LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 197, 14 May 1908, Page 4

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

SOCIALISTS AND THE CHURCHES. Sir,—l think it should' bo said that my reply to a question regarding tho action of a certain church in erecting shops on it's section was simply a refusal to discuss tho case. I regarded it as trivial. Tho caso is, of course, on all fours with tho proceeding of tho Auckland Baptist Church.- Tho bald question whether churches should speculate in land I answer in tho negative, and may add, without suspicion of Pharisaism, that the Baptist Church has an old, conscience in tho matter, and declined in, I think, every proyinco of tho Dominion, to accept State grants of land.—l am, etc., J. J. NORTH. • May 13. '■ ' ■■■■:• .

THE DEFAMATORY LIBEL: ACTION

o . REVIEWED BY THE DEFENDANT, h . THE JURY SYSTEM. e Sir,—Tho saying that poople concern thom- , solves least about what concerns, them most e is too paradoxical to bo of universal applici- , tion; but there is a class of.subjects to-which |1. it :|s unfortunat-ely ,only. too; true. .The libel 0 cas ° ju whicli I was recently defendant is _ conspicuously of this class; tho real issuo is e not whether tho .character of an individual f bps. been smirched or whether another inr dividuaj should bo punished, but 'is one affectij ing, either , for its destruction or its' permaP nonce, tho deep foundations on'which homo and family and civilised society, stand.' And ' this .was my. interest in it throughout.; . . . - In .every ago moralists and philosophers, 1 who m tho last resorts-are the creators and conservators of society, ; havo viewed tho • home ;as developing the' primary form of , morality to be succeeded by that of the State r m its sccond ■ and' final pliase. llio ideal ». State thereforo is' but «a macrocosm evolved or_ expanded from tile home. Tho ethical . principle of family relationship is the .very ' basis of sound national life;, tho family is virtually and in pririoiplo a single person; suffering borno to one is ; borne to all, since its members aro. pledged to a mutual suri .render of their ■ individual personality, each : ivith their particular interests and' desires, : and become united in a common , bond of j feeling, confidence,, and faith. ~Tho sanctity and inviolability of tho home is thereforo the • most jealously; guarded interest on'earth, and 1 .®. n ?"' attempt to poison or destroy; its', essentially sacred'character >js regarded as a.deadly 1 insult, a fighting matter. . ! Now. that the case'alluded to. is clear of ' tho. Court and. the interdict against public, comment ronioved, I think the. justice cannot be denied me of presenting the facts in their ■ truo.'hght and_ clearing my liame of . tho mass of irreleviint jargon in which, it has. bedomo , involved. The. technicalities of legal proceduro, and tho studied obscurantism which is ono of its greatest evils,, frequently reduce the.'.most distinct; and unequivocal issues to chaos... Illustrations of tliis will crowd upon the nund. of everyone who. has seen anjrthing' of existing procedure, 'and' the- history of law iS ; for tho greater part a' record of gliaatly ■ of jiistice. I need not''recapitulate tho ;history, of tho case in: which I was concerned, although its most terriblo and tragio aspects havo not spen the.'light.of publicity; it was .a, tragedy repletO';.with ;ovcry circumstance of suffering and horror, arid one that left.no alternative to-my mind but exposure, reeling.that I was in a amply aubstantiate each ono of tho specific charges that 'fornied the basis "of- the prosecution against , mo for.criminal Ijbel.. v: - . leaving that question and turning to tho juaicial. system of the country, ono cannot i help boing struck with its outstanding weak- 1 '®®«6■ of' any. man'-who has steopetl his soul in shameless bvilj' Vho has uestroyed, tho sanctity of homes, and causedburning,: undeserving shame to tako the plaoo of'.mnocencb and mirth—when such can appeal with confidence to tho laws of'his country for redress < and.crehabilitatioii, following public exposure, do so with a" in tlid judicial machmery thero, is, ;a rascal and moral dei feet "which will ;<jiij all prttßability gfant him •v?l?aV.hfi-^s;'.;<And > tßiß.ih New Zealand is. tho-jury system'. ; vlt-'is lio.Wvi'an old-timo question wliother justic# is promoted b$ trial by jury. ■ Tho main, purpose which tho'institution once served—to check the despotic tondpney _°f-tho Bonch— long sinco become obsolete. , The; majority of so-called;'criminal cases very rarely oxcito questions as to bafflo any: but'highly trained minds, and for eases an intelligent jury' should, constitute a trusted and satisfactory .tribunal/ but instances' pf egregious fhiluro aro numerous. - If the jury that sat upon my case is typical of its kind, 1 , then the system' as. prac- . tised. 'm Wellingtonvjs'j.a standing, menace. A ■ jury _should at Ifeast poskss a. ''sufficient sonso of lustico .and strength of mjnd not'

•{?. a , I i OW I , ts ?!V, be driven,;' tossed;; tannied,frightened; bullied; or worried int'6''a decision bv any counsel whose stock-in-trade is ah inexhaustible fund of, street-corner rhetoric. L have already characterised tho importauco given certain letters I wrote, containing retereiicßS t-o. revenge, "as , pucrilo and. grotesque. Thesa letters wore written in the heat of passion,, and, although the chicanerv or I<iW " permitted their • 'exploitation ad nauseam, they could in,, no sense gloss over or .palliate. thei outrages ' to. which they related.. While I desire to escapo none of the censuro. brought about by the objectionablo expression, . strategy andr tactics Yof',re-, vengo, I,may say.it : does not reflect my true character, but is one of liiany kindred expressions, used in, a kind of journalistic work in which I was formerly engaged. Following my return to New_York„.frpm : Russia in the ' summer;,--.0f.: 15.01,,. /while. ,th<S <RusGo-Japanoso war -.acted' as correspondent to/,the.-Japaneso (lntil'tho conclusion of peaco, and. the war literature of Japan is rich • Wl ™, reason, ins the .phraseology of ■revenge. 1 .believe ." Majuba ,avenged "Is a phrase: of honored sweetness'to tho British j. of thoVJvdgo was in pirt a . scathing-indictment, of the low stato of morality in this, and'other cities. Nor is this indictment without a substantial basis of fact, that tho most abominable of sexual crimes can pass without a rising of popular' indignation sufficiently, attests tlio approach towards extinction of "tho spirit of chivalry and honour., -In tho heated controversy oxcited by Bishop Neligan'a iremarks on Now Zealand paganism it is worthy of note that thoso who took tho positivo side of tho question were able to; furnish specific and concrete data/ on which to baso their pessimistic views; whilo those who assumed the Hortative simply indulged' in' meaningless platitucieS' and vaguo generalities 'conveyincr no argument whatever in support.-of an actually existing,'realised moral Wo in this country. Between the chi d of the back-blocks who has not heard of the name of Christ and tho Queens statue,, com'rado," to whom the name js a cypher, and to whom tho pure, majestic, and all-embracing system;' of morality of which it is the sdurce and centre .is but a thing to be jeered at, thero.is nothing to choose. Hegel, the profounddst thinker and anajyst of human : nature- of modern times; m ono of his, lectures on tho Philosophy of History, says: " .Tho state of nature is predominantly that of injustice and violence, of untamed natural impulses, of mliuman d(;eds .and feelings,", and in saying so lie had in mmd a people "of ancient culturo and civilisation, but not- founded on. morality or religion. Few nations or peoples offer exception to this destructive judgment. Permit me to commend to serious and earnest minds a further quotation from Hegel: "Tho lifo of a pcoplo ripons a cor tain fruit; its activity aims at the complete manifestation of tho principle which it ombodios:, But this fruit does not fall back into'tho bosom of tho people that produced and maturod it; on tho contrary, it becomes a poison-draught to it That poison-draught it. cannot let' alone for it has an insatiable thirst for it; tho taste of tho draught, in its annihilation "—and point to tho approaching disintegration and doom of present-day Franco for confirmation of this prmciplo.' If circumstances compelled mo to mako further public allusion to tho moral conscience of Now Zealand, I should not lay =o much stress on the need of it being aroused as upon tho more imperative nccossity that it bo first of all ( crcated.—l am, etc., May is. A; BEESON.

QUEER EXAMINATIONS,

: Sir,—l believe an examination is supposed to :test the efficiency of a candidate in regard to being competent to'carry on a carjVu\ class of. business/pi; to" show that ho

is worthy of .1 certain standard in sonic art. ! v > s .' r > must bo admitted that the examinations should ho of a rccogniscd standard,. hut this was not so in the ease of tho Pharmacy Board recent examination, as the following will 'show. Tho candidates for that examination wcro unanimous in ,their denunciation of tho modus operandi, one candidate going so far as to say that the arrangements' would have been a disgrace to a third-rate Chinese herbalist. Anyway, I will supply a few facts which arc endorsed all round. ' ' Three proscriptions were submitted, and the papers wcro at fault ill all three. (Mo. 1) Tli red copies wore made of this prescription, and on ono these careful people omitted to nut in ono of the ingredients. (No. 2) Contrary to all recognised authorities oil both pharmacy and chemistry, and, what is worse, contrary to common sense, they provided only stool spatulas for a mercury ointment. . (No. 3) For tlio pills none of the standard excipients wore provided, and what were provided wero at a premium. ' I contend, sir, that a bettor method of determining who is fit to be registered rs a chemist is to put numbers into a hat and draw for the prises. Anyway,, sir, efficiency ,to act in tho business should count, but it seems outrageous to fail a man because he has not,done well, in some theoretical subjects useless as Sanskrit.—l am, etc., V 'JUSTICE. May 12.

POPULATION OF OUR CITIES.

Sir,--Some alterations by ' the RegistrarGeneral over what arc the suburbs of the four cities have upset our Christchurch friends. . .Probably Wellington cares little as to whother it stands second or third on the list in population, but tlio; question, is not now, and the choice of what are tho proper suburbs lias never been satisfactory. As instances of, long-existing irregularity, tile Registrar at Auckland crosses, the Harbour and includes tlio population there*as far as Lake Takapuna. To the South ho • sweeps in 11 miles, to the extreme boundary of Otahuhu and a Road Board. Here im WelJ lington, this worthy gentleman abhors to | cross water, v and for no better reason oxj'eludcs Mnritai. _ So deep, is his disliko to | water that ho will-not even .includo Petone, seven miles out, or the LowerHutt, eight and a half miles distant, both being genuine residential suburbs connected with tha Oity by. road and rail, but both of which unfortunately run alongside the water, and ; although both ' suburbs are much within ,the distance, which he is pleased to includo in Auckland. Ngahaurauga with. the Gorge, and Johnsonville, ■ are also closer and are excluded. Manifestly there is no sense of equality in the Registrar's decisions, and it is difficult to understand why it should' bo so, but the long continuanco of tho liko is a discredit to ;his department.—l am, etc., .; • ' poneke: 1 ■ May 12. '