The Invercargill Times. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 1863.

Southland Times, Volume I, Issue 29, 17 February 1863, Page 2

The Invercargill Times. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 1863.

The cas« in which Mr. Barker lately figured ia the Resident Magistrate's Court, charged with having assaulted the editor of the Southland News, attracted a considerable amount of interest, the police office being inconveniently crowded during the hearing. Mr. Bnvker was, ia the first place, charged with having conducted himself, in the presence of a constable, in a manner calculated to provoke a breach of the peace; and tho offence having been fully proved, judgment was deferred, and the case of assault proceeded with. The evidence clearly showed that a severe blow had been struck, the weapon used being a very large slick some four feet long. We must say that we felt considerably surprised when, at the termination of both cases, his Worship inflicted no penalty at all for the first offence. Taking into consideration the fact tha> the editor of the Southland Neivs had offered the defendant an opportunity of settiug himself right before the public through the press, and also that a very ample explanation whs made with regard to the paragraph which led to the assault, we must say, and we •are sure our readers will agree with us, that the fine of five pounds bore no proportion to the magnitude of the two offences. It is very true that (he prosecutor distinctly stated that he hnd no wish to press the charge, but whoever may have been lu9 private feelings on the j subject, we think that a short term of j imprisonment would not have been too heavy a punishment for such very scaudalous conduct. It may be perfectly true that the Southland Acics was wrong in the first instance, but tho course which Mr Barker should have pursued was clear, and nothing could justify him in taking tho law into his own hands. But there are circumstances in connection with this case which very considerably increase the blame winch lies at the door of the defendant. The offence was not committed on the spur of the moment ; it was deliberately planned many hours previously and carried into effect in a very savage and malicious manner, and it was not Mr Barker's fault that he did not do the prosecutor some very serious injury. That such was his intention was clearly proved by the weapon he armed himself with, and hnd not two or three gentlemen born very fortunately present, he might have committed murder. Not content with having so far degraded himself, he stntcd in court that he felt very proud [those were the words he made use of] of his conduct. His Worship, in passing sentence, said that had tho prosecutor not begged him to treat the case as leniently as he possibly could, he should have sent the prisoner to gaol, and there can be no doubt that he would have acted in a perfectly just manner by doing so. The fine of five pounds to a man in Mr Barker's position is, ia fact, no punishment at all.