THE CASE OF LIONEL TERRY. A Mind Diseased.

Free Lance, Volume VI, Issue 282, 25 November 1905, Page 6

THE CASE OF LIONEL TERRY. A Mind Diseased.

WE find ourselves in complet ■ agreement with the "New Zealand Times" m its ex pressed opinion that "To hang Lionel Terry would be a crime of the first magnitude." The whole history of the case, and the man 3 attitude of mind as revealed in his writings and his statement to the jury are only compatible with one conclusion. He has dwelt so long and so intently on the subject of Chinese immigration, and has allowed it to so dominate his thoughts to the exclusion of all other subjects that he has become perfectly irrational upon it. • • • His case is a curious study m mental phenomena. Here is ;i man, gently nurtured, well-educated, widely travelled, of sweet and amiable disposition, and a splendid type of manly physique, who sud denly surprises a community in which he is well known by shooting a Chinaman whom he has presumably never before seen, nor wito whom he ever exchanged a single word. The motive is frankly anl promptly given by Lionel Terry hmself. He wanted to arouse pub lie attention to the evils arising from alien immigration. In his statement to the jury, he referred to his unlawful act as "the drastic measure I adopted in order to attract attention to< the evils consequent upon alien immigration." • • • The facts were clear, and no defence was offered. It was obvious that the accused man had persuaded himself, quite irrationally of course, into the notion that he had a sacred mission to discharge, and hal nerved himself to carry it out witn the full conviction that he was laying down his life for the salvation of his race, and to avert the horrors which he had so strongly depicted in that remarkable work of his, "Th 3 Shadow." • • • Lionel Terry's innate humanity i* reflected in two strange passages. The first is to be found m his statement to the jury : "In choosing a,s an example an old and crippled man, I realised that my purpose would be accomplished without the sacrifice of one whose existence was other than a painful burden. By thus quenching a flame which was already flickering towards extinction, I have not only conferred a merciful deliverance upon a worHweary man, but have also benefited those amongst whom he was living and the country generally " Tlio second passage occurred when he questioned Dr. Martin to ascertain if the unfortunate Chinaman suffered any pain after being shot. • * • Under the circumstances the jury's duty was plain. They had to bring in a verdict of guilty, bu*i at the same time, they added . "With a strong recommendation to

mercy, on the ground that th^ prisoner was not responsible for his actions, as he was suffering memally from a craze caused by tiis intense hatred towards the mixing of British and alien races." This recommendation will be emphatically endorsed by the entire commun ity. * • • On this question of Chinese immigration, Lionel Terry is clearly a monomaniac, and, as such, a subject for medical treatment. The idea of racial purity and alien prohibition not only dominate'! him up to the time of the Chinaman's death, but it is evident tha. the subject has burned within him while he has been in the Terrace Gaol. The calm, kind, gentl manner of the man doesn't suggest the criminal. He would be glad of the opportunity of going to> any extreme, even the scaffold, m further ance of what he deems to be his mission as a saviour of the race. • • • It is a deeply painful case. It is pitiable to see a man of Terry's type, far above the average in culture and in the personal qualities that make a man lovable, so hopelessly unsound m one mental particular as to be quite unaware that he has committed a crime. There can be no* doubt in the minds of any thinking person that the case of Lionel Terry is one for pity — pity for a mind diseased — and there seems to be no reason for doubting that His Excellency and his advisers will feel impelled to give effect to the jury's strong recommendation to mercy.