TOM MANN'S DISCHARGE.

Evening Post, Volume LXXVII, Issue 107, 7 May 1909, Page 7

TOM MANN'S DISCHARGE.

SIGNIFICANCE OF HIS ACQUITTAL. (From Our Own Correspondent.) ■SYDNEY, Ist May. The significance of tho acquittal of Tom 'Mann on a charge arising out of the Broken Hill riots' is much greater than press comment indicates. Legally, the expectation was that 'Mann would be found guilty; and the judge's summingup warranted a verdict of guilty. But juries are unavoidably influenced by popular emotion ; always more or less, in a notorious case, they reflect the prevailing sentiment of the community. Evidence rarely appears to them in the dry light of reason, despite their oaths. It takes colour and weight from wellknown surroundings. Nor can, the jury 'be blamed for this human idiosyncrasy of nearly all minds ; it is almost impossible for them to rid themselves of tho atmosphere of the case. In a large view, it is not desirable tha> they should. With all their errors, juries, it is claimed in some quarters, yield upon the whole a better embodiment of justice than can be obtained from a bench of judges — as most lawyers will admit. An unconquera{de prejudice in favour of the accused .was anticipated at 'Broken 'Hill; hence 'the cases were- removed by the Government to the pastoral township of Albury., away from the smoke and conflict. Yet even an xVlbury jury, though not without debate, has acquitted Mann and others up to the present. The verdicis are^ hailed by the Labour Party as triumphs for the (Broken Hill strikers— defeats for the iGovernment and "the capitalists.'" This is not warranted ; and M-ami, at least, realises that the chance might easily have turned the other way. Yet the verdicts, in the circumstances, testify the increasing influence of the Labour Party in 'Australia. Many years of organised propaganda have commenced to bear fruit in a definite change of the general mind toward Labour opinions. Bo&h Parliament and prees have insensibly modified tho tone of former criticism. Labour doctrines, formerly set apart from ordinary thought, are permeating the community more and more. The- consequence is a change in the community's outlook and attitude-, of which tho verdict in .Mann's case is to some extent a sign. Ten years ago, in similar circumstances, it is likely that iM»nn would have been found guilty. The Broken 'Hill ca^cs help to show in what direction the Australian mind is travelling, and how far it has travelled.

A Christchurch. paper reports thai at Lyttelton the police are accumulating an arsenal of weapons confiscated from the email boj's of tho town. One little girl is stated to have had a button shot off her boot by a pea-rifle bullet which strayed through a hole in a galvanised iron fence. , Lost — A violent headache, shortly afiev taking .Steams' Headache Cure. Anyone else wishing to lose a headache quickly should got a box of this certvn remedy. Is,— Adytv