The Waikato Times. THURSDAY, MARCH, 1877.

Waikato Times, Volume X, Issue 734, 1 March 1877, Page 2

The Waikato Times.

THURSDAY, MARCH , 1877.

Equal and exact justice' to all men, • Of whatever stute or persuasion, religious' or political .*** # ' # Here shall the Presi the People's right maintain, Unawcd by influence and unbribed by gain.

There was a matter introduced by Rewi, m a very ... half-hearted way by-the-bye, during the last interview with the Native Minister, m reference to the condonation of the law m the case of Maori thieves, or," perhaps, we should rather say, m favour of allowing the special statute to be generally applied, which allows a Maori, when convicted of theft, to escape by restitution, to the party robbed, of four times the amount of the stolen goods. The Native Minister very properly pointed put how unlikely it was, if the thief was thus enabled to shift the punishment on to his friends, that such punishment would have any .deterrent effect. Rewi shrugged his shoulders, and, by a smile, admitted that it might be so. Now, Dr. Pollen and Rewi were both right. Some magistrates m native and partly native districts still act upon this statute of restitution, but it is high time that the more simple practice prevailed of applying one law to the Maori and European alike. It is a common thing, we are told, where this practice prevails,, for the friends of the offender to subscribe part of the money, and he is then released on the promise that the remainder shall be paid at a future day. But it never is paid. And even if it were, the system; objectionable m principle as making an unfair distinction between the races m favour of the Maori criminal, is m itself a premium on crime. Relying upon getting off with a fine, even if caught, the native backs himself against detection — does not hesitate tr take the odds when m his favour, — and if convicted, merely puts :the punishment as so much on the debit side of the account, a mere trifle, perhaps, when set off against the value of goods successfully plundered. An instance which fell under our own knowledge is a case m point of the working of the European and Maori law, m cases of larceny. A notoriously bad Maori was continuously before the magistrate m a certain native and European district north of Auckland, and had been let off by payment of four times the goods, stolen. At last the magitrate, seeing the manner m which this style 'of punishment worked, and that it had little or no deterrent effect m repressing crime, resorted to imprisonment m such cases, and one of the first to come under the new regime was our predatory friend, who was sentenced to six months m Mount Eden gaol. The committing magistrate, going down, met him travelling: up to his native settlement after the completion of his /sentence, and accosted him^ askr ing if he Jiapl made up his mind to behave respectably . and honestly. The reply was, that lie had had six months txperience that would keep him out of gaol for the future ; and that native,] to. (this day, is one of the J3est behaved and most respectable Jnaii m his settlement. ,But whatever may be the result of the two systems, fchVprinqiple of con r doming crime for a money payment m the case of the Maori while no option is alld.wed the European, is bad m itself. It is an admission of weakness, and if, indeed, the law be not altogether removed from our statute books, it ought, mpsj; certainly m cases of theft committed by Maoris on Europeans, to be sufered tp fel} into disuse. !