MISCELLANEOUS.

Waikato Times, Volume VIII, Issue 447, 30 March 1875, Page 2

MISCELLANEOUS.

A mbi^iton^qiiestioiWf^lke, dfry at Home is the expediency oTftttixutucnte Wre lash for the repression of brutality. The necessity for some more powerful deterrent tJjan i^tat present in the hands of the law, stares ihsJrJfleob«ly in the face. Could any savage evince greater wrffbality than is to be found in some of our qounfcryman'? For instance the following case : — At Liverpool a gang of men set upon a porter, whe was walking accompanied by his wife and brother, and because he would not accede to their' request to stand a pot of beer there and then, in the street, kicked him to death in the presence of a crowd of bystanders, who bounded on the murderers, and held back the agonised wife and brother. The other case goes even lower in the scale of brutality. A dozen young Lancashire colliers, of from thirteen to twenty years of age, form a ring round a wretched drunken female tramp in a field, and there several of them in turn outrage her to death. But this is^lrardly the worst of the case, if anything can beVworse. Two of these 1 brutes are brought to triai^vand the witnesses — the young savages who formecTthe ring — one and all say they did nqt»kn<w there was any harm, and ' only thought theNiga|berm bit of fun.' This was too much for the Ju^Ce, whg£ burst forth with indignation, " I want ttffcnow how it is possible in a Christian country likeNihis that there should be such a state of feeling, even among- boys of thirteen, sixteen, and eighteen years of age. It is outrageous. If there are missionaries wanted to the heathen there are heathens in England who want teaching a great deal more than those abroad." His Lordship was quite right. The only question is which to put in the hands^ of the missionary — a hymn-book or a caW-nine-tails. One despairs of being able to get at the moral sense of suoh savages as these, and therefore let us appeal to their physical sense. .Flogging practically stopped garotting and there is a strong inclination throughout the' country to extend&he punishment to '.the perpetra-' tors of all brutal \itoages. "ifjn Edinburgh it JtfW been decided by a large m^rity of the tofajfc Council to memorialise the Government to grant power to sheriffs and higher judges to order tteH^r fliction of the lasftu^tßte case of all criminals oonvicted of personal vfolell^ Beating and knocking a wife to death is of almost daily occurrence. Mr Justice Mellor, one of the celebrated Tich borne triumvirace, says that though at .one time he looked " with horror " to a return to the system of flogging his experience on tl.e bench has led him to reluctantly come to the conviction-^hat by no other means can crimes of viWe\ice \b^pte vented. The Press genrally endorse these s.euttttierHs. Professor PuTs^siljelieves that the moon, in revolving 'Jaroun^, %* earth -and drawing the tides behind her, causes \he latter to act as a brake on the? revolution' of xhe globe, and he considers that it may- be mathematically shown that thiß action is slowly but surely checking the earth's speed of rotation, so that days and nights are 1 gradually-lengthening.^ In a thousand million years or so they may each a monthlong — ' Engineer.,' "*\- The hangman in- the three Liverpool executions was-tbe" gentleman^ amateur," who, preferring to be designated " CalorafVs , assistant," executed the notorious Thomas Conijgan in a very scientific man- ; ncr, and, by his subsequent handling of his "subject," proved conclusively to those who witnessed his cool and careful examination of the body that he had studied in a school of medicine. On his first appearance at a Kirkdaje, execution with Caloraft, (who, by-the-bye, is lying bo. a bed of siokness in London, and may be saicroo have retired from the "profession,") it will remembered' that he was believed to be a farmer^rom South Wales, so enthusiastic in the pleasant efcaration of depriving o^her persons of their Hvestihat he • willingly followed* the veteran executioner tHfcpugh the country and rendered him gratuitous \ervise. Evans was then the name assigned to him ; W Swi a subsequent occasion he was known as "Mr Anderson," and at the present execution he paft^ctijiarly requested the prison officials not to divulge his $arne to the representatives of the press. Who h$ is or what he is may be for ever shrouded in mystery, but he is a man possessing peculiar " talent " for the repulsive office he undertakes is undeniable. The systematic fixing of the rope and the eiicellent terms upon which h& appears to be with himwfafej^r the event justify any one who saw aaaan wellVttired, wearing a semiclerical wide-awakfc, wl'th a white cambric handkerchief protruding Vr^n h™ left breast pocket, in believing that he was no cqnimon hangman, and that the duties that he undertakes in decreasing the population of this realm have a fascination beyond mere pecuniary remuneration. Upon the occasion of his last visit to in an official capacity, it was tmderstctod that his services would no longer be called intoV^uisitlbn, in consequence of the tone a4qp^cN^r him towards the prison officials, but he seems ito hajje conquered the antipathy to-, him, and he is\egarded as the legitimate successor of the veteran Oalcraft. . , The Solicitor's Journal^ in alluding to Dr. Kenealy, says:— "The loss to the bar, of. scholarship, courage, and capacity-such as Dr. Kenealy has often manifested cartaois fail to be a subject pf deor, regret. But we niustHavowjaur conviction CTK» fc h e '/ imd rendered it impossible forHhte tfenxjfoera ofTi*'" inn to act otherwise tl|an they have done? view which has been put lorward in qi> entitled $© consideration; that* if Dr. Kedisbarred on account of the articles V appeared in- his journal Ue will be d^ban he has behaved impi-o|h*rly in a matw*'

jxeneaiy s^case. t_AB. aay^cate against^ nose_ciieni: the *Vefiiict~of tlfe jmy^Kas* passed, prints from time to time in a journal which bears his name as editor, accusations against the judges who presided" over the trial j charges them with being' the slaves of passion, prejudice, and revengeful pride, ' and does not hesitate even to attack their private character. Can anyone doubt that if these things were said in coitrt by any barrister, after and in< relation to a trial in which he hud appeared for the losing party, he would- rightly be considered as having been guilty of ' professional misconduct? Does it alter the character of the offence that instead of being, uttered to less than a hundred people in court, these'charges are printed and circulated broadcast all over the kingdom 1 The advocate surely does not put off his responsibilities with his gown. Moreover, the result of allowing a defeated ccuncel to libel with impunity the Judges who have heard his case would be to establish a kind of terrorism over the bench far worse than any which the bench is likely to exercise over the bar. Judges, after all, are only men, and at all times there must be some among them who Would shrink from deciding against a counsel at the risk of boing held np to public contempt. The " Goulbnrn Herald of the 13th ult, gives the particulars cf a terrible death : --" On Wednesdny afternoon the coroner, Mr Betts, held an in- I quest at the residence of Mr W. M. Wright, Inverary, on the body of John Harris, a Übourer, aged about 54. and unmarried, who came* by his death under the following circumsfcanoes : It seems that deceased came to live at Wrights on the previous Monday week ; on Sunday afternoon he went out with a tomahawk, saving he would gefc^a native bear for the dogs : he did not, however, veturn : and Wright being away from home, and being told that he was missing, went in search of him, but without success. The same afternoon Mr C. Styles and Mr Glennie called, and they also went in search'; j and not far from Wrights house, but not within call, they found the dead body of deceased on the ground with the limb of a tree recently cut down lying across one of his knees ; the tree was of sufficient weight to fasten the deceased to the ground so that he could not get away, but Mr Styles believes that from the softness of the soil he might, had he made the effort, have removed sufficient to release himself. Constable Tracey went and examined the body, and found that the tree rested on the inside of the left knee; it took threa men to remove it. There was a wound on the inside of each arm at the elbow-joint, and also in the throat under the chin, and there was a quantity of blood where deceased lay, and a knife with the small blade open, and stained with blood, was lying near. The jury returned a verdict that the cticeased died partly from injuries received by -the falling of a tree, and partly from injuries wilfully inflicted by limself." The Auckland correspondent of the Brisbane Cornier thus discourses of New Zealand : — "The colony is very healthy and sound, aud will stand any financial stethoscope that may be applied to it. Look what a colony this is for Government billets, wool, gold, peaches, coal, spring lamb, timber, iron, gales of wind, phormium tenax, tomatoes, trotting hosres, and a fiscal policy, and ask yourself if we are not to be envied. Look at yqur returns and compare them with ours, when you will see that among married women our women bring three children into the world for your two ; and for plumpness and the easy cutting of teeth, and the blessings they are to their mammas, your babies won't be found a patch upon ours." We " Otago Guardian " have been favoured with tfee following extract from a private letter received fey a citizen of Dunedin from Buenos Ay res, dated December I, 1874 :—": — " The revolution, so called, is virtually over, General Mitre having offered to surren&er with his entire army. The rebel gunboat Pawtna !has also been handed over to the port authorities. These events are naturally a source of much jubilation. The position of the upper provin- J ees is not so well known, but there is good reason for t«lieving that the cause of constitutional order "will equally triumph in those regions. The force at the disposal of the Government is quite overwhelming, *nd Colonels Azala and Mansilla are rapidly organising a reserve army at Rosarioof 15000 men. In the papers sent herewith you will find details of the trade and navigation accounts of this Republic for the past year, which will be interesting, more -particularly the statistics relating to the Argentine commercial and shipping relations with England. The total value of imports into this state from England for the year 1873 amounted to £3,8 1 0,000 stg. the principal articles being textile fabrics, — which 'Constitute over a third of the whole, — railway and -other manufactured iron, clothing, and coal. It is gratifying to find that England maintains her position of pre-eminence in the, world, which is daily growing- into greater importance* as a centre of mercantile activity. The railways are doing a good business, the wool now coming freely from the country: in fact, from various circumstances, there jeing an abundant supply, the demand has becdrne languid, although several important transactions iiave taken place."