ENGLISH AND FOREIGN ITEMS.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 14, Issue 744, 16 December 1869, Page 3

ENGLISH AND FOREIGN ITEMS.

FEOM PAI>J3B,S BY TTIK LAST HOME MAIL. THE IRISH LAND QUESTION. The Irish laud question at first sight appears much more difficult of solution than that of the Irish Church, but it is having much more light thrown upon it by the admirable letters of the Times Commisioner. It had long been cusniary to attribute its difficulty to a peculiarity of Irish nature, which made the Celtic race, though humorous, placable, and full of gentle instincts upon most points, unnaturally ferocious and intractable upon this. So long as the "touch of nature" was un felt, it seemed impossible to legislate for this people upon any general principle so as to get to the ruot of. the horrible evils it concerned our credit as a civilised nation to put a stop to; and the chief value of the Times Commissioner's letter appears to consist in his having laid bare the sources of Irkh discontent, so that we can reduce them to general principles, and can see that what causes disaffection and tends to agrarian outrage in Ireland would elsewhere —everywhere— produce discontent and probably disturbance. The laws there do not coincide with the facts ; contracts, moral and bona fide, exist, but receive no sanction or support from the law; tracts of worthless land have been cul tivated and rendered valuable by the the tenant's labor without his having the slightest claim to compensation for his improvements, and not unfrequently the just fruits of the poor man's labor have been ruthlessly confiscated. That this has been done under the sanction and immediate protection of the law, has produced—not any peculiar "Irish" feeling—but a natural and human disrespect for injustice. It is many a long year since the impolicy of making taxation follow improvement was marked in the English statute book by a land-tax, fixed at the valuation of Queen Anne's time ; and recent experience in India, since the principles of sound politcal economy have been allowed their due weight there, has demonstrated the same truth. Why should Ireland be an exception ? When once ic is understood that Irish discontent in relation to land-tenure depends upon common principles, the solution of the great Irish difficulty will not be far distant; and we do not despair of seeing the present Parliament follow its leaders in another measure of "justice to Ireland," that will remove the stigma of reproach which the condition of Ireland has for so many years justly cast upon our government of that country.

POVERTY, MUEDEE, AND SUICIDE. Another terrible tragedy has been enacted in Poplar, A man named Jonathan Judge, his wife, and their two children, were found dead on the 14th September in the bedroom of their house, Bromley Cottages, St, Leonards Road, the family had been suffocated by means of the fumes of charcoal. An tion of the crime is found in the fact of the man who was a driller, employed in the con struction of iron ships, having been out of work for some time. This was known to have preyed on his mind. On examining the premises carefully, two letters were found, one of which contained the words-—" Give the eightday clock to Ben. —Jonathan Judge," The other was a much longer document. It minutely specified the household things of which the family was possessed, and directed their distribution among their relatives. It was signed, or at least purports to be sigued bj "Jonathan Judge" and "Clara Judge," and this circumstance seems to have induced the supposition that Judge persuaded his wife to join him in destroying the whole family, and, indeed, from the position in which the body was found —clasped in his arms and with her eyes open, showing that she had not been suffocated in her sleep—there is a difficulty in accepting any other theory of the affair. But a Mrs Farmer, wiio wa3 intimately acquainted with Mrs Judge, declares the signature, " Clara Judge," is a forgery of her husband's, who according to her account only imitated his wife's writing very unskilfully. Many of the neighbours concur with Mrs Farmer in thinking that Mrs Judge had no part in the perpetration of the crime—an opinion founded on her known character as a quiet, sensible sober woman. It is surmised that she may nave beeu drugged by her husband in the beer which he brought from a public-house prior to fastening up the window. At the inquest on September 15, on the bodies of the victims, a verdict of wilful murder against Judge and his wife was returned, and it was added that they afterwards committed suicide whilst in a state of unsound mind.

MURDER OF A WOMAN AND FIVE CHILDREN.

A terrible crime has been committed at a place cal K-d Pantin, which is close to Paris. On September 20 two country carts were seen passing along the Rue de Rivoli, going towards the Morgue, blood dripping from one of ihein. The carts were surrounded by soldiers, and preceded by a coinmisioner of police wearing his scarf. It soon spread through the crowd which followed the cortege that the vehicles contained the remains of a woman and live children which had been discovered buried close to the Pantin Station. The murders could only have taken place a few hours before the bodies were found; the victims had been fearfully gashed about with a triangu lar instrument, and were bleeding when disinterred. People were at a loss to imagine how six individuals could have been murdered in open ground, within a hundred yards of a station. The eldest boy seemed to be about 17 and the youngest child a girl of 3. The Morgue was crowded the whole day by persons anxious to get a glimpse of the victims. Joseph Kinck and his son, who, it was alleged, were the perpetrators of the murders, were arrested at Ha\re. Owing probably to the great excitement which prevailed, it will be seen from what follows that a mistake was made in the name of the party arrested, and that the surmise with refeience to the perpetrators of the crime was erroneous. The reported discovery of the body of Gustave Kinck at Pantin has been confirmed. Traupmann, the supposed murderer of the whole family, was brought to Paris on September 25. At the railway station a large and threatening crowd collected, and arrangements had to be made to avoid it. The prisoner was hurried through a door to a vehicle in waiting to receive him, and driven to the Morgue, where the dead bodies of Madame Kinck and her children were shown to him. He displayed not the slightest emotion, and, when asked if he recognised the victims, coolly pointed out each of them by name. He maintained his former statement, that he had been a mere Instrument in the hands of theKincks,

father and sou. From the Morgue* Traupoiann was driven to the prisoa of Mazas, and there confined. He is described as somewhat effeminatelooking and short, being not more than five feet in height. The field in which these bodies have been found has not inaptly been termed " The Traupman Cemetery." The police of Roubaix have ascertained that the tw o watches found in possession of Traup*man belonged to Jean and Gustave Kinck, having been purchased by tie lather about three months back from M. Elinois, Rue Neuve, in that town. The discovery of the body of Gustave Kinck was the important fact that will have the inevitable result of facilitating the inquiry into this terrible affair. The system of defence which Traupman has adopted now breaks down; and the whole question may be thus expressed :—" Did Traupman act alone, or with the assistance of one or more accomplices ?" The letters received from Roubaix state that the population are unanimous in thinking that the father was assassinated in the provinces, and only some days before the son. Traupman is still at Mazas, and is confined in the large cell on the ground floor which serves as an infirmary. This room has three beds, and the murderer has for his companions two police agents, who do not quit him for an instant. During the night they keep watch in turns; moreover, the door of the cell is always half open, and the keepers are ever at hand. The criminal wears no straitwaistcoat or fetters of any kind ; in fact, he is in such a state of depression and weakness that the precaution would be useless. He does not exchange a word with his keepers, but groans and sobs without ceasing. A rumor was current that the body of the elder Kinck had been found, but we are able to state that it has not been discovered. The only new facts in connection with this terrible tragedy are the discovery of a correspondence between Traupman and Kinck, sen., and of a valise belonging to the latter. It had been left early in September in the care of the station-master at Soultz, in Alsace, by two individuals, one of whom is supposed to have been Traupmann, and the other Kinck himself.

GALVANIC PUNISHMENT. A writer, under the nom de plume of " Leyden Jar," in one of the London daily papers, recommends galvanism to be substituted as the punishment for wife beaters. He says :- " Although the garotters went a little too far a short time ago, and forced a frightened Legislature to sanction their occasional flogging, it cannot be denied that this fact weighs heavily on the spirits of not a few among us. Every cut which a sturdy ruffian receives for half strangling or fracturing the skull of an old gentleman goes deeper into their tender hearis than it does into the scoundrel's back. It cannot bo helped. In a free country we must ondure milksops as well as greater evils. Flogging has it drawbacks. It is not only painful, which is what we want, but it is often disabling, and society is hardly justified in crippling any of its members, unless it means to keep them permanently afterwards. Now, lasting injury to the spine has, it is said, often followed a good flog* ging with the cat. Why, therefore, use it when science provides us with a more than sufficient substitute ? A galvanic battery is the substitute I propose. Electrify garrotters, wifebeaters, brutally cruel cattle-drovers, and the like. Give them shocks proportionate to their criminality. Regulate it, as you precisely can, according to their strength. Any electrician could construct a machine which would allow of gradations of pain, from the well-known * pins and needles' up to a jarring which would resemble the breaking of bones. And the point to be borue in mind is that the infliction could be stopped instantly, and would leave little or no evil or disabling effects afterwards. It would also admit of frequent application. I fancy a gartotter who had been condemned to a month's electrifying every day would be unusually reluctant to have the experiment repeated. I need not point out also how much more suitable this system is to the ' advanced condition of humanity and enlightenment' wo have all attained, as compared to the old fashioned cat-o'-nine-taih "

A MQNOMANIAQ. f here .died, early in October, at fjpper .Clapton, an eccentric personage. srnl\ known in the parish as " Mad ffoward." It was his custom, a few ago, to stand at Stamford-hill £oli-gate from U till 12 o'clock every 'Thursday, and pay the toll on every vehicle that passed, after which he jsvojild throw out of the window somelimes as much as J2IOO in gold and silver, to be scrambled for by the populace. When remonstrated with, he would reply that, " having no one to jleave his money to, the Crown would fre his heir, and he might as well benefit as many of the Queen's subjects as possible during his lifetime." He has died intestate. The personalty is believed to be about ,£50,000, all in default of an heir-at-law, will go to the Crown.

SUICIDE OF A BANK MANAGEE. Mr James Edward Robinson, resident manager of the Leeds and County at Pontrefact, shot himself dead with a pistol on the 14th of September. He has left seven children, fie was formerly mayor of the borough, and was alderman at the time of his suicide. Latterly he has been laboring under depression of mind, but for what reason there is no evidence yet to show. Several of the directors have made an investigation into the state of his accounts and securities, which were found to be perfectly correct.

DR. CUMMING AND THE POPE. The Pope has made a decided hit at Dr. Cumming. His Holiness "had seen from the newspapers that Dr .Cumming of Scotland" had been inquiring if he would be allowed to be present at the Council, and argue in support of his own opinions. With great condescension, the Holy Father explains in a letter to Archbishop Manning, which has been published jn all the papers that the absolute ininfallibility of the Head of the Church and of all Councils cannot be allowed to be brought to question at the forthcoming (Ecumenical; but that if Dr Cumming wishes to avail himself of the opportunity of this Council to " renounce his errors, and to satisfy the wants of his soul by which he cannot be sure of his salvation " hecan "return to jthe Father from whom he has long, unhappily, gone astray," who will ,( joyfully run to meet him." All of which reads very much like a joke, and not improbably, is partly so intended by His Holiness. It is the «* retort courteous," and it is not easy to see how even Dr Cumming can do more than draw a moral from it for the benefit of persons exclusively of his own way of thinking. It is difficult, if not impossible, to argue effectively against such pretensions, but the Doctor is very unwilling to retire.

MADAME RACHEL Has cropped up again. It appears that she obtained large sums of money from an Irish lady, mysteriously spoken of as the relative of an Irish legal luminary in high position, This lady has brought an action against Rachel upon an 1.0. U. for .£2,000. As that interesting lady is now in Millbank Penitentiary, where she is likely to remain for some years to come, it is difficult to understand the object of bringing a civil action against her, for there can be little hope of recovering the money.

ANOTHER SLEEPING BEAUTY. A young lady has fallen fast asleep at Hartpool. It seems she was out on a visit. She arrived in good health and spirits, but on September 14 fell asleep and cannot be awakened. It is almost to be regretted that the story has been published, as it is calculated to create a stimulative mania among young ladies who may not " drop off" at a moment's notice. We hear there is no real cause for alarm ; it is true shat protracted sleep has lately become frequent among the sex, but it must \>e remembered that it is only a reaction after the unnatural activity they were displaying a short time ago. Our best plan is to take no notice. We may be quite sure nature knows what js best for them and for us.

MISCELLANEOUS. The Eoyal Humane Society has aw arded its bronze medallion to two fadies named Strut't, mother and daughter, fpr saving a lady who sank while liathina in the sea at Aus-

fhe following notes are taken from the medical records of a sailor now on board the Dreadnought Hospital ship: —"Paid off on the sth August; re ceived S2B, and spent all but a few shillings in a fortnight. During that time daily allowance of liquor consisted of about 40 glasses of rum, two gallons of beer, three or four glasses of gin, and a glass of brandy with milk in the morning."

The directors of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Eailway Company have deemed it expedient to address what may be termed a temperance circular to the "station-masters, inspectors, guards, porters, pointsmen, &c ," employed on their line. Some of the station masters and inspectors, it is stated, " are not unfrequently to be seen on duty the worse for liquor." On Friday morning, Sept. 17, the workmen employed at the powdermills of Messrs. Curtis and Harvey, at Hounslow, were examined as they came on the premises, and no fewer than 58 of them were suspended for having pipes and lucifers in their pos session.

A new association, called " the Carlyle and Emerson Association," has been started in London. It aims at '* comprising all earnest thinkers who have at heart the advancement of social progress." It hopes to work out this end by " popularising the writings of Carlyle and Emerson." The telegraph cable between Caithness and Orkney was successfully laid in the Pentland Firth on September 13. The distance across the Firth is eight miles, and the time occupied was only two hours and a half. The Prince of Wales has given a prize of ,£5 for bagpipe playing, to be competed for at an annual Highland gathering. The death at Glasgow is announced, at the comparatively early age of 45, of Mr John Elder, to whom, and to his late father, David Elder, marine engineering is more indebted than to any other two men.