Wairarapa Daily Times. [ESTABLISHED 1878.] WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 30, 1893.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XV, Issue 4510, 30 August 1893, Page 2

Wairarapa Daily Times. [ESTABLISHED 1878.] WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 30, 1893.

We did not consider that Mr R, S, Hawkins would have been quite 88 long as be has in achieving fame as a Resident Magistrate, That he was sure to be renowned was a matter of course, for he is a creature of impulse, who occasionally becomes the very soul of indiscretion. When be was first named for this district there was a general feeling of consternation, and Mr Hogg, M.H.R., with commendable promptness persuaded the Government to send ,bim elsewhere, He has now achieved notoriety by sentencing a Salvation Army officer to a month's hard labour for playing a cornet in the streets of Milton. It is not on record whether Captain Kerr, the martyr hero of Milton, played the said instrument in tune or out of tune, If he murdered a time and produced a discord, musical oritics would hold that he deserved a month's imprisonment with hard labour, but the general publio are not particular to a semitone, and would not inoar- ■ cerateacornetplayer for getting a little ' off the traok, The law, too, does not ] discriminate between good musio and j bad, therefore Captain Kerr is entitled j to the benefit of any doubt on the point, and we may assume that he ] did discourse sweet music in the i classic thoroughfares of Milton. Pro- 1 bably the Resident Magistrate is < perfectly right in his interpretation ] of the law with respect to Milton s musicj but none the less by a ' want of noiwhe has placed himself in an unfortunate and ludiorous poai- ° tion. Not only,this but he has r embarassed the Government which. c gave him his billet. Borne five J thousand Salvation Army men are $ indignant with the Magistrate,and (he h Governor, the Ministry and the I Legislature are being appealed to in * order that the oruel sentence may be 8l reversed. On the eve of a general £ election the Government cannot afford j, to fall out with the Salvation Army, i and it may be taken for granted that si their sympathies will be on the side s!

of Cnptoin Kerr. But, after all, this is only one of the Government ohiokeas cominghome to roost. When Mr Hawkins was appointed the Government knew exactly the kind of man he was. Clever enough one way to be a Premier, but, as we said before, a mcrr creature of impulse, He was sup posed to owe his appointment, not t( his all round fitness for the position, but to the fact that he assisted Mr Jelliooe in contesting a Wellington seat at the last general election.. We do not for one moment blame Mr Hawkins for his singular sentenoe on Captain Kerr, because it was exactly the sort of thing to be expected at his hands, but we do censure the Government for mating important appointments on political considerations without a doe regard for the suitability of the persona chosen, It ia the Government really who have sentenced Captain Kerr to a month's bard labour for playing some popular melody in a town where musiq is unappreciated. Captain Kerr now knows what "ParadißeLost" in Milton means, but, if w« mistake not, he will soon have some experience of "Paradise Kegained."