THE EUROPEAN MAIL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume VII, Issue 1839, 6 December 1869, Page 6

THE EUROPEAN MAIL.

THE IKISH LAND QUESTION. The Irish land question, at first sight limif l, ' more diflicult of sol«ti>>" " J* ••-- Irish Chu"" 1 - ' _.- man that of the ,-wu, is having much light thrown upon it by the admirable letters of the Times Commissioner. It had long been customary to attribute its difficulty to a peculiarity of Irish nature, which made tlic Celtic race, though humorous, placable, and full of gentle Instincts upon most, points, unnaturally ferocious and intractable up n this. So long as the "touch of nature" was unfelt, it seemed impossible to legislate for this people upon any general prfiicipl-' so as to go to the root 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 letters appears to consist in his having laid bare the sources of Irish discontent, so tliafc we can reduce them to general principles, and can see that what causes disall'eetioii 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 aud bonajhU; exist, but receive no sanction or support from the law ; tracts of worthless land have been cultivated and rendered valuable by the'tenant's labour without his having the slightest claim to compensation for his improvements, and not uufrcquently the just fruits of the poor man's labour have'been 'ruthlessly confiscated. That this has beer, (iouc under the sanction and immediate protection of the law. has produced —not any peculiar " JirUh" feeling—but a. natural ai'd human disrespect for injustice. It is niiinv a long year since the impolicy of matins taxation "follow improvement was marked in the Knalish statute book by a landtax, fixed at the valuation of Queen Anne's time ; and recent experie- ce in India, since the principles of sound political economy have been allowed their due weight there, has demonstrated the same truth. Why should Ireland be an except ion ? "When once it is -understood that Irish discontent in relation to lanO-teuurc depends upon common principles, the solution of the great Irish ditlleulty will not be far distant; and we do not despair of speini: 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 justlv cast- upon ouv government of that country.

A SERIES OF DREADFUL TRAGEDIES. An epidemic of murders seems to be sweeping over us. Hardly a day passes that the papers do not recor: one or more frightful examples, and the last, a double murder at Wood Green, is perfectly horrifying. A man who distrusted the fidelity of the woman ho was living with, met her returning from town with the man he suspected to be her paramour. After knocking the man down at the station, he dragged the woman to her home, —in the face of the bystanders whose protection, she implored,—and there sl:of her dead, and savagely beat, out her brains before the onlookers. He then rushed io the man's house ■with whom he had seer> her ; broke open the door, and with furious blows dashed in his skull; two " musicians" whom the wretched man had hired for the day, fleeing at the murderer's approach, leaving the unhappy victim to his fate. An extraordinary crime was discovered a few days ago at Pantiu, near Paris. A cultivator, on entering his field, distant about 150 yards from the railway station, observed part of a blood-stained pocket-handkerchief isjuing from the ground, which in that place had evidently been disturbed, aud was all around reddened. The man at onee gave information to the police, and the earth having been removed was found to contain the bodies of six persons, all of whom had been murdered only a few hours before. They | consisted of a woman of about 45, respectably dressed and wearing gold earrings, and a watch and chain, besides having a sum of j about lOfr. iu her pocket; a young woman of IS, a youth of 16, and three children, aired about 12, 10, aud live respectively. The wounds {which had occasioned the death of the woman, who paoved to be the mother of the others, had beeen inflicted with a hatchet or some similar heavy cutting instrument, i while the rest had been repeatedly stabbed with a knife. The younger children still convulsively clasped in their hands rolls and sausages which they had been eating when attacked. The young man who was literally pierced all over with wounds, had evidently struggled hard to defend the family. An inquiry at the railway station showed that five tickets had been received the previous night from persons who had alighted from the last train proceeding towards Paris, and who ■ may probably prove to be the victims. In that j case the sixth body may be explained by the youngest having travelled gratis, as under age. The crime is supposed to have been committed abuut that time. The inquiries of the police led to the discovery that the bodies were those of a woman named Kinck and her children, her husband, Jean Kincli, being a workman at Roubaix. It seemed that they had come to Paris in response io his summons, lie being there previously, had been thence invited down to Pantin, a short distance by rail, and there murdered. The husband was at once suspected, and his eldest son, Gustave Kinck, was thought to be an accomplice. At any rate, a person who had siven himself out at lodgings iu Paris as Jean Kinek v.-as sought for, and arrested at Havre. But it then turned out that it was not Jean Kinck, but a man named Traupmann. This monster in human shape confesses to the murder, but declares that he acted in concert with Jean and Gustave IvineV. He says that —" He took a room at the Northern Kailway Hotel, where he personated the father. On S: nday evening lie went to La Yilettc to buy a shovel and pickaxe, in order to dig the grave of the cictims, and afterwards engaged a cab to tike the family to a spot selected beforehand for the perpetration of the crime. According to the pre-arranged plan, he stated, he had to briug each of the victims, one after the other, under the knives of the two other murderers, and to prepare the flight after the deed had been committed. For that object he went to Havre to find some ship in which he and hie accomplices might quit France." Traupmann says he encountered at the very outset a difficulty in the execution of his horrible commission. After stopping the cab at about 300 yards from Langlois' field, he invited Mme. Kinck to accompany him alone : —" Two of the youngest children, frightened by the darkness, cried out "llama ! All -Mama. We will go with you !" So that he was obliged unwillingly to allow them to accompany her. Kinck, the father, on seeing his wife and two of his children coming up all at once, could not repress an exclamation of terror, and tm-ning Io Traupmann he exclaimed, " Ah villain you have betrayed me !" A few words spoken to him in a low voice by the other explained everything. On the instant, the father and son, together with Traupmann rushed on their victims, and a violent struggle ensued between Madame Kidck and lier executioneers. The poor woman succeeded in wresting the knife out of her husband's hand. She then turned the weapon against him, wounding him in tae arm, and would doubtless have escaped had not the other assailants, aficr having massacred the children assaulted her in their turn. And so the deed of blood was accomplished." Traupuninu further asserts that he remained until 3 o'clock in the morning near the scene of the crime, which was committed at 11 at night, because, before arriving at the place fixed ior a subsequent meeting, he had lost his way, arid walked about for two or three miles in a wrong direction -.—"He returned to hie . hotel about 8 in the morning ; he saw the younger Kinck, who told him that the father had remained on the watch to know whetner the crime was discovered. At 11 the son Came and informed him that the murder had

been found out. The arrrangements at first I was, that all three should go away together, I but under the circumstances they decided to t separate. They met at the Cafe Parisien, I and Traurjmann >•<■•«..•"—-■> •■ . ._ mm me papers ana found in his possession, and 300f. The wound on his hand and the scratches he received in snatching from the hands of Madame Kinck the knife which she had wrested from her husband. Kinck, according to Traupmann, after having literally hacked his wife and children to pieces with his knife, completed his work with the pickaxe. Then the prisoner started for Havre, whence he calculated on escaping for America. He did not know what had become of the Kincks, but thought they were still in Paris." It is pretty generally thought notwithstanding this statement, that Triuipmaun first murdered tho father and son, and then enticed the rest of the family to I Paris, and there destroyed them, for the sake ' of tho monev the mother hadiu her possession. Traupmann," it appears, had known Kinck, the father, with whom he had worked at Koubaix and Paris. On arrival there it, was only by stratagem he was kept out of the hands of the I mob. = He is a youth of abont 20, a working engineer. The theory that he first killed J call and Gustave Kinck'is very strongly held iu Paris. A motive is plain in the fact that Jean Kinck was a man of thrift and had saved money. The murderer Traupmann has identified the body of Gustave Kinek. The Daily yen* correspondent says:—"Traupmann was brought from the Mazas prison to the Morgue without being told for what purpose. He Tras suddenly placed in front of the corpse, the Judge of Instruction closely watching Ins countenance all the time. The assassin seemed astounded at the sight. When asked if he kneiv whoso bod* it was, he replied at once, " It is Gustave."" " You killvd him?" " N0. ,, I The prisoner here 'exclaimed, " Ah! the i wretched father, he has murdered his son." I There can be no doubt, that Traupmann is the murderer of Gustave Ivinek, and as little that he murdered the father, whose body has not yet been discovered." A painful sensation has been created by the sudden disappearance of Lord-Justice Clerk Pattern. He was staying at Gleualmond, his countrvscat in Scotland, and went out for a walk on the 20th of September. . From that hour he disappeared Many circumstances led to I he suspicion of suicide ; a razor and a bloody neck tie were found on the banks of the Tay ; and after long and careful search the botlv was dragged from a deep pool in the river. There 'is no doubt: that Jlr. Pat ton destroyed himself, and under circumstances which render the occurrence doubly painlul. Unfortunately for himself, the Judge was Solicitor-General and Lord Advocate for Scotland under the late Government, and it was necessary that he shou d have a place in Parliament. A seat became vacant at Bndgwater, and his allegiance to his party left him no alternative but to oiler himself as a candidate. It has been proved within the past few deys that he knew nothing of the bribery, which there is little question, wns used to secure his election ; but it was a confirmed and settled practice at Bridgwater elections that money should be distributed right and left among the electors, and Mr. Patton probably allowed his judgment to be blinded, left things entirely in his agent's hands, as mauy honourable' men have done before him, and shut his eyes to what he might have seen. The Commission now sitting, however dragged such malprac-ioes to light, and has tarnished the repute of all who were concerned in them. The Lord-Justice Clerk wes summoned to give evidence on the 22nd as to his expenditure in 1566, and the supposition is that the prospect of his being fixed with moral responsibility for corruption was too much for his sensitive mind, and that he sought shelter from " the proud man's contumely" in suicide. Suicide of a Bank Manager.—Mr. James Edward Robinson, resident manager of the Leeds and County Bank at Pontefraet, shot I himself dead with a pistol on the 14-th of ' September. He has left seven children. He I was formerly mayor of the borougb, and was alderman at the time of his suicide. Latterly he has been labouring under depression o 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. Xf.-w Zealand Fl.vx, judging from its value in the English market, should hove received more consideration and attention from colonists in the islands than it has done. The weed that the New Zealand farmer burns down in order to clear his land, land that he afterwards crops with potatoes to sell at perhaps ;ClO per . ton, the strong rope-like grass that the bullock ; driver gathers on the side of the track, and ! therewith safely lashes his load, the stringy i ! reed th«.t everywhere in New Zealand serves a ; thousand purposes of usefulness, and that may, ! nearly everywhere, be gathered for nothing, is ■ here in London. " in the straw," and without : dressing of any kind, readily saleable at from ; £24 to £25 per ton, and when dressed lip into t a fashion fit for rope-makers, is worth £10 per I ton, and easily saleable in any quantity at the i price. If the Maori can make nets and bags ; and blankets out of the P/iormium tenax, if a i i sample of the grass can be so manipulated that ■ a fabric equal to ordinary French cambric can be woven from it, itought not to bo difficult i for the settler to so prepare it, and in such , quantity, as to make it a. permanent and t valuable merchantable commodity. Should i the expense of dressing prov- too great a diffi--3 culty, the straw, simply dried and packed, t might be made a valuable article of export, 5 and rope-makers here would gladly purchase . it. If the dressing is undertaken on 3 the island, it is worth doing well. Of b two samples sold since the outgoing of the t last mail, both equal in original quality, one f from Auckland, well dressed and bright in 1 colour, brought £40 per (on against £:JO ob r tainedfora badly-dressed san:ple from Otago. > If the necessary dressing cannot be done in 3 New Zealand without destroying the quality - of the staple, better send it in a state of straw, - but in any ease it will be found a profitable e transaction. For a long time its merits were 2 decried by English rope-makers, but they - bought it, nevertheless, when they had oppor 1 tunity. It was mixed with Mauiila hemp, and t nothing said about it; but now, a large maDu--1 fiieturer announces as one of the staples of his trade, " New Zealand rope," and professes to y make it from New Zealand flax, and so he - doubtless does, so far as the supply will enable t him to do so. No doubt the gummy substance e with which the fibre, of the phormiuni tennx is i so strongly coated is difficult to remove, but , Messrs. Devitt and llett, the colonial brokers ! here, are just now in treaty for the perfecting t of a machine that is expected to change all this. 3 In the meantime there arc few better ship j mente from New Zealand to the English mar--1 ket than the so-called (lax. The fibre of the f ordinary " tussock," when beaten with wooden - mallets upon beds of the same material, makes L si capital article of commerce in England, the Y use of which are not yet precisely defined to s the outside public. It is saleable ut fiom £45 i to £50 per ton. iv Military- Settlehs. —An officer suggests e that some 2,000 time-expired men might be r advantageously settled in New Zealand, t " There can be no doubt," he says, •' That e these men, after giving the Maories a lesson e or two, might be formed into military settle[l ments, and then engaged for two or three d years upon the understanding thai their i. services were to be available upon future like occasions. This would be something similar [1 to tf'e military emigration of tho German e Legion to the' Cape Colony after the Russian t war —only that in this instance, the colony e should bear its proportion of the expense, s On the expiration of the stipulated term of e engagement, a portion could be formed into a s constabulary force , or form the nucleus of a e permanent military organisation. The color nists appear to be petitioning for two regiments r of the line to be sent them as their only a remedy; but it would, doubtless, be more i ! consonant -with the riewe of tie present

Government to assist them in raising a force for their present and future permanent defence, as well as creating great moral effect in favour of Hi" fni"»« etabilitv of the colony." "We need" only "add that at the Cape the force referred to was self-supporting, and that, m return for an allotment of laud, the holder held himself in readiness to do military Military Colonists. —A correspondent of a contemporary asks :—" Could we do better than establish military settlements in INew Zealand and other similar colonies ? Supposing that, instead of a pension, a grant of land were offered to each soldier on the expiry of ten or twelve years of service ; would not this tend to make the service far more popular, at the same time that it would provide an economical defence for the colonies, and strengthen the connection between them aud the mother country ? " To this the Editor replies that a snhemo of military colonisation for the disturbed parts of New Zealand was submitted some months ago to the Government by Col. Maude, and that it had alrea ly been approved by somo of the colonial authorities. The Proposed Colonial Conference. — The Broad Arrow remarks that if such a Conference as is invited bo assembled in London, it is very much to be doubted whether it will do any good. Colonists are not cosmopolitan in their political views, and there is, for instance, hardly anything like an Australian nationality existing. It may spring up in time, but one looks for it in vain at present. The inhabitants never regard themselves simply as Australians, but always as Victorians, Tnsmanians, or Quecnslanders, as the case iniiY be, and acknowledge but slight bonds of sympathy one with tho other. Sydney Smith, in the course of an article on New South Wales, in the Edinburgh Review of ISO 3, speaking of the complaints of colonial luisgovernment, says: —'One and no small excuse for the misconduct of Colonial Secretaries is in the enormous quantity of busiucss by which they are distracted. There should be two or three colonial secretaries instead of one; the office is dreadfully overweighted. The government of the colonies is commonly a series of blunders." Although the remedy suggested by that brilliant writer may be inapplicable at the present day. there is no doubt that the Colonial Secretary requires some aid, either in the shape of a council or otherwise. The ignorance aud impudence displayed in the wording of Lori' Granville's famous, or as the colonists might prefer to term it, infamous, New Zealand Mitch, shows that it is as true of colonial secretaries as of other people, that. " Evil is wrought from want of thought, As well as want of liearl." Free Trade in Relation to the Colonies. —A correspondent of the Standard writing upon this subject remarks : —" The sort of alienation which our free-trade policy is producing between the home country and its colonies and dependencies, is very injurious to our trade. If the same policy is continued I doubt whether in a few years we will have any remaining. I question if it wjs wise to risk the loss of such good customers as our colonies aud dependencies for all the additional trade we could expect to get from foreign countries. Free-traders have talked loudly of the prosperity and the relief from taxation which has followed the adoption of their policy. I car; see another reason for -is, independent of free trade, in tho discoveries of gold in California and Australia ; by which the amount of money has been so much increased as to our national debt not more than half so onerous as it used to be. while it has, at the same time, given a great impetus to trade. It is not this country only that has increased in wealth since the gold discoveries were made ; other countries, having no liking for free trade, have benefited as much as we." Proposed Atiduction op Prince Ahtiitu by the Fenians.—The New York Times of September 13, is responsible for 'he following : —" The Fenian Brotherhood held two meetings on September 12, at the Fourth-street head-quarters. Although the press were excluded, it was ascertained that the chief business transacted was the reception and inspection of the rolls and reports of the military brand) of the organization, which, as a member of the committee expressed it, " was in a most perfect st.te of discipline, and ready to take the field." The chief leaders of the committee were in favour, it is said, of an immediate move on Canada, as in their opinion, at the present moment the material aid and sympathy of the United States would he with them. From authentic sources it was ascertained that the committee had under consideration no less important a matter than the abduction of Prince Arthur, either in Cannrla. or in this country, should he pay in a visit. It is very significant that some half-dozen of the very smartest of their men —one a wellknown scout of the Uniou nriny —left New York suddenly at a late hour on the night of September 12, for Buffalo. The members of the committee will give no information on the subject, and even decline to contradict, the report as to the abduction of Prince Arthur." The whole story is looked upon as an absurd rumour. A Lunatic Boiled A x.ivk.—A report comes from Yorkshire to tho effect that one Wiliam Traccy, an attendant at. I lie North Riding Asylum, had chai-ise of a lunatic to give him a bath, but instead of doing this duty himself, he left it to be performed by two patients. These unfortunate persons turned on only the boiling water, and put Carrel into it". The man's legs were shockingly scalded, but the attendant failed to report the fact, and the patient died of his injuries. At the inquest the jury returned a verdict censuring Tracev, who has been dismissed. Another Sleeping Beauty.—Ayounglady has fallen fast asleep at llavtpool. It seems she was out on a visit. Slie arrived in cootl health and spirits, but on September 1-C, fell asleep and cannot Ijc awakened. It is almost t> be regretted that the story has been published, as it is calculated to create a simulative mania among young ladies who may not " drop oil" , at a moment's notice. We hear there is no real cause for alarm ; it is true that protracted sleep has lately become frequent ' [ among the s-?x, but it must be remembered i that it is probably 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 ie best for them and us. \ Handsome Bequest.—The late Mrs. Burton ' of Round hay, who was a wealthy member of , the We.'leyan body, has lcfl. the "large sum of , £32,000, free of legacy duty, in aid of s-vcrul . religious nnd benevolent institutions. Of this , sum £15,000 is to be expended on the creis- ', tion of chapels and schools for Wesleyan M eUiodists in Cumberland and Scotland. Robert Moffat, the Africa* Mission- . ATiy.—Robert Moll'at, now in his 75th year, is , purposing to return to his native land" The , 200-mile journey in waggons over the un- . tracked country, and bridgeless currents from , the Kurumun to Orange River, is an arduous , undertaking for him at his advanced age, but ; he retains his full vigour of m.nd, if not of body. He intends, if possible, to be in Eng- . land before the May meetings begin. j Suppression of Monastiues.—A public meeting has just been held in Pesth, at which a resolution was unanimously passed in favor , of the suppression of all the inonastrics in . Hungary. The meeting was composed of , operatives, students, and business people. Admission oe Jf.wisii Professors to Uni- ; vehsity Honours. —Hitherto no Jews have • been admit led to any Austrian university as i professors. This prohib tion has now been [ removed, and the first Jewish professor has - been appointed in the person of the well-known . oculist, Dr Maut.hner, who has obtained the f chair of opt.hu.hnic surgery in the University , of Innsbruck. l A Road for Tricycles.—An enterprising ■ individual at Berlin proposes to board over all i the gutters on each side of the streets, and ■ fchie roadway, three or four feet wide, is : to be the future velocipede high road of , • the city. A thousand tricycles are to

be placed on it, each with a practised driver dressed in a neat uniform, who will undertake to conduct one person with letters, parcels, &c, along this road. As Veloeipedestriaus always drive straight, room to turn is not required, and when the road is free it will serve as a footpath. A small charge for passengers, parcels, aud letters will, it ia estimated, give a fair return for the cost of construction. He argues that, beside the general convenience of his plan, it will bo a great advantage to Berlin to bridge over the gutters, as they are at present very unsightly, aud are liable to be frozen over in winter. Moreover, tho establishment of footpaths will facilitate tho better regulation of the street traffic, and effect a great saving in the expense now incurred by cleaning tho streets. The trciycles are to have a little canopy in winter, an umbrella being a sufficient protection in tho sumvner. The projector calculates that a speed mav be obtainoci equal to that of an ordinary csvi'iiige at least, and guarantees all possible convenience and safety in transit.