KILLING NO MURDER.

Evening Post, Volume XXVIII, Issue 65, 13 September 1884, Page 2 (Supplement)

KILLING NO MURDER.

TO THB EDITOR. Sib— Poor soft-hearted Mr. Evenden is at it again, and this time as tho prisoners' champion ; and he wishes to call our attenI tion to what the convict's mother told the I reporter, that " she wished he was out." I would suggest that Mr. Evenden oonsnlt the mothers of all the criminals in Mount Cook Gaol and enquire if, they do not heartily wish they were all out,'and they would all shout with one aooord, " Yes, we do ; we do I" and Mr. Evenden would like to gratify these dear mothers' wishes and let them out. although it is a noted faot that they are all the longest sentenced prisoners in New Zealand, and comprise murderers, forgers, thieves, and vagabonds ot the lowest grades, and then that touohing part, the " off-spring of the mother," Ac, &o. I notice the " natural wish" and " tender emotions" did not exercise enough influence over him to Prevent him getting into the Pentridge tookade, and I don't suppose. Mr. Editor, he was sent therefor nothing; it would have to be something more than a common drunk, or even throwing a doubtful egg into a Salvation meeting, that placed him there. The ohanoes are with » Pentridge 1 convict that as far as the " tenderest emotions of a mother's bosom" are oonoerned, you need go no further than the Pirates of Ponzanoe, for there you see, notwithstanding "tonder emotions," the costers evon jump on their mothers. Mr. Evenden asks what was his offenoe ? Trying to escape, I presume ; and whon oalled on to stop or he would be shot, and shot he was accordingly, and then the man that simply does his duty, he insults by calling him a common warder. Why aoommonone? Is it a crime or disgrace to be a warder? Let mo tell Mr. Evenden that I know several warders, and I also know them to be good, upright, honourable and respeoUble men, and in every way more intelligent than Mr. Eveneden aopears to be, judging by the trash that he has written concerning them. Ido not know whether being " drank or insane " is part of the duties of a warder but I may say that I have never seen them either the one thing or the other. The warder, I presume, was stationed in a certain place to do his duty, viz., to guard the prisoners and shoot them if they tried to escape ; or else why was he armed? Instead of Mr. Evenden insulting a respectable body of men by calling them common warders, &0., let him have a rap at those who made the laws. Now, Mr. Evenden, supposing this common warder hod at that time had the "tender emotion" business on him, and allowed ths three prisoners to escape, it strikes me that Mr. Common Warder would have met with a bit of bod luok, in tho shape of being looked up himself, and perhaps incarcerated in one of the very cells rendered vaoant by the runaways. Let Mr. Evenden look at it in this light: Say there are twonty prlsonors under the charge of five warders, the prisoners a mixed lot, say half-a-dozen assorted murderers, half-a-dozen assorted forgers, and eight-twelfths of a dozen assorted housebreakers, thieves, Ac; Bay these prisoners knew they could not bo fired at,

how is Mr. Evenden to keep them from running away ? Promise thorn long beers and tobacco, or if they were blue-ribbonitoi, custards and tarts, fruit, Ac, not forgetting conversation lollies ? Suppose that three of them mako a bolt of it, three warderß chase them, and then thero are only two warders (and common ones at that) left to guard seventeen men (lifers perhaps), and all those seventeen with their dear mother's "tender emotions," touching them up to the effect that "we wish you were out." Now the consequence is the seventeen prefer having their long beers when and where they like, and make a bolt also, after perhaps murdering tho whole lot of the warders. Now supposing, for instance, one of these lifers, like Topsy, never hod * mother, would the prisoners' champion go round with the hat and borrow one for the occasion, or, if thera were no mothers availablo at the instant, would a cousin or an aunt do P Apologising; for troubling you, Mr. Editor, and, as I do not care for notoriety, allow me to subscribe myself Takantaea. Lambton-quay, 11th September.