NOTES AND COMMENTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXI, Issue 9628, 28 September 1894, Page 4

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

Codnt Tolstoi is a believer in Henry George and the Single Tax. In a letter which he recently addressed to a gentleman in Berlin he wrote :—" One would have thought that it must be as clear as day to any educated man of our time, that the possession of land by people who do not cultivate it themselves, but prevent hundreds, nay thousands, of starving families from access to the same, must be a state of things as immoral as the possession of slaves ; bub none the less we see educated, refined English, Austrian, Russian, and Prussian aristocrats enjoying this cruel, base privilege—based on the ready sophisms which political economy affords them-— they are nob only not ashamed, but pride themselves in it. The merit) of Henry George now lies in this, that ho has dissipated into thin nothingness all these sophisms which are brought forward for the defence of property in land, so that the defenders of this already dare nobdigcuss the question; but cautiously avoid it and pass

it over in silence. Bat Henry Georg%> also shaken this evasive policy, and heL lies his great merit. He has not re% satisfied with bringing this question to % highest degree of clearness, so that it| only the people with closed eyes who oaf not perceive the immorality of privai property in land ; he was also the first t demonstrate the possibility of a solution c j the question ; he was the first to give i clear and straight answer to the usual ob\ jections which are used by the enemies of all reforms, which culminate in the point that the demands of progress are declared to be vain, impracticable, Utopian ideas, which can be passed over in silence. . . . There may be changes and improvements in the system of the single tax, but the fundamental idea Id certainly practical. All that is wanted is to transform the idea of land nationalisation into public opinion."

Some interesting statistics relating to railways are given by an American journal In the coarse of an article on Government ownership of railways, a subject which is rapidly assuming an important position in American politics. In England the entire railroad system, including 20,300 miles of track, is all in private ownership, bub under thorough legislative regulation. The service is good, but) rates are high. In France, where the railroad mileage is 23,362 miles, 1609 miles are owned by the Government. The Government lines , were acquired by the State through the foreclosures on mortgages on roads, which were mainly contracted by Government aid. In 1884 it was proposed that Government should acquire the whole railroad system, but the proposition was dropped. French railroading is on the whole in good shape. There are 26,971 miles of railroad in Germany. Of these only 3123 miles are owned by private companies, the balance being owned by the Imperial Government and by the State Governments. The net income over all expenditures is nob large, though the German farmers complain that the rates are high. Austria-Hungary has 17,198 miles of road, of which 11,0*0 are owned or worked by Government, and the rest worked by private companies. The Government acquired the bulk of its holdings at the time of the panic of 1873, when it) interfered to save the creditors of the railroads. The property yields bub little income, though it has been improved under the zone system.

Italy has 8718 miles of railroad, which were originally the property of English Companies, but were bought by the Government in 1884, in consequence of the insolvency of the companies. An elaborate report was,made by experts in 1885 on the question whether the Government had better run the roads, or lease them. The report was in favour of leasing, and they were accordingly leased for a term of sixty years. The lessees have frequently of late appealed to the Government to cancel the lease and resume the roads, but each successive Prime Minister has declared that the condition of the finances forbade such a policy. The railroad mileage of Spain amounts to 6708 miles, all of which is in private ownership; but the companies receive a subvention from the State. The railways of Australasia alj belong to the colonial Governments, and their rapid and in some cases ill-advised extension has been one of the causes 0 the embarrassments of the colonies. Tl» Government of India owns most of tip 18,000 miles of railway in that dependency, and operates the greater portion thereff. The service is phenomenally bad, the trains slow and the fares high ; bib the yield of the investment is below 5 per cent.

At the Bristol meeting of the B'itish Medical Association "Dr. Lionel Weatberly read a paper on "The Law in Relation to the Criminal Responsibility of the Insate," in which he advocated a somewhat vide departure from the principles which at present regulate the administration of justice in an important class of cases. Wh&t the law is to which Dr. Weatherly and medical men as a rule object to is stated by j the London Times conciseiy and correctly. It was laid down in 1843, after very careful consideration, in the form of an answer by the judges to questions proposed to them by the House of Lords. Acting collectively (with the exception of Mr. Justice Maule), they declared that, notwithstanding that the party did the act complained of, an acb in itself criminal, under the influence of insane delusion, with a view of redressing or avenging some supposed grievance or injury, or of producing some public benefit, he was nevertheless punishable according to the nature of the crime committed, if he knew at the time of committing such crime that he was acting contrary to law. If the accused was conscious that the acb was one which he ought not to do, and if, as a fact, the act was ab the same time contrary to the law of the land, he was punishable. " The jury ought to be told in all cases that every man is presumed to be sane, and to possess a sufficient degree of reason to be responsible for his crimes, until the contrary be proved to their satisfaction ; and that, to establish a defence on the ground of insanity, it must be clearly proved that at the time of the committing of the act the party accused was labouring under such a defect of reason, from disease of the mind, [ as cot) to know the nature and quality of the act he was doing, or, if he did know it, I that he did not know he was doing what was wrong." A person labouring under a partial delusion " must be considered in the same situation as to responsibility as if the facta in respect of which the delusion existed were real." Further, if a man commits a crime and afterwards becomes insane before trial, he cannot be tried while in that condition, and if he becomes insane after sentence but before its execution, then the infliction of punishment) must be stayed.

Dr. Weatherly maintains, and doubtless has the support of many of his medical brethren in maintaining, thab the law as laid down in 1843 is wanting in latitude, is nob in accordance with modern science, and ought to be reconsidered. He holds that if ib be proved to the satisfaction of the jury that the accused person is certifiably insane, and, further, that the crime charged is the outcome of his mental disease, he should be entitled to their verdict, and at once be placed under care and treatment The ( gist of this recommendation, remarks the Times, lies in the vague and dubious expression, "certifiably insane." Nothing can be more clear and precise than the principle of the existing law. Ib presumes every man to be responsible for his actions until the contrary is proved, and ib demands specific proof that in respect of the particular action in question the man was nob responsible, or nob fully responsible. In determining his responsibility ib has regard to evidence showing whether or nob he knew that be was doing a forbidden thing. Mow, what) is really desired by those who demand a change in the law is that, instead of specific evidence of irresponsibility in relation to the particular acb in question, wo should decide generally whether the man is sane jr riot, and then deduce from that) general judgment the conclusion that he could or could nob have known what he was doing in the particular case. This is certainly a method which offers as much latitude as the greatest) 'love* of breadth

could possibly desire. Ib would 'ibrovr upon the jury a task infinitely mora difficult than ib has to discbarge at jfotenb Substantial justice largely tempered with mercy is, adds the Times, secure*} by out existing system ; whereas under a,' system of certifiable insanity, we should run tremendous risks of obliterating ooral dig. I tinctions which lie at the foundation ol all ; jurisprudence. By altering lie present) Uegal presumption, we ehoua inevitably Encourage the tendency, alre»dy very well 'marked in medical circles to regard all crime as evidence of uienf-l disease. We i should thus enter upon * vicious circle. • Certifiable insanity woui be largely de- ' iiermined by the mere fa® that a crime had 1 been committed, and wild then be used to [, shelter the criminal fro* the consequences • bf the act. There is aiti?ly no end to the confusion in which sah a system would plunge us. J

I An account of th recent naval engagement between the Japanese and Chinese, Supplied by an eyeHtneas, shows that the Chinese fleet wae|adly handled, the formation in which - went into action being such as to prev«fc several of the vessels opening fire for fir of hitting other Übineae ships. Ib is statf that duriug the engagement the Japa>se ran short of ammunition, which prcihly accounts for their nob being able to Sow up the advantage they gained. A forcof thirty thousand Japanese troops has becembarked. Its destination haß not been $losed. A very hostile spirit is being showtowards foreigners in China, and at the tjty ports the European residents are tang precautions bo protect themselves. I The British garrison at Hongkong iO be reinforced. Japan denies that an since with Russia has been

formed. r » Kaffir rising in the Delagoa district apars to be of a serious character. / force of seven thousand natives atpked the Portuguese settlers, and captui a quantity of arms and ammunition. /Further risings are feared. A dreadf ? record of crime has come to light in Ij&nos Ayres. A professor in that city had it appears, at various times poisonedifteen of his friends by putting cholera fcrms in their wine. On being arrestedhe committed suicide. The British jdmiralty have decided to man the su?dised mercantile cruisers with officeraind men belonging to the naval reserve' It is intended to treat twenty-six vessel^ l this way.