THE DEATH OF HUGH A HAMLLTON.

Auckland Star, Volume XVI, Issue 3851, 20 December 1882, Page 2

THE DEATH OF HUGH A HAMLLTON.

A l'lea for the Accused.

(To the liditor.)

Sm,—Will you allow mo space to suggest 110 iho many roftdchi interested iv the daily paragraphs re tha Hamilton case, that it is unfair for lh<in 10 inaiio up tluiriniuds, as many bare done, that tbe woman nnrt nian at present imprisoaed on the charge of murdT are goilty of that murder. I liavo carefully teud the r>aj>cn>, giving special attention to all paragraphs hcadid " Most Suspicions Circuautnnces," and urn astoniaded to see what tiifles may be magnified into mountains ol evidence. The woman is yet untriei), and yet through the iuflurncc of the daily column, she is already d»mncd in the eyes of tho greater portun t-f the public to whom I have spoken, and thiji bocauio tliey Lave Bccopfcd the biss which the wriJcrs in our journals havo given 10 the snbjnct. The woman is unfiie«dcd and miserable. I h*d i wai'cd to see oue good, word written for her, and failing in finding it, 1 want to suggest that, until proved to the contrary, the circumstances of the case are not against her. First, then, I rather think tiio poor dead fcll»w was a d'lKtkard and an indifferent husband, and that any talk of divorce or s-paration wouM bo probably c»usfd by his infidciiy, rather than by hia wife's mi«conduct. That he was a drunkard was plaiuto most who kue whim, and tho other and worse wrong was no secret from his associates. How this would afl'ect hia home might be easily guessed. The poor womaa is spokon of as bring hard-featured, and as not showing tko propel amount of gritf. Such trouble as she h«.s h«d would bo likely to inlluenco her features unfavourably, and years of living with such a-tnan would school h«r to bsur, if uot wtan her from grief at his death. She did not ro into mouruirg Query, had aho the means to purchase mourning clothes with? /»nd oa the other hand, are all who fail to subscribe to custom iv this particular to bo adjudged of ci!loU3ircs« ? Koruebody thinks they saw her carrying an ! oxe undercover of a broom, and that ogiin is a "sufpicious circnmslauci'." To »c it seems dreadful that, the probably hm«Mnt action of carrying an axe and a brotaji together thouli be so construed. Must we never dare to hold an axe and a housebro'im in onr hands at the fame time ? Was the neulcct in not sending for help sooner an ovilence of crime? It wa« ceitaiuly wrong, but at worst appears nothing more than an error in judgment. Imagine a worn-out woman with a sick child; imagine a m»n who was in tho habit of coining homo drunk after niidnighr, hurting himself by falling ngainst a projection. \\ ho can blamo her, pre-rccuptcd as the was, and dazed with tronblo upon trouble, for not refilling the extent of the hurt ? Who ran blame };er for uot raising tho neighbourhood to witness her sorrow and disgraco? Even the woman's instinctive cleanliness tells against her, and because she was not slattern enough to leavo the place filthy for sn mdi finite time, sho must,torsooth, lie cuilty of this aerious crime. It is said that Hamilton wound up h's watch and d'sposed of the lodge fcook«. Why not ? He wai apparently used to it, and such a feat ii no wonder, even if followed by a drunken fall over a cirpct. Ami that nxo—at ptestnt tho axe proves nothing. Tho sani3 suspicious axe, Dealing tbo famo suspicious markf, may he picked up in any baclc yaid in Auckland As fur as I cau soe, all the " facts " are far teo flim.«y to bniid snch n serious theory upon; while tho surmises strike me as soanda', which for gratuitous wickedsets conld not well bo surpassed. Vfhat evidence is there, for instance, that tho baby died an unnatural death ? It is truo that the post-mortem examinntion will settle tha', bnt evrn facts will tot set at rest the suspicion excited by the ptobablc lie which some and evoryb-dy startod as gossip. Innocent or guilty, the two poor souls now in gaol Jmo already been sentenced in many houses in Auckland ; in houses, too, which may supply juror* to try th" cases ; and pure pity, tocotbor with tho feeling that such treatment of fellow mortals is unfair, unchristian, tineverything that in good, has compelled me to write, —I nm, &c,

CIUKIIY