ARSON — SENTENCE ON RIORDAN

Evening Post, Issue 188, 14 September 1865, Page 3

ARSON — SENTENCE ON RIORDAN

The prisoner having been found guilty, was placed at the bar to receive sentence. He said that he hoped his Honor would take into consideration the length of time he had been in prison, and also that he had previously, not only here but in other colonies, preserved a good character. He was married,

too, and his wife had for more than twelve months been in a state of lunacy, and had only just recovered to hear what would perhaps send her back again to what was worse than death. For the sake, too, of his aged parents, bordering upon the brink of the grave, but who might, perhaps, should his Honor be lenient, yet hope to see him again and alive. He had nothing more to say, but would remind his Honor that the evidence against him was entirely circumstantial. His Honor, addressing the prisoner, said it was certainly affecting to hear his statement and the probable misery that his sentence would inflict upon innocent persons.but could not take that into consideration in pissing sentence. The crime of which the prisoner had been convicted was of the most serious nature, one difficult of detection, and one against which the citizens (looking at the inflammable nature of the buildings in ihe town) urgently required protection, and he was bound, in carrying out the law, to give them that protection. The crime of which he had been convicted was an attempt to commit arson, the punishment for which was nearly as severe as that of the-actual crime itself. With regard to the length of time he had been in jail, he (the judge) had taken that into consideration, but the sentence would necessarily be a severe one. The prisoner was sentenced to aix years' penal servitude — Dunedin Herald.

The Victorian Government have fully organised a Penny Savings Bank, to be worked in connection with the Post Office. In a recent Gazette, the rules of the bank were published, and the people are availing themselves of its benefits. Such institutions have been found elsewhere to be of lasting benefit to the working classes. Is it not possible to establish a Penny Savings Bank in New Zealand ?