The Opunake Times. FRIDAY, MARCH 8, 1895. ATTEMPTED SUICIDE.

Opunake Times, Volume II, Issue 71, 8 March 1895, Page 2

The Opunake Times. FRIDAY, MARCH 8, 1895. ATTEMPTED SUICIDE.

There is one very great farce with which our law courts are occasionally engaged that would be just as well rubbed off our Statute Book, viz., the alleged crime of attempted suicide. It is considered a crime for a man to take his own life, but' if he carries it out human law is unable to punish him for it, aud judgment and punishment must rest with a higher tribunal; then why should we attempt to punish a man for attempting a ci'ime which, if committed, we have no means of dealing with ? In what are now looked on as barbarous times, the suicide was buried at the cross roads, with a stake driven through his body, and this public degradation of his remains was looked on as a deterrent to others. In ninety-nine cases out of a hundred in modern times, the suicide who effects his purpose is held to be insane, and, as such, not responsible for his actions. If, however, he should not be successful in the attempt, then he is arraigned before the majesty of the Jaw, and sought to be made amenable for his action. This proceeding appears to ns to be an utter farce. Jt is only proper that an enquiry should be held to ascertain iCthe injuries areself-inflicter', but once this is satisfactorily proved, we cannot see where the utility of further proceedings comes in. The first law of nature is self-preservation, and any man in his sane senses will do his utmost to preserve his life, so that the taking, or attempting to take, his own life is undoubtedly prima/curie evidence of aberration of iutellect, temporary or otherwise, in which case a man is not responsible for his actions. If it is still to be retained on the Statute Book as a crime, then its scope should be widened, and in aDy case in which a man unnecessarily endangers his life, he should bo made amenable to the law. For instance, if a man gets drunk, and then starts out on horseback aud gets thrown from his horse, and receives injuries which prove fatal, has he not brought death on himself ? and is it not therefore a suicide ? If a man neglects to take proper and available precautions agaiust the weather, and meets hi 3 death from the results of a wetting or exposure, does he not bring about his death by his own folly ? and is it not suicide ? If he neglects to provide himself with proper nourishment, and his death ensues from this cause, is he not responsible for it'? If men go out iu a boat, not possessing the requisite skill to manage it, and meet with their death by drowning, is not this suicide ? But who would think of meting out punishment in any one of these cases should the effects not be fatal ? If the crime of suicide consists in the taking of the life of one of Her Majesty's liege subjects, are not all these in the same category ? Is not a death by drowning as severe a loss to Her Majesty as a death caused by a bullet wound or a dose of poison ? The late Judge Gillies held that there was no punishment provided for attempting a crime, which, if committed, was beyond the power of the law to punish, and recently a jury at Wanganni apparently took the same view, a 3 they brought in a verdict of not guiliy in a case of attempted suicide-