OUR WELLINGTON LETTER.

Grey River Argus, Volume XXIII, Issue 3906, 5 March 1881, Page 2

OUR WELLINGTON LETTER.

[from our own correspondent.] Wellington, February 24. The asylum enquiry is becoming more and more Bensational, and it ia the great subject of interest in Wellington just now. Of course so far, we have heard only the witnesses for the complaint, and it iB impossible to Bay how far their evidence may ba true. Some of them are expatients, while others, are discharged attendants who may reasonably be sup* posed to bear no very, friendly feeling towards the man at whose instance they were discharged. Supposing one quarter of their statements to be true, however, there can be no doubt that a Btate of things has been allowed to exist in the Wellington Asylum which is nothing short of a scandal and a disgrace. Some of the statements made before the Commission remind me of storieß of the cruelties practised in private lunatic asylums in the bad old times, as described by Henry Cockton and Thomas Reade in their thrilling works. Patients, according to the evidence given, .have been ( tortured under shower baths, and then made to stand in damp Gold cells with scarcely, any clothing to cover them, they have been half starved, brutally ill treated, and knocked about by warders, and even encouraged to fight with each other. It" is alleged'also that the Superintendent was on one occaBion alone in a cell with a woman who had stripped herself perfectly naked, and that he was frequently in the habit of performing offices for the female patients, which ought only to have been done by attendants of their own sex, Of course it is possible that all these allega» tions may be rebutted by the evidence to be adduced on behalf of Mr Whitelaw. In the meantime it is evident that Mr Shaw, the complainant, is sparing no pains to make the evidence as complete | as he possibly can againßt the Asylum officials: It may be remembered that Mr Shaw was formerly Assistant Orown Law Officer for this Colony. A quarrel with the Government however, led to his vocating that position, as well as his appointment as a member of the Commission for revising the statutes. Since that time Mr Shaw has principally devoted himself to writing letters (very able ones too) against the Property Tax, the Injustice of not levying a heavier tax upon land, &o. From the general tone of these letters an impression prevails, and pretty widely, that Mr Shaw will soon be

coming forward as a candidate for Parliament in the Greyite* interest. The im mediate cause of his taking action in the | present instance arises from the fact of his having a brother in the Asylum, whom he alleges to have been illtreated. Before leaving the subject of the Lunatic Asylum, I may mention that; quite a new phase was disclosed to-day at the inquiry. When the Superintendent, Mr Whitelaw was examined by the complainant, it transpired that his mother, Mrs Kettle, was acting as matron, and that she was assisted by a young lady named Brigdon. Great difficulty was experienced in getting out of Mr Whitelaw whether Miss Brigdon was any relation of his, but ultimately he Bald that his mother informed him that she was his cousin. He declined to say however, whether his mother ever gave him any further information. Then came the surprise of the day, when Mr Chapman, barrister, said he appeared for the mother, the ground of whose complaint was that her son had drawn her salary (which is at the rate of LIOO a year) and kept it. This introduces a new element of complication into the inquiry, which, is not likely to terminate for several days. Mr Whitelaw was not examined as to the truth of the charges brought against him, his solicitor intimating that he would recall him for the defence. Mr Shaw, Resident Magistrate, read a lecture to a Wellington tradesman named William Davidson, this afternoon, which the latter is not likely to forget in a hurry, and : which will doubtless convey a salutory lesson to other persons imbued with the same perverted ideas. Mr Davidson is a general dealer, and some time ago supplied to a woman named Kate Howard a quantity of furniture, with the view of enabling her to ply an improper trade. He now sued her before the "R.M, to recover L2IT 3s 2d, balauce of the account^ His Worship said it had been held thai people who give credit to women of this class, to enable them to carry on an immoral traffic, could not come before a court of law or equity to demand payment i thereof. The Magistrate further added that he was astonished at the effrontery of any respectable man of business coming to that Court in support of such a claim. The plaintiff had lost hi 3 money, and he (the Magistrate) was very glad of it. He hoped it would be a deterrent to him and others, because so long as tradesmen furnished girls like the defendant with the means of carrying on prostitution, so long might such traffic flourish in this city. Plaintiff was than nonsuited I with costs, and left the Court looking exceedingly crestfallen. There is still considerable excitement , over the Terawhiti gold discoveries, but a pretty widespread opinion prevails that there is great risk of the undertaking being mismanaged. This contingency is greatly to be regretted, because should the first attempt at developing the field fail, it is very probable that legitimate enterprise would be prevented from taking up the work again, however bona fide the field and its discoveries might appear to be.