UNDER DEATH SENTENCE.

Auckland Star, Volume XLII, Issue 138, 12 June 1911, Page 6

UNDER DEATH SENTENCE.

TAHI KAKA UNTROUBLED. MOVEMENT FOB REPRIEVE. Within the walls of Mt. Eden gaol Tahi Kaka is calmly awaiting the execution of the death penalty passed on him twelve days ago for the murder at Kaikohe of an old gumdigger, John Freeman, There has as yet been no official confirmation received by the sheriff, Mr. S. Goring Thomas, that it is not the Governor's pleasure to interfere with the sentence of the Court. Meanwhile the Maori boy passes his time in gaol, indifferently, smoking, reading, and writing Of more than average intelligence as lie is, it seems inconceivable that he cannot realise the seriousness of his position, yet when intimation was conveyed to •him of Cabinet's decision, he received it' with only the indifference which he has throughout shown towards the ministrationb of the prison chaplain. Though liis general demeanour is cheerful, and he is affably disposed towards the detaining warders, he has expressed no desire to see friends or relatives. The only person with whom lie lias •communicated since the death sentence was passed is a brother, who is laid up in hospital, and these two maintain a regular correspondence. So smoking, and reading, and writing to his brother, with occasional intervals of exorcise. Tahi Kaka awaits the day unconcernedly, missing no meal time and losing no sleep, apparently careless of the fact that ere imnv dayi pass he will add another line to the gruesome execution record of Mt'. Eden gaol .and one grave more to iinhonnured burial spots within the precincts of the prison. There is greater anxiety in official circles, where reluctance to proceed with the rugging of the fatal scaffold is naturally shown. The Sheriff is legally bound to have the penalty enforced within a week of official intimation that it has to be carried out, and suspense in a matter of such serious import is not calculated to make the office an enviable one, though doubtless lime is a consideration ! in the rather delicate business of arranging for the provision of a working substitute at the scaffold. PETITION FOR REPRIEVE. The announcement that the death sentence on Kaka will lie carried out, has resulted in a movement |to circulate a petition for presentation to his Excellency the Governor, praying him to reconsider his decision. Bishop Crossley. who since his arrival has taken a keen interest in the native race, is giving the scheme his hearty support, and has announced his intention of heading the list of signatories. The Revs. H. H. Hawkins (of the Maori Mission) and E. C. Budd (chaplain to the public institution) are busily exerting themselves in the matter, and it is expected that a large number of clergy of aU denominations will also give the petition their support. The time at the disposal of Knka's well-wishers is short, and it is intended to have the petition printed, and, if possible, ready for circulation to-morrow. The "petition is to be placed in all leading offices and places of business, and if sufficient help is forthcoming, tables will be set down at as many street corners as possible. In the meantime thos e willing to help »r» |i•'-"«! t-i inform the T)io""s,in Secretary (Mr. W 7 . S. Cochrane). The petition dwells on Kaka's youth and the nearness of the Coronation as a suitable occasion on-which to grant a reprieve. The counsel for the prisoner (Mr. W. E. Hackett) is also taking part in the agitation against the death penalty. PREVIOUS EXECUTIONS. A GRIM RECORD. The first man executed in New Zealand for murder was a Maori named Maketu, who was hanged at xluckland in 1542, for the murder of a white woman, several children and a man at the Bay of Islands. The woman was his employer, a Mrs. Robertson, and Maketu, after killing a fellow-servant, murdered Mrs. Robertson, her two children, and a half-caste child, set fire to the house, and paddled off in a canoe to join liis tribe. He afterwards confessed the crime, and was executed in Auckland. [ The first offender to suffer the extreme penalty of the law in Mt. Eden gaol, then new, was a butcher named Richard M. Harper, who murdered his wife in Edwards-street, Auckland, and was hanged on 3rd October, 1863. Since then there have 'been eleven executions at Mt. Eden. Alex McLean, for the murder of his wife at Pokeno, was hanged on 21st October, 1864; James Stock, for the killing of his mother-in-law (Mrs. Finnegan), and three brothers-in-law at Otahuhu suffered death on 7th April, ISfili; for various rmirdors five Hauhans. including Solomon the Prophet, and tho notorious Kereopa, were hanged on 17th May, ISG6; seven years later, on 29th July, 1873, Joseph ' Bppwright, a sailor, suffered the death penalty for the murder of the third mate of the whaling ibnrqiie fßainibowij Charles Dyer was hanged on 30th October, 1874, for the confessed murder at Pakiri of a. youn<* woman named Eliza Battorsea, by pouring kerosene over her and burning her to death; on 10th February. 1875, Nutana suffered the penalty of having killed a Maori girl at Orakei; Martin Curtain, a settler of Ararimu,, Wairoa South, ended a long-existing feud with a neighbour named Shaivaghan by killing the latter, and ho. on 6th February, 1877. expiated the offence; three months later Te Pahi, a Maori, merit to tho scaffold for having tomahawked a fellow-prisoner (Morgan) .in Ngaxtn-haia fcaol; Hjn.ro Winiaf.a (Harry Wynyard), a Maori, went to the gallows on 4th August. 1882, for having murdered Edwin Packer on a farm at Epsom; John Caffroy and Henry Albert Ponn, both seafaring mon, were on 21st February. 1887. executed for tho murder of Samuel Taylor, of Tryphena Harbour, Gr"at Barrier Island; and on 21st Mar. 180:;, Alexander ,Ins. S;-ott was hanged for poisoning at Waikumrte a man nemed Thompson. Thus there have boon enacted twelve executions in Mt. Eden gaol, and thirteen altogether in Auckland, eighteen men having suffered the extreme penalty— nine Maoris and nine white men. \ I