South Canterbury Times, SATURDAY, JANUARY 21, 1882.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 2755, 21 January 1882, Page 2

South Canterbury Times, SATURDAY, JANUARY 21, 1882.

We cannot compliment those concerned upon either the humanity or sense of justice displayed yesterday in prosecuting and committing for trial the boy John, Sullivan—a boy under thirteen years of age—upon the very serious change of placing stones upon the railway line, “ with intent to endanger the safety of persons travelling on the railway,” That the boy did place stones upon the rails wo have no d oubt. The direct evidence, though it v.ras only that of a boy of the same age, was clear enough in respect, at least, to some of the stones found there ; but that he placed them with such a diabolical intention as that charged against him it is possible to believe.

And farther, it is doubtful, according to the evidence of a witness who may he considered an expert, whether any injury whatever could have been caused by the stones being placed on the rails. As to the intent: it is a maxim in law, we believe, that a person is supposed to forsee all the possible consequences of his acts, to be responsible for such consequences as may follow from them. But surely there is some latitude allowable in the application of this rule. John Sullivan may bo a bad boy,but a boy of 13 can scarcely be bad enough to deliberately do anything “ with intent ” to endanger the lives of a trainful of people. The treatment of this friendless boy—his mother is dead, we are told, and his father absent from Timaru—contrasts very strongly with that of the dozen lads who were charged only two days previously with acts of larrikinism on New Year’s Eve. These lads were merely called upon to pay for the damage they actually did, no addition being made to their punishment for the annoyance their pranks caused, nor for the trouble and expense of prosecuting them. Most people will think that throwing stones through windows, capsizing out-houses, and removing gates, are offences at least as culpable as placing pebbles on a railway line, and will be at a loss to understand why Master Jack Sullivan is so solemnly treated while the other offenders referred to were so leniently dealt with. The conduct of the Magisterial examination in some aspects would have been quite farcical were it not that it was also painful. Fancy a lad of thirteen, and one whose appearance suggested the possession of a less than average amount of intelligence, being asked if he wished to cross-examine a witness I Yet this was done yesterday. A more shocking parody of Court practice was surely never witnessed. We have the very highest respect for Inspector Pender, who, we presume, had the management of the case, and indicated the charge to be laid against the lad, and his whole career in Timaru has show him to be a most humane officer, always taking or recommending measures at once just and likely to prove of advantage to juvenile offenders. But in this instance we cannot help thinking he made a grave mistake in bringing so serious a charge against a lad of tender years. The Bench, too, surely had it in their power to deal with the case summarily, - and instead of committing the lad for trial might have sent him to the Industrial School, where he would at least have been kept out of mischief fora few years. One would suppose the Magistrates were appalled by the magnitude of the charge set forth on the information, and decided beforehand that so malignant an offence as the information charged Sullivan with doing, ought to be remitted to the tender mercies of a jury. The first glance at the thirty-six-inch culprit ought to have reversed the decision, if that supposition is correct. The machinery of the Supreme Court was not devised to deal with youngsters not tall enough to look out of the dock.

Tub report of the Commission appointed by the Christchurch Chamber of Commerce to examine and report upon the proposed route for a railway between the East and West coasts of this island is unfavorable, on the ground that the railway would not be remunerative for some years to come. We may regret that the Commission have arrived at this conclusion ; but we are not at all surprised at it. If the country to be traversed by the line, were level, and presented no special engineering difficulties, it is most probable that the construction of such a line would not have been left to any private Company to take in hand, but the fact is that the difficulties to be encountered in constructing, and after constructing in maintaining the line, are such ,as must delay the carrying out of the project for a good many years. Anyone who is acquainted with the difficulties met with in first finding a practicable route to the West Coast, and then in making a road for ordinary traffic, may, without actual inspection of the route proposed for the railway, form some idea of the task of constructing a line over the rough mountains that have to jbe traversed. No doubt it could be done. Compared, say with the crossing of the Rocky Mountains by the American trans-continental railway, the work may present difficulties of only secondary importance measured by the cost of surmounting them. But it is measurement by just this standard that gives them a greater relative importance. There could not be developed for many years, an amount of traffic between the two sides of the island that would pay interest on the cost of construction. It would take a large traffic to pay ordinary expenses, for the country to be traversed, miles and miles of sheep hillsides ‘ ; composed of a treacherous material, is of such a nature that the cost of maintenance would absorb a very considerable revenue. The report will probably be published, and it will be read with much interest by all who desire to see the internal communications of the country increased, notwithstanding that the conclusion arrived at is that the particular improvement now in view must wait for its completion some time longer. It will no doubt contain a large amount of information that will bo instructive in the present, and may be useful when, at some future date, the project may be again brought forward.