Stories Behind Suicides

NZ Truth, Issue 1199, 22 November 1928, Page 3

Stories Behind Suicides

WHY THE SYSTEM OF OFFICIAL ENQUIRY SHOULD BE TIGHTENED UP Jury Panels For Inquests (From "N.Z. Truth's" Special Auckland Representative.) JWHMIm liniiiliiiiii iiiiiliiiiiiiiiiiitliiMini iiiiiliiiiniii iitHiiiNiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiliiiiiiiiiiiniiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiimiiiiini imiiimimiriimimimiiimmmimmmimm|ir£ || n^HE conduct of inquests m the Dominion is attended by || jl ■* too much informality and not sufficient probin g, and the If |j time has arrived when serious consideration should be given to || jl the question of empanelling juries to determine the issues. || fiiliitiiiimimuii'mnmiiil'Mn ilimiiulli mil

JN making this statement, "N.Z. Truth" is not finding, fault with individual coroners, but with the present loose system of adjudicating upon the cause of death m cases presenting unusual features. Seldom does the real story come to light at an inquest. Coroners are guided largely by obvious facts and technical evidence, and almost invariably a coroner's inquiry is a matter of pure routina. The system aa at present m operation leaves itself open to the abuses of omission more than those of com-? mission, and it is on this aspect that public attention must concentrate. An altogether wrong and misleading verdict may be returned simply because the coroner has only the obvious facts placed before him. Yet things are not always what they seem, and it is not always safe to base opinions on bald statements oE fact resting on nothing more substantial than appearances. In many cases of suicide there is not infrequently an involved combination of circumstances which merit more than the cursory official interest they invariably receive. The appearance of suicide is easily simulated, especially m tragedies involving the use of firearms, gas poisoning and drowning — always provided, of course, that obvious appearances are deliberately deceptive and that is where the difficulty (- „ lies. Th c annals of crime are full of instances m which murder has been mistaken for suicide, or even natural death, and that is why exhumation orders are resorted to — happily m this country very rarely. There is insufficient investigation into the antecedents, of presumed suicides; their life history ia politely ignored and the inquiry into the cause of death commences at the end instead of at the beginning. What is the true explanation of half the suicide cases — especially the spectacular — ones that 'shock the country from time to time? Occasionally the curtain is lifted slightly to reveal a corner of the stage of motive, but more often than not the' coroner Is' satisfied \vilh the old hackneyed formula of financial strain 1 and acute depression, and th'fiv-verdict is given along the lines of "suicide while of unsound mind." In most cases this is a perfectly sane and logical verdict, quite m keeping with the obvious facts. But m many instances of business men shocking their friends by a sensational exit from life thei'e is a good deal move behind the tragedy than ever sees the light of day. Two or three years ago m Auckland a certain man, more or less prominent m the business world, took his life. The old explanation of financial worry and acute depression was made. Yet it was freely rumored that this unfortunate man had been m the toils of a blackmailer and had been bled white until the threat of exposure of some real or fancied indiscretion prey-

Unsound Mind

Ed on his mint! to such an extent that death appealed to him as the only way out. Why were these rumors disregarded? And, again, why so much delicate feticence m cases of prominent men who cut short the period of life by their own hands? Is it observed out of consideration for family feelings or simply because the victim of his own folly was stated merely to be financially involved and depressed m consequence? ; Surely there should, be a deeper probing- into circumstances m many cases than there is. "N.Z. Truth" has good reason for saying that blackmail is much more prevalent than is generally supposed. The difficulty is to prove it m individual cases, although there is considerable general evidence upon which to base the assumption. But under the present system of delicate reticence and consideration for relatives involved, there is a marked tendency for the court to cohcentrati on the obvious appearances and ig- # nore "behind the scenes" possibilities. It may be perfectly m accord witll the facts that a man suicided because of great financial embarrassment and consequent depression, but as to the causes that led to the embarrassment m the first place little is ever said. The result is that the blackmailer hounds his, victims to the grave £'nd ——————— out Q £ cons i(jeration for the victim's Relatives is permitted by a loose and slipshod inquest system to live on and pursue his b.it-like activities. " ' ' If juries were empanelled m all cases of suicide there would be a much better chance of the reai facts coming to light. The whole history of the case could • be . ascertained and the root causes of the tragedy elucidated m the full light of day. A factor which cannot be emphasized too strongly is the value of pathological evidence. In all questionable cases the postmortem examination should be carried out by trained pathologists and not by general practitioners. Expert pathological evidence can mean the difference between trial for murder and complete exoneration, as was strikingly shown m the Duncan case m Christchurch early m the year. That was a case m which a father was . charged with the murder, by drowning, of his infant son, but the pathological report showed that the child had not been, drowned and that death was due to some peculiar and rare physical gland defect. A case such as that emphasizes the need for a system of coronial inquiry that leaves nothing whatever to chance or clouded m a fog of obvious generalities. There is much room for reform m the existing system, and the empanelling of juries m all unusual cases would be an initial step m the right direction.