THE LEADER PICTURE

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 254, 20 July 1908, Page 7

THE LEADER PICTURE

JVAS THE MAYOR RIGHT?

A MATTER OF EXPEDIENCY

INTERESTING' STATEMENT BY' MR, HISLOP. N • The' announcement ,on Saturday! morning flfj tho restoration by: purchaso of ? tho <' Leader.'- painting, " Southward from Surrey's Pleasant Hills," Stolon from its franio ill-tho Academy of Fine. Arts threo months ago, has been one of tho principal topics of - .' conversation 'in the city. ' Tho' theft,- and ' the jnannor.'of the. recovery of the . picturo-. aro. • spoh extraordinary incidents ■jn this part of '. •) the world that it has attracted much publio attention, 7 and the nocossary nino days must elapso beforo it wjll go tho way of all such 'sensations. ■ 1 ' . ,The most interesting feature in connection v ■ ..with- the .incident, w'as - tho mannerof tho ' ' licture'a' restoration: — by the . payment of WasHho Mayor justified, in acting as he V.' did?/ people will hesitate at : pronouncing judgment. hastily, on, the point :s ;afterihearing what Mr. Hislop has to say,in . extenuation of his " recovery by ransom " actlon. ' ' ': • . v . . . ■ • • 'It -has been said, for that after ' receiving tho. first ietter -Mr. Hisl6p should - v : ' have- left the wholo ; business- to the police. '' , . ,The''Mayor!sT6ply;to' that is that ( tho. police ■ wore communicated with at once—now o\er six weeks ago-—and, as far as lie,knew, they -- ' - .were-no'nearer a 1 solution of the niystery 'last, week than-at tho outset, though ; the matter had been beforo them all along. "From timo to-time," says Mr., Hislop; ■' i "I'mot tho police, and have seen Commissioner Dimno twice m' connection with the affair, whon I indicated feeling that wo should ratW pay than loso tho pioturo. After | all," tho- question of recovery. by ; ransom has | ' always beon a'moot one,'and whatever. >as i done thoro was bound to bo criticism from ono side or tho other. In reviewing tlio.case, 'tho public must consider'what- they; would : say if tho correspondence hadbeen ,mado i ■ piibHo, arid as tho result of my refusing topay £50 tho picture had been lost or vde- ■' stroyed. If ransom to escape : tho .conse-,-. - quences of a crime was beyond all, consideration, Kaid M'Lcan would probably have had . -his threat cut, and tho Scotch borough, ' which paid £500 for tho recovery of stolen '- city treasure and practically ensured for the thief a free pardon, was acting ridiculously. The thing was what was to be" done to achieve tho best result-. ' y. - ~, -.- 1 i " A MATTER OF HONOUR." ' "■I only kept'back, from the. police .what I promised to'keep confidential. . Ono must ■ - keop faith—evonnf.it is with a tbief. I had, passed my word that certain things- would bo " quit-o confidential,' and they were kcptv.con- "' ■ fidential. With Mr. Dinme I discusscd the question as ito -whether* the whole thing, wasn't humbug, as to whether,it was. an artir. ~'V.fice to 'get money by subterfuge,', the . writer; ,of tho letters,not having-the,picturo at, all. There was certainly a good deal ..to, justify. that view.' For instance,, ono of\tho sugges-. - tions made. by the correspondent was, that; half tho money claimed (the full amount was <• £100) should bo sent addressed to. him at the Missions to^Seamen;-'tiiat;then;^ ture would bo returned, and then he :was to, receive .the'.other 3650, ' madei me doubt whether ho ,had the picturo at .all. After-a time I could see that tho ipan,was becoming ' ; ' . .''imtated/ and'rthe .tenor of his letters, helped' me to change my views, and I became some- ' what oxercised ,• over,:.tho safety of tho pic- - !nre, aB I couldn't make ,up. my mind, that '.he man wouldn't destroy or. deport the pic-, tiiro as ho threatened. I saw Mr. Dinnie and told him of my fears, and my desire to, try to come tp terms with the man, . What did-he. advise? " He didn't r aViything in-particular, but asked me to let , him-know ? as much as - I could and I did so.' > . ''Then'lih.ad;the the: man Relating the- circumstances xthat had ..happened when the .last .letter was ' toM>e .delivered , to • A him; and" going for me for not;peeping-faith -• 'with him.-'He maae a new.suggestion.as to ■ • how an -exchango could take place, and finally, if the slim (he had. then ,come down to £50) was not paid over,'the cpioture would be,absolutely lost as far as' Wellingtons was concerned. •- '' , WHO SHOULD PAY? / , I "Of courso; I feel as: disgusted,'as possible ..' !•: -' over : paying- ; the but 'that.'.was '- -. not the. question 1 at ..air..r' I-'may; my " - own feeling throughout,'(an'd ; it,is. shared by . one-or two others) was'to-pay-tho money ' '. . ourselves;' and ; I have, seen .them -since , and • they are quite prepared to pay. But before the matter was arranged I consulted, Councillors • Biss and Shirtcliffe. ■ and, v I": fancy, ' ' Councillor-Luke, aud' -.theyj aeemed 'to think . I would '1» doiag the .'riglit itliingjy and" that :. it might be made a city charge. My view of the; law , of , the'thing was;.'that, the/picture ; was entrusted to tho koeping' .of thb : City Council, and .the Council, without making proper enquiries as to what protection. there was from- theft (and in this I might be hold to/blamo),'handed it over to tho' Art Gallery. So far as I can discover, there has been no more. adequato provision made • , against .burglary .-than: there :.was''when, the contesnts of the 'Gallery. iv.orb worth £20-oi ' less. That has bpen altered now,. ;;on. account of, the- inefficiency ; of.' : ,th9'; ; protectioii ~ „ against entry, I think the; Council Iwould b< •: . held to'be responsible.' for,- the iafety of thi< picture.' Indeed, our responsibility :in the . .'matter was made kniown; to us by-tho dono: V: (Mrs. Rhixles) after the:.picture.iwas.stolen • • . who wroto formally about tho matter,"., , :: ■ : What is Mrs. Rhodes' present interest ii , tho picture? ; ''She has handed it over: to the city, bu 1.. has the rigfafc to take it back during her life time. ; ';!/•y : ' ; " MRS RHODES WRITTEN TO, • "' ' "Did you hear that tho man Ransoni o Lyons (he sometimes signed, the latter name had; \yritten to Mrs; Rhodes for ransom fo the picture ? She came to consult mo abou the letter.-- I; then told.,her what had bee: going on, and the - proposal to ransom th picture. , She asked me whether I would no : . bo compounding a felony, and I. assured lie that that was not being done." ■ rMr. .Wardell has . been blamed for nc taking tho Council of tho -Art"Gallery'.int his confidence.' * "That's absurd," said Mr; Hislop. "I too Mr." Wardell. into,'my, confidence 'over th matterand he could not tell anyone. Th '■;'i Council of' the Art Gallery had nothing t do with it, except that the picturo'was stole ,; tho Gallery." ' (

If you arc contemplating_remov(ng, the first, thiiig yoq should, do is obtain a quotation' from' • J. Keir,' 36 Jei;vois Qnay.V He has had many 1 years' 'experience'iir'this class of work, and '. is in a position to pack, store, 'and rem'ovo any description of furniture. Ee also clears goods j through Customs, and .dispatches packages and parcels to any address in the world. Telephone No. 1160. C 566