THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 16, 1929. THE ELSIE WALKER CASE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20387, 16 October 1929, Page 12

THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 16, 1929. THE ELSIE WALKER CASE.

There is something amazingly complacent about the attitude of tho Minister of Justico to tho Elsie Walker case, as current speech names ono of the most distressing as well as puzzling incidents ever challenging police investigation. Carlylean tho attitudo might be called: "I sit up among the stars, above it all," was the final word of the sage of Chelsea when the strange restlessness of London at night, with its lamp-flecked murk, was conned by him. But the comparison is not wholly apt: a sage Carlylc was, yet when occasion called he could be terrifically aflame with zeal to get something done. Mr. WLlford sets "calm on tumult's wheel," though besought to take the essential steps to pursue a much-needed investigation. He has stated flatly in the House, replying to a request to have the Coroners Act amended this session, particularly with a view to having the Elsie Walker inquest reopened, that this will not be done. His reply, of course, commits tho Government, and must be presumed to express the mind of Cabinet, which makes the attitude still more difficult to understand. All through the piece he has manifested his old preference for "the soft pedal." The inquest resulted in an indeterminate verdict, at that stage seemingly inevitable; but the coroner added an unusually strong expression of opinion that there were obscure points to be cleared up—points that might have been rescued from obscurity had the police been more prompt in action. Noting the coroner's suggestion that an inquiry should be held into the whole matter, and reviewing the evidence, Mr. Wilford ordered the inquiry to proceed. So far, well; but when the finding of that inquiry was forthcoming, a finding very meagrely justified by either the facts elicited or the argued conclusions of the commissioner, the Minister evinced an easy readiness to accept its condonation of the police. The coroner said that "tho public aro entitled to better service from the police than they received in this case," but the Minister magniloquently eulogised "the splendid efforts" mado to unravel tho mystery. His mind, thus made up, has been undisturbed since.

Though far more detached, in their judgment than a Minister of Justice should be when a case so poignantly pathetic and so baffling to professional investigators—"no finer body of police in the world" was Mr. Wilford's flattering eulogy—most people have been very painfully disturbed. Voicing this feeling, the Society for the Protection of Women and Children some time ago approached him, asking for legislative action enabling the inquest to bo reopened. The society had good ground for the request. In August, the coroner himself, writing to the Crown Prosecutor in Auckland, suggested the reopening of the inquest. - As the law stands, however, neither the coroner nor the Crown Prosecutor has power in the matter: action must be taken by the Crown Law Department and permission bo granted by the Supreme Court, but this possibility is strictly limited to cases in which an inquest has been conducted illegally. Consequently, amending legislation is required to give effect to the coroner's suggestion, and the society asked for this. It received an unsatisfactory reply from the Minister, who, to judge by his answer to the question in the House, is calmly content to do nothing. The society is therefore taking further steps. On tho mere ground that the law in Britain has statutory provision for the reopening of inquests, by proper process, when such a course is considered necessary or desirable in the interests of justice, there is justification for the society's request. Why should New Zealand lag behind the Homeland in a matter so obviously important? Mr. Wilford does not say, The society has furnished the police with information given to one of its inspectors by persons not called at the inquest, and has accompanied this with a prepared statement. Possibly this information and statement have not yet reached the Minister, and he may review his decision when they do. But Mr. Wilford must know the wish of the coroner and probably is aware of the widespread public desire to the same effect, though its intensity is not appreciated by him ; and these things should have been sufficient to save him from lethargy. His answer leaves room for the hope that the needed legislation will be put through next session. Then why not this session? A very simple measure, for which there is clear British precedent, is all that is required. He proudly gloried not long ago in a finding that credited the police with action "prompt, thorough and exhaustive." He is not asked to do anything spectacularly thorough arid exhaustive, and certainly not to make any "splendid efforts," but he might at least emulate the promptness he has praised in, say, a rural constable.

What Mr. "VVilford and the rest of the Cabinet apparently do not realiso is that there is seriously Jacking any assurance that everything humanly possible has been dono to discover how Elsie Walker came by her sad death. Her father, through his solicitors, has pressed the AttorneyGeneral to take action to remove this lack, and the Attorney-General has acknowledged that certain recent developments were of so serious a nature that they called for further investigation. All that the Minister of Justice has apparently done in recent months is to issue a briet statement to the effect that the police have not relaxed their efforts to solve the distressing mystery, and to make this implied promiso in the House that legislation amending the Coroners Act may be introduced next session. This is cold comfort. I'ailure to solve the mystery is not only a blo.t oij the scutcheon of the

police; it is discreditable and disquieting to the peoplo of the Dominion. Touching the requested legislation, it should be remembered that this has a wider bearing than tho Elsie Walker case. At present, a col-oner's verdict ends his connection with any particular inquiry. Supposing a verdict of an indeterminate nature to have been given in a case of death accompanied by the burning of a dwelling, and subsequent handling of fragmentary remains to reveal a shooting tragedy as tho undoubted cause of death of one or more of the dwellers there, no possibility exists of reviewing the verdict. To rectify this stato of things is obviously desirable. In tho Elsie Walker case, tho lapse of still further time before review is possible may seriously diminish the prospect of legally discovering tho truth, and for tho solving of this case alone it would be well to have the required legislation enacted without delay.