THE PERTH HORRORS.

NZ Truth, Issue 93, 30 March 1907, Page 6

THE PERTH HORRORS.

MRS. MITCHELL'S " MARASMUSIZED " -..- . MARTYRED-.MITES,'

John Norton Takes a Hand.

Dr. Officer Described, and His Doings Docketed.

w ls He "A Most Fierce and Muscular Man, Swift to Anger?"

Be Should Stand m the Dock Beside Mrs. Mitchell, Declares the Conductor of "Truth."

(By Wire-^From "

PERTH (W.A.), Friday

The coronial inquiry into the death ©i Baby Booth at Mrs. Mitchell's baby farm, wa,s concluded on Monday. The verdict of the jury was that the' child .died of starvation, and -that' Mitchell was guilty of wilful neglect, which the coroner said amounted to murder. He* committed Mitchell for trial, and Mused , bail; An. ■.'application for bail was made. Mr. Justice Burnside refused the application on the .ground that a capital charge, was involved. , ' . *° ' ■•>•■- ■.•'.; ''■*• ■"Truth," m its current issue, publishes an article, signed "John Norton," attacking' Dr. Officer, who attended the majority of the 43 infants who, died at Mitchell's farm during .the," past four years, and gave death, certificates m 22 cases. After criticisms Dr. Officer's evidence at. the inquest, . and condemning -his conduct m Court, the 'article proceeds :— " I "am. told that Dr. Officer is a very clever medical man; I've replied that I sec, no evidence of it m the/ Mitchell case ; that he is the leading infant doctor In Perth, to which I can only piously answer, "God help Officer's present and past future baby patients if Officer can't do better for them than he seems to have done for the majority of mothel? Mitchell's "marasmusiz&d"; little martyrs now lying m their premature graves. ''■'„ V •■ ■■ «■'■•' "I am, moreover , warned that I must be very careful how. 1 venture to speak of Dr. Officer, who is very powerful with certain very influential persons m Perth, as, if he were to go for you for libel, which he would certainly do if you give him half a show he would be sure to get heavy damages against ' you, as !& ''"' ! it: v,'i, -it of the Gropefs beiijvd him.' To which ominous admonition I can only reply that I hope what I say now will constrain or. compel Dr. Officer to cite me before a civil or criminal jury, . when, as- I can assure him and. his friend^ Groper or t'othersjders, I will make any civil or criminal proceedings thence coming the medium of a more thorough enquiry into' the cause of the death of Mother Mitchell's "raara'smusized" martyrs, and of Dr. Of-ficer-Is share of the moral and legal responsibility therein, taking good care, as I should, that counsel will be- always there «,. on the spot to cross-examine Officer, and not be unfortunately absent, as wasMr«Pennefather on Friday afternoon when the opportunity came for testing thenuality and credibility of Dr. Officer's evidence m the crucible of cross-examination. There need be no fear or doubt of' that, as I should be my own counsel, appearing m person, and conducting my, own case. ; ' " .•' ■ . • • • s "Finally, I am admonished to beware of this Officer medico, because he is a most fierceX^nd muscular man, swift to angep^rid slow of mercy— that- be is •an-^jk^half-back: . of some notorious footbaitvteam,- and might, m his wrath, Vere I to libel him, make a football of me. To this last adominatidn, whether emanating from a friend of Officer or a, foe of mine, .. I can only say that I would strive to make something of Officer, and the effort might not prove such a failure in' defending limbs and life, as his attempting to save the lives' of the miserable 'marasmusized' Mitchell mattf rs. What- I really wish, however, -tc^say to Officer, 1 late partner of the detwi medico, McWilliams, is plainly, . tfiis —that m all comm'Onsehse and ■uSjrplay, he ought to be standing .' sy Mrs. .Mitchell's side io answer' ':;a charge of aiding 1 , and ob-R^t-iTtg the crime of which she states charged.' "There need be no beating about the bush or mincing matters' as to my .meaning, which is - Timply ■ that if ' there had bcien a crimu committed by Mrs. Mitchell m the matter of these 'marasmusized' babies, -Dr. Officer is participes criminis— an accomplice before and after the fact, he being the guiltier of the two, from Ins greater knowledge and professional responsibility, and, rwing to h's having professionally pro.'ited by Mrs. Mitchell's business, and haying given no. less than 22 certific.<ti;s' of death m the cases of no less that 22 'marasmusized' Mitchell Mites without reporting the matter to the police, and thus putting a stop to what is alleged to te a monstrous svstcm of 'baby-tannin :;. Surely 1 hat's plump enough and plain enough for even a medical officer, although his mortal hide may be as hard as 'that ■ of the rhinoceros ; and if he wants anything straighter .and plainer, then he, the said Officer, is fantastically fastidious and damnably difficult to pJease m a matter libel. • • • "I am well aware that Dr. Officer denied all knowledge of, or complicity m, Mitchell's alleged 'maltreatment of Baby Brown (his patient), and of a score more of his unlucky baby patients, who had the advantage of the joint care of himself first and then Mitchell. I was present m Court, and he;>.rd all Officer said. I' watched his 'demeanour, noted his contradictions, and, above all, his almost feverish .anxiety to exculpate himself first ami then Mitchell. As this is a presumably free, I country, 1 take leave tr tell, the obduraie Officer that I dtf. not believe he was telling th'! truth. I don't believe a tenth of what he so emphatically swore io as gener&l facts, and not ft titU-~ of what

Truth's " Special).

he swore to of the medical aspect of the cases he deposed to. In my opinion Officer- was not a witness of truth, and this was evidently- the opinion of the majority of those wh o., saw. ; attd;. heard him* on the witness stand. * * •* ■ "Here was a duly qualified medi;cal practitioner^ .attending Mitchell's baby-farming ' establishment for over five years, and giving certificates of death for no less _ that 22- Mitchell mites, who swears that he . never i. saw anything wrong, and who, as a matter of fact, never reported anything to the police. Does .anyone, even the most ghoulish black-hearted Groper, standing behind, the scenes of this tragedy, believe him ? Credit. Ju'diacus Apcflla monejio ,? Language cannot express the ■• indignation excited by -the contemptible and cowardly attempt; made by. Officer 'to sayfe'his" fac&, : '"~as f the saying is, by calumniating a merciful' credible, and ably-administrated, institution like the Home of Mercy. -'Without rhyme or reason, or word of warning, Officer suddenly lugged m the name of the Home of Mercy, and wanted to show that with only seven baby causes that .admirable institution had even a. worse reputation for * average infant mortality than Mitchell's. '■'No attempt \*sis made 'by Coroner Cowan to check, chide, or censure him ; buf- when Inspector Sellenger proceeded to rebut Officer's abominable and unfpund imputation by official figures,- CoWan suddenly' shut down on the police, and said that he did not want to hear any more albout that matter, after Officer had done his damndest to defame and damage a deserr'ui^ institution. To a. man m Officer's position, who may feel himself largely implicated m the charge now standing against Mitchell, and who may feel that he is liable to be called -on at any moment to answer a similar criminal, charge, ifc is only natural that he should seek to exculpate his accused accomplice,' This was manifestly Officer's game, which he seemed to, be playing on advice after practice and professional legal tuition. Such, a plan. of point blank denial of everything was, -perhaps, under the >cirqumstanees, the^lpft one to pursue, both for Officer and MiEghell. Unfortunately for pne, or be^u; 'T^ST them, however, 'the whole of, the facts, as adduced m -evidence — sKmr that Officer was, on the* most ma-/ terial points, deliberately lying—not merely differing- on matters of dubiety or expert opinion merely, but unon matter deposed to N by a secure of . reputable, reliable and disinterested witnesses, including Dr. Tymms, Senior Resident Officer of the Perth Public Hospital. i ' '""' • ■'■ ■'.-"•• « "This veracious ■ Officer never saw any-syphilitic sores about Susie Turvey, whom .he attended, and who !had no less than seven baby bastards, all oL whom had died? soon after birth. Officer admitted, at last, as to one or two cases of congenital syphilis. He never saw the vermin on the scabby, scurvy scrofulous Susie, as,, probably, he never saw the two lovely black eyes, which the mild-m-anineral, motherly Mrs. Mitchell gave her m fine pugilistic fashion. Nor, according to Dr. Officer's showing, were the babies badly looked, after, or cruelly . treated, or almost blinded or bitten to death" by swarms of filthy flies. Other witnesses who had fewer facilities and less favourable opportunities of viewing and examinjin'g, these 'marasmusized' martyrs aver that they . saw al these, things. Whom will the public believe—Officer, the philanthropic physician, who attended the poor, perished little patients of his patron, Mitchell, and who told her to keep her mouth shut when the> police tardily pounced down upon him? Or, the disinterested '. evidence of a clergyman, of Mitchell's lodgers, or the unhappy girl .mothers of some of the 'marasmusized' babies, a.nd of the police and medical men ? Pshaw ! • • m "This football half-back ought to remember that he is not now m a scrum, but on trial at the bar of public opinion for his personal' and professional reputation. If he intends, or" thinks otherwise, let him ser-ve !me with d, civil or criminal w.fife for defamation of his precious professional character, and I undertake to give Kirn. the fullest opportunity afforded by law of vindicating it from my aspersions before a Judse and jury. 1 don't know Dr. Officer. I never heard of him until his name first cropped up m this case. I never saw him till last Friday at the Coroner's Court. Therefore I can have no basis of prejudice against the man other than that which I conceiye to be legitimateas being warranted by the evidence of witnesses m the Coroner's Court. I regard Officer, after his late, partner, McWilliams, as the most dangerous man that the medical profession m Westralia has ever had m its ranks; and that's saying a good dral. but not more than is warranted by the facts of ' this case alone, not to speak of oiher cases m a different, hut anaJa.qaus,' character. I have had this man and his partner, McWilliams, under surveillance for a lone; time. For over a year I have been striving, but without success, to obtain evidence concerning him, such as that which has just come out m the Mitchell case. ■ * * "I frankly confess that those upon whom I relied, through fear or influences which nfceel not be describ-

ed here, failed to come forward m substantiation cf charges more or less hinted at m several articles published m these columns many months ago. Police jealousies and rivalries, backed up by sinster social and official influences, have prevented investigation thereto. But the fat is now m the fire/ The Mitchell matter must not be allowed to end where the Coronial inquiry seems likelvto leave it. The whole matter must be probed to its profoundest depths. It is because I believe that the Coronial inquiry will not cause this to be done, and because I believe that Officer is, being allowed to deliberately bluff the Court . and the public, that I invite Officer «to pursue me criminally or civilly for defamation, so that the matter may be definitely threshed out before a Judge and jury, and infant life m this State thereby more thoroughly safeguarded m the future than it is now, or has been for a long time past..'j • * . ■#■ . "Truth " also . published & sketch i of Mrs. Mitchell's career showing j how she is connected with one of the old Groper families, after whom Leederville is named ; that she deserted, or was deserted by, . her husband, arid that she has since lived with several paramours, and had a number of illegitimate children, one by the late Alexander Forest, a brother of Sir John Forrest, and four by a man named Sweeney. She is now married to a coloured man' —Mitchell, a barber — with whom she cohabited before marriage. Her married daughter, Slinger, is said to be Alexander Forrest's child. "Truth's" attack on Officer, and its revelations concerning Mitchell's past, have fallen like a ; bombshell amidst Grqperdom. It is feared • that other equally startling disclosures- will follow. 'So : far Officer has^made no sign of igoving. One set are urging him to criminally prosecute. Norton for libel. Another are cautioning prudence, from fear of, their own reputations; Yet another agree -with Norton that Officer should "be standing alongside Mitchell. Never before has such a case of murderous .maltreatment been disclosed m a British Court. , . ' • ■'".■.•■ ' ■ « ■. The local press— "The West Aus(;tralian," the "Morning Herald, 1 ' 'and the " Daily News "—have been doing their best, before and since the • arrest and committal of Mitchell, to minimise the awful facts, an/1 shield Mitchell and Officer. The; " Daily News" publishes an extraordinary artide, declaring there is no real ground for a charge against Mitchell, and generally commenting on the facts of the facts of the case, and the legal proceedings. The whole article con- . statutes <a gross # contempt of Court, and • represents *a desperate attempt 'on, the part of Gfoperdom t6 influence the Attorney-General not to file a bill—or, if a bill be filed, to influence the jury. In consequence of this article, Norton is publishing an " Open Letter". to Attorney-General Keenan, who is connected with Groperdom, marrying a daughter of Chief Justice Parker, an. old Groper. Among other things, : Norton points out that Officer is more responsible than Mitchell ; that he profited ' by her baby-farming . .operations , .-.wenV ■bail for her at the Police Court, and ;T?atned .her to keep her mouth>ghut; :i that r lie ■fSi.s cqnsterntly a;t^er|rou's|&^ 'closeted jnth herwlren out ojL^bailv and KeToi^Tief^~clnnmittar for ln:iaT by-. the Coroner ; that he is finding the money for the defence of the woman ; and that the object of counsel for Mittohell m the Coroner's Court was manifestly • more to exonerate Officer than to defend Mitchell. , . • « ■■■ . * Public opinion here is much divided concerning the case. :It is vehemently, condemned- by. the Groper faction, and approved by the working classes, some of whom, however, condemn the disclosures concerning Alexander Forrest's connection with Mitchell. . It is. reported; that steps' will be taken to compel "Truth" t 0 tone down its criticisms, '..or. crush it out of existence by vexatious legal proceedings. In an open letter to Keenan, John Norton challenges the whole Groper gang .to " Come on !" .. ' • •