MOUNT EDEN FATALITY.

NZ Truth, Issue 75, 24 November 1906, Page 5

MOUNT EDEN FATALITY.

IS THE GOVERNMENT LIABLE?

Last ••■Monday week a prisoner at Mount Eden, named George Harrison, met his death m the gaol quariry. Harrison was sitting on a stone holding a drill, when a large rock fell from the cliff above and came crashing; down on him. His left side and leg were horribly ■ 'crushed, and, although all possible skill was used, the unfortunate man died within a few hours of the accident. The question is now being asked, "Is the Government liable?" Probably the matter will rest where it is m this particular instance, for Harrison was reputed to have been a single man, with no one dependent on him. But supposing he had been a married man with wife and children, how would the Govern^ ment have stood m that case had he met with a similair accident ? This man was sentenced m November, 1903, to three years' imprisonment. His time expired this month, and had his end not come with such awful suddenness he would to-day be a firee man, Last Monday week the rain fell heavily during the morning. In the afternoon the prisoners were sent out to the stone quarry on the reserve. That the place waa dangerous to work m subsequent events proved. What if Harrison and his fellow-un-fortunates, knowing the danger of worJfjne; on the quarry after heavy rain, had refused to obey orders ? Would Chief Warder Severne have listened to their protest and refrained from putting them

IN THIS DEATH-TRAP, or would the upshot of their refusal to go there have meant punishment m the usual manner, for insubordination ? We do not know if the prisoners on that fatal afternoon pointed out the dangerous state of the stone quarry, but, even if they did not, the fact remains that it was the business of Severne and his warder minions to ascertain whether the quarry was dangerous or not before sending even g. gang of convicts to work there. That no such precautions were taken was proved by the ensuing calamity. Is the Government liable, therefore, for Hairrison's death, just as an ordinary employer would have been liable under the Employers' Liability Act ? Harrison committed a crime, and was m prison to expiate that crime. But, convict as he was, there was nothing m his sentence condemning him to work m quarries dangerous to life. Expert opinion on the Government's position if any relative of Harrison's sought to recover damages for his death would be extremely interesting. And, incidentally, an assurance +hat Colonel Hume had given unmistakable instructions to Warder Severne to exercise due care of the lives of those entrusted to his charge, even if they be only convicts, would be satisfying.