AMERICAN JUSTICE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 249, 21 October 1933, Page 2 (Supplement)

AMERICAN JUSTICE.

COLLECTION OF TRIALS. Tlie author of a new book on American trials says that "in matters of crime and justice, the chief difference between the New World and the Old World is that in Europe crime is in its infancy, while in America it is justice which is in its infancy." From an English point of view, France, Germany, Russia and America are all too hysterical nationally and individually to be just. Mr. C. E. B. Roberts has illustrated the emotional side of the American Courts by quoting at length the details of twelve criminal trial 3 from 1859 to 1922. In the "New World of Crime" (Eyre and Spottiswoode) 'there is ample evidence of a lack of cool judgment in dealing with robbery and murder, and jx general tendency to public poe-ing on the part of judges and counsel. In place of the question "What is right and just?" is substituted the question "What will the public find most exciting?" and trials are made into theatrical displays, and newspapers are encouraged to "feature" the sayings of counsel and judge, while the prisoner is used as an excuse for attracting attention to the Court performers. Each advocate seeks to show greater skill in argument and greater power of invective than his opponent, and his duty to his client is lost in this effort. The worst feature of American trials is the method of keeping the prisoner in suspense (sometimes for years) before finality is reached, and even then there is sometimes a lack of reasonable proof that he is innocent or guilty.

CRIME AND SECRET SERVICE. The title of -"The Eel Pie Mystery" (Longmans) made us think first of poison, but it turned out that the mystery was connected with Eel Pie Island, in the Thames, and that the victim had been drowned. The big Detective-Inspector Bull is the sleuth, and he is helped again by the mild little amateur Pinkerton. Mr. David Frome is to bo congratulated on having created a human detective. "Night in Glengyle," by John Ferguson (Collins), bears some resemblance to Mr. John Buchan's romances. An actor "on the rocks" takes on a secret service job that sends him to a Scottish castle as a valet in order to spy on persons who have dark designs on an outlying portion of the British Empire, but before he reaches there he is involved in a murder, and travels as a fugitive from justice. It is an exciting story which ends in a flight through the heather that Mr. Buchan might have written.

A WAR POEM. With reference to our inquiry for the author of lines said to have been found on a dead New Zealander at Gallipoli, Mr. D. H. Sullivan writes to say the version is slightly inaccurate. Here is the original version:— NON NOBIS. . Not unto us, O Lord, to tell Thy purpose in the blast, When they that towered beyond us fell And we were overpast. We cannot guess how goodness springs From the black tempest's breath, Nor scan the birth of gentle things. In these red bursts ol death. We only know—from good and great Nothing save good can flow; That where the cedar crashed so straight, No crooked tree shall grow. That from their ruin a taller pride— Not for these eyes to seeMay clothe one day the valley side .... Non nobis, Domine. "These verses are to be found in the Anzac book compiled on Gallipoli in the closing months of 1915 just prior to the evacuation. They are attributed to an Australian soldier believed to have been killed later. If, as you say, they were found in the pocket of a dead New Zealander at Anzac, it is probable that he had the MS copy, as the book was not published until after the evacuation. This would account for the difference in wording. It may have been a rough draft that the dead New Zealander possessed." Miss Mildred Earl also writeson this subject. She is almost certain in attributing the authorship to Mr. C. W. Bean, who was on the staff of the "Sydney Morning Herald" in 1914, and later was Australian War Correspondent.

" B.P. MAGAZINE." Tlic "B.r. Magazine," published quarterly by Burns, Philp and Company, .Sydney, keeps up its reputation for readable articles and admirable illustrations. In the September number there is a wide range of photographs of Australia and New Guinea, and the artistic value of many is exceptional. A feature of special interest to New Zealand is an illustrated article, "North Auckland Comes Into Its Own." The literary contents are varied, and, as usual, a. good deal of attention is paid to the nrts. « PROTECTING MAKGOT." The reader is irresistibly drawn into the many social and domestic anxieties of the family in "Protecting Margot" by Mrs. A. G. "Bosnian (Putnam). There is a. domineering woman who has married a title, and her two selfish, flighty daughters; a happy -go-lucky young military officer; and a. gentle,- easilyinfluenced woman of forty, with money, whom everybody attempts to guide for entirely selfish purposes; and an illegitimate girl of good parentage, who is obviously thoroughbred. These, and all the "supers," servants, friends and even the cat, have character and individual interest. Poor Margot is rich and independent in position, but horribly dependent in fact, blown here and there by the force and persuasions of relatives, deserted by her husband, childless, and with but one reliable friend. The style reminds one of Galsworthy, and the plot is new and modern and so close to reality that it might be taken from life. BOOKS RECEIVED. Action and Passion, by r. C. Wren (John Murray, through Whitcombo . and Tombs). The Snows of Helicon, by ir. M. Tomlinson; They Brought Their Women, by Edna Ferber (Helnemann). The Duke's Last Trick, by Cecil Freeman Gregg (Methuen). Drums of Mer, by lon L. Idrless: Quotas or Stable Money, by E. V. <:. Sbann, M.A. (Angus and Robertson). Tho Eel Pie Mystery, by David Frome; God and Lady Margaret, by John Oxenham (Longmans). Only Men on Board, by Cameron Blake; Victory In the Jungle, by Edison Marshall; God Save the King, by J. K. Pulling; Mr. Pete and Co., by Alice Hegan Rice: No Second Spring, by Janet Beitb (Hodder and Stoughton). Flax and Fernseed, by Marsyas (Coulls, Somerville, Wilklc, Ltd., Dunedln). Wardens of the Sea, poems by E. J. Brady (Endeavour Press, Sydney). Two Black Sheep, by Warwick Deeping (Cassel, through Wbitcombc and Tombs). Tho Home Annual, 1933 (Art la Australia, Ltd.). , J