JUSTICES' JUSTICE.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XIII, Issue 4197, 20 August 1892, Page 2

JUSTICES' JUSTICE.

The Mauriceville Owelty Case, [From the Catholic Times.] A case which has been decided at Masterton most eloquently emphasises the incapacity of some of our Great Unpaid to comprehend even tbo most rudimentary principles of Justice, A j woman-at least she appears to have

worn the clothes of a woman and the

heart of a hyena-named Elizabeth Goodganje, of Mauriooville, and her husband, were charged with treating in the most revolting, cruel manner —some of the details are unfit for publication in these columns—Maud Thompson, a girl fifteen years of age, the illegitimate daughter of the

female prisoner. The cruelty was not denied; the girl's evidence as to the

cruelly, and the vile naturo of some of it, was unshaken; the appearance of the poor creature testified lo the inburottn treatment'she had received, Moreover, there was no' doub'jb that the man had not on)y 111.-uged the gin himself, bij't was perfectly ajyare pf'tjie (po)ty t|)e woman, his wife, pracr tised upon her daughter. The magistrates were duly and pror perly sbooked,, : The prosecuting lawyer pressed fora deterrenteentence, pointing out that the children would be looked after during the imprisonmeat of their parents. " There was no wish to be vindictive," he said, " but similar cases were becoming too common." He properly added, "It was necessary aa a warning to others that the punishment should not be trivial." •

'Thejustices on the Bench were Messrs' A,' #. Henall and J/,' flutemeflt. Out of the bottomless abysses of their wisdom they sentenced the man to three and the woman to four

months' hard labour. Tbe sentences were simply farcical. An unfortunate girl Ib. by the filthy barbarity of her mother, and with the connivance of the person who stood to her in the relation of«father, rendered miserable and outcast for years, possibly for life. She was repeatedly brutally assaulted, she was not permitted sufficient clothing for ordinary decency, was k;ept filthy, and was degraded in every conceivable manner and in some mannersalmost inconceivable. And two Justices of the Peace, pcrfeot Daniels come to judgment, think a nice light sentence of four months will meet all the exigencies of tbe case !

Now, we advise the Minister for Justice to send for these wise men and to take a .good look nt them; and after he has done that to consider whether their names should be kept on the Commission of the Peace. Of Mr Butementwe know nothing. Of Mrßenall we know something. He is a man of considerable age and great eccentricity. Some of his proceedings as Mayor of Masterton were so wildly jocose that, were they here set down, the relation would not meet credence. It will be the serioti3 duty of the Ministry to consider whether Mr Renall's advanced age and ecoentricities, capped by bis latest judgment, render him a fit and, proper person to continue to be entrusted with tho liberties of He»- Majesty's subjects and the guardianship of their persons.