THE New Zealand Mail. PUBLISHED WEEKLY. THURSDAY, JUNE 4, 1896. THE EX-CONVICT BUTLER.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1266, 4 June 1896, Page 22

THE New Zealand Mail. PUBLISHED WEEKLY. THURSDAY, JUNE 4, 1896. THE EX-CONVICT BUTLER.

Butler':-: arrest for a robbery in Melbourne, and hi;> behaviour in eiiitody, revive tlto memory of one of the most celebrated crimes in tlie Now Zealand calendar. (jno Saturday about sixteen years ago a young butcher named Dewar and bis wife were murdered in their bed, hacked lo pieces by soino desperate, cruel ruffian. Butler was arrested. A man of bnlliaut talents, with a rooted predilection for vagabondage and roguery, ho was duly placed in tlio dock- to auswor a charge of murder, grounded, of course, entirely on circumstantial evidence. Ho was cool, cunning, able and plausiblo, and lie defended himself, with, if wo remember right, bints about law point.; from Sir Robert Stout, who had been retained as

solicitor lor the defence. Butler began by depriving the Crown Prosecutor of his brief -virtually. Inspector Mallard, who had got up the case for I lie Crown, wa-i advising him, and the inspector having to be called as a witness, Butler look prompt advantage of the fact by having all witnesses ordered out of Court. He then proceeded to light the unprovided I'rosecu)or in tin; most artistic fashion. He cross-examine 1 his witnesses with the modingenious ability, shaking the chain ol evidence till it rattled again. H'J called no witnessed to be served Hie same way; he simply mad" one ol the most bnlliaut ;,nd powerful or.d ions ever heard in that. Court of justice. He pointed out, inter aha, that in it case like his of circumstantial evidence the theory of guilt must bo proved to bo the only possible one to lit the facts, and he propounded a theory of innocence which fitted them passably well; entirely and completely, in the ...pinion of many, provided his allegations were true. The jury was much impressed by the dramatic features of the scene, a man of brilliant eloquence and great ability on trial for his life, speaking in his own defence, exhibiting a mastery ot fence, a resolution oi mind, an unshaken constancy worthy of the greatest minds. The Judge —Mr Justice Williams—summed up in a way to which exception was taken at the time. But the truth is, and it was seen by the judicious few at the time, that it was one of the most luminous, fair, inflexibly just pronouncements over heard in that place or any other. It confined itself with scrupulous closeness within the four corners of [,ho case as presented to the Court, it gave every point its due weight, it placed the whole matter before the jury evenly balanced, no extenuation, no slurring, no in either scale of ju°Jce. It

[ is, wo daro say, not improbable that Mr Juslico Williams bad his own view of the I prisoner's guilt. But his duty was to prepare the jury to give their view on tho I subject without any admixture of his own, ; on tho most perfect presentment of tho facts as presented to tho Court. This he did iu tho most perfect fashion. The jury, left to themselves and to the magic of tho dramatic situation, gave a verdict of acquittal. Fortunately for society there was a charge of burglary and arson over tho head of the acquitted murderer. 110 was brought at once to trial, convicted and sentenced to a long term of penal servitude — IS years if wo remember rightly. Arson and burglary, it was remarked at tho time, aro both grave crimes. The public seized tho conclusion that when combined tho combination is more than grave. Public opinion decided promptly that tho Judge's sentence was just. As a matter of fact it was as just as his summing up in tho murder case. While Butler was in prison ho was true to himself, as depicted by tho actions of his past life. His talents, his determination and his ruthless ferocity made people fear his return to civil life. Ho returned in duo course, and those fears have been justified by his arrest on a charge of highway robbery. True to himself onco more he curries favour by beating his head against tho walls of his cell. In view of this interesting and not attractive human document, who shall say that our prison system is remarkable for its reformatory effects i