South Canterbury Times. MONDAY, JUNE 14, 1880.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 2259, 14 June 1880, Page 2

South Canterbury Times. MONDAY, JUNE 14, 1880.

Tiik upshot of the Yvaimatc arson ease ought to “ point a moral and adorn a talc” for the benefit of insurers all over Xew Zealand. It should teach Insurance Companies and agents the necessity for co-operative effort in dealing with the intellectual llambcau. To rely for the extinction of crime on detectives,judges, or juries is to rely on an exceedingly feeble weapon. A lire brigade, with plenty of water and good appliances, may extinguish a lire,but the ease is different with a common jury. Flames have no redeeming qualities that entitle them to consideration, but human firebrands,who endeavor by means of a dishonest spark to rise in the social scale, arc more difficult to handle. The result of the Butler trial in Dunedin and the Waimatc incendiarism ease in Timani will probably not he lost on the coinmnnit}-. The natural effect on the criminal mind will be to divest crimes of the first magnitude, such as murder and fire-raising - , of their usual terrors. In every part of the civilised world hut Xew Zealand circumstantial evidence is acknowledged to he of some value. Here, unfortunately, it has no apparent weight whatever. The mind of the average common jury appears to be influenced not so much by the necessity for protecting society, as by the necessity for protecting the accused. The prerogative of mercy lias been so much lauded, that judges and juries take an perfect delight in its exercise. Absolute proof of dime is demanded, and this absolute proof, in eases of incendiarism or murder, is only obtainable as a rale, when the perpetrator is a lunatic and not responsible for his actions. The repeated failures of our criminal machinery can scarcely fail to have a disastrous effect on the social fabric. The ruffian who plies his avocation in secret and knows no moral restraint,will be encouraged by the knowledge that even if the worst comes to the worst, so long as he avoids affording absolute proof of his guilt, he is perfectly safe. He nmy be suspected, he may even go through the formality of a trial before a judge and jury, but he will he delivered out of the hands of justice. Like the prophets that we read of. he will pass through the fire unscathed. Under such circumstances, seeing that circumstantial evidence is no longer of any value whatever, and Unit in connection with our criminal courts, Mercy has got to the blind side of justice, it becomes the duty of the honest portion of the community to cultivate habits of self-reliance. IE our criminal machinery cannot protect society, society must protect itself. The murderer, who in spite of the evidence of experts and reputable witnesses, is allowed to walk abroad, must bo mot with his own weapons. The intellectual flambeau must be treated in a similar manner. It is not the Insurance Companies that have an interest in his suppression so much as the owners of property generally. One of the worst property taxes is the tax that is imposed in consequence of the reckless, and, it is to be feared, often wilfuLdestruction of

property. The social firebrand preys not so much on the insurance offices, as on insurers generally. His dastardly operations sometimes profftotc the business of the companies, and tfiey are rarely allowed to materially affect the dividends. The stake which he wins by the stroke of a match, eventually comes out of the pockets of the holders of premiums. Seeing that our criminal machinery is no longer to-be relied upon, and that by a singular oversight Nature has forgotten to provide fireproof establishments for the accomodation of the warm members of the species who look to the Insurance Companies for their subsistence, it becomes a question for honest insurers, how best they can protect themselves. That protection is badly wanted, is perfectly evident, but there is a difficulty in devising the shape that it ought to assume. The Insurance Companies have a potent remedy in their own hands, viz., to avoid accepting risks at the hands of individuals whose bona fide intentions the}' have the slightest reason to suspect. A black-list of the names of insurers who have at various times made claims upon the offices, together with a recital of the circumstances connected with their losses, might he made a valuable instrument in the hands of energetic agents in enabling them to determine what risks should he accepted and what should be avoided.