The New Zealand Times (PUBLISHED DAILY.) FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 1879.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIV, Issue 5561, 24 January 1879, Page 2

The New Zealand Times (PUBLISHED DAILY.) FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 1879.

The case of Thomas Rennell, which was argued in Auckland last week before Mr. Justice Gillies, and finally disposed of by the learned Judge on Wednesday, is one of the most remarkable ever brought before the Supreme Court. We use the words “finally disposed of” because, notwithstanding tho gravity of the crime which the prisoner was alleged to have committed and the weight of evidence which could have been brought against him, it appears that there is no legal machinery by which he can be put on his trial. It will be remembered that Rennell, who is a British subject, was accused of murdering Captain Mollbr, another British subject, at Butaritari, a small island lying about three degrees north of the equator, and not forming a portion of her Majesty’s dominions. Rennell was taken red-handed, put on board a trading vessel, and conveyed to Auckland. A regular information was then laid against him, and a warrant issued. The magistrate before whom he was brought hesitated as to what would be the right course to pursue, for it did not appear to him that the Court had jurisdiction to order Rennell to be detained in custody. He, however, after consideration, remanded the prisoner, and at the next sitting of the Court Mr, Brookfield appeared to prosecute on behalf of the Crown. The magistrate is not, we believe, a professional man —that is, lie is neither a barrister nor solicitor, and therefore it should not be a matter for very great surprise that on a question which it may be safely stated never came under his notice before, he displayed a little hesitation in determining what he ought to do. But Mr. Brookfield is a professional man, and though it is very likely that he never had through his hands a case exactly like that of Rennell, one would have supposed that his legal training, and the necessary attention he must have devoted to the peculiar points which cropped up, would have enabled him to speak with confidence and accuracy on the law bearing on the matter. Judging from the report which has reached us of the whole proceedings, he spoke confidently enough, but not very accurately if his remarks are viewed by the light of Mr. Justice Gillies’ subsequent judgment. Mr. Brookfield argued boldly that the magistrate had jurisdiction to deal with the case, and he stated several grounds for his contention. Prisoner’s counsel, as a matter of course, looked at the affair from a totally different standpoint. It is unnecessary to give an abstract of what these gentlemen said. The magistrate came to the conclusion that he had jurisdiction to deal with the case under the 38th and 39th Viet., cap. 51. He heard tho evidence which was tendered in support of the charge, and then signed a warrant by which the prisoner was committed to gaol, pending action on the part of the Governor; the intention being that Rennbll should be sent to Fiji for trial. At this point the really interesting part of the case begins. The prisoner’s counsel obtained a writ of habeas corpus, and Rennell was thereupon brought before the Supreme Court, In another column we publish an abstract of the arguments employed on each side, which was given in an article in the Auckland “ Star ” of the 20th inst. At their conclusion the prisoner was remanded till the 22nd of this month, and on that day was discharged by the order of Mr. Justice Gillies. Here, then, we have a case in which one British subject murdered another in an island not under the jurisdiction of any civilised nation —a place in fact inhabited by aboriginal savages, but visited occasionally by white traders. The murderer is secured and brought to New Zealand, and an attempt is then made to have him sent for trial to the British colony nearest to the scene of the outrage. The attempt fails; and it seems that no trial can be had either iu New Zealand, in Fiji, or in Butaritari. The murderer is discharged, and will probably betake himself either to the scene of his former exploits or to some other of the numerous isles of the sea where the protection of a civilised flag is not to bo had, but where Englishmen may be met more frequently as time advances. We may expect to hear of other victims to his malice; but that is not the worst consequence which may follow. The result of Rennell’s case will be very quickly spread abroad over the world, and in hundreds of places like Butaritari a feeling of insecurity will spring up, to be followed in no long time by a plentiful crop of outrages. It is idle to say that if the Queen’s subjects go beyond the jurisdiction of the Queen’s Courts they do so at their own risk. No one can be found to put forward such a doctrine when an outrage has [been committed on Englishmen by aboriginals. In such a case we should in all probability hear of a few villages being burnt, and perhaps a few score of the offenders shot by the crew of one of her Majesty’s men of war. But if miserable savages are thus punished for crimes which are but too often merely acts of revenge for former injuries, is it not time that an ampler measure of protection should be given to peacable white traders against the ruffians and vagabonds of their own color and race t

Mr. Justice Gillies called attention to the matter in the hope, no doubt, that the Government would see the importance of supplying what is deficient in the existing law. But after all it seems to us that it is to the Imperial Government that these faraway traders and settlers should look for increased protection. We do not mean by the annexation of innumerable and comparatively worthless islands, or by the stationing of more men of war in the vicinity of such insignificant spots as Butaritari, but simply by legislation which would amply meet such a case as this of Thomas Rennell ; which would do everything possible to secure the trial of such offenders and to avenge the death of peaceful and useful citizens such as Captain Moller. The Premier, who takes such a deep and wide interest in everything which concerns the safety and well-being of the whole human race, might, perhaps, think it not beneath him to communicate to tho Imperial Government the facts of this outrage, in order that similar cases arising in the future may bo provided for.