICI

—i-a*. —^ —^- - ■■■•.. l, , the Bench imposed a fine of £8, vrhik £2 12s6dcoBt e , His Excellency the Governor of Tag*roonia," (Mr Weld), the Hobart Towa Mercury of 12th May states, "hae» been for some days completely laid up* ( and is still sufferiog from a severe aU 1 tack of gout." At DunediD, May 29, Mr Jenkinbod, a carpenter, Filieui etreet, shot himself. He put the muzzle of a gun into his mouth,, and the ball passed through his skull. He was a widower, had several children, and had been drinking hard.