The Waikato Argus GEORGE EDGEGUMBE, Proprietor. TUESDAY, MARCH 30, 1897.

Waikato Argus, Volume II, Issue 113, 30 March 1897, Page 2

The Waikato Argus GEORGE EDGEGUMBE, Proprietor. TUESDAY, MARCH 30, 1897.

It will be seen by a cablegram we publish this morning that the House of Commons has agreed to the second reading of a Bill providing for the establishment of a Court of Criminal Appeal. It is several years now since the first attempt was made to establish such a Court in Great Britain, but opinion has been against the measure, induced in a very great degree by the abuse of the criminal law in the United States, where it is notorious that the Nvorst murderer, provided he or his friends can find the necessary funds, can postpone his execution for many months after sentence has been passed, It is a singular fact that the more heinous the crime for which a man is sentenced to death, the more acute is the sympathy felt for him by a class, which has its memhers on either side of the Atlantic and is more than proportionately represented in Australasia, it is a peculiarly constituted mind which leads people to feel sympathy with the murderer rather than with the murdered and his sorrowing, relatives and friends, but there are many minds so out of balance, hence one reason and a strong one for the establishment of a Court of Appeal. In, the Old Country the duty of confirm ing the sentence of death devolves upon the Home Secretary, in the colonies upon the Ministry as a whole. It is nob so long since, that we had a committee of the House of Representatives set up to re-try the convict Chemis, and the proceedings resulted as everybody anticipated in the case remaining exactly as it svas. Then followed a Criminal Code Amendment Act to enable the convict to apply to the Court of Appeal for a new trial. This was refused, and the man is still in jail. There is another convict Bosher, who is at the present moment under sentence of death, and there are already symptoms of an agitation to secure the mitigation of his sentence. To our mind, except under very exceptional circumstances indeed, execution should follow murder as certainly as the night does the day. Uncertainty in this respect does much to detract from the usefulness of executions —which is to deter others from doing likewise. If there is reasonable doubt as to the guilt of accused, he should of course not be hanged. This, if a Court of Appeal existed, would be cleared up by men with minds trained to weigh evidence, uninfluenced by popular clamour or political considerations. The existence of the Court would not.of course do away wiHi the prerogative of mercy delegated to the Governor by the Sovereign, which would no doubt be exercised in the event of extra ordinary eases arising. There are other sentences than that of death which might be appealed against and adjusted, or confirmed by the court. Now that the Old Country has taken the lead it is to be sincerely hoped the matter will have the serious attention of Ministers and Parliament at an early date.