WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 10, 1906. THE COUNCIL OF DEFENCE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 13780, 19 December 1906, Page 4

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 10, 1906. THE COUNCIL OF DEFENCE.

Sir Joseph Ward supplemented on Monday night the information he supplied to Parliament two months ago concerning the intentions of the Government with respect to the reorganisation of the defence system of the colony. He will himself, in his capacity as Minister of Defence, preside at the meetings of the Defence Council which is being constituted in terms of the legislation of the past session, aud three of the remaining four positions on the Council have now been filled. As was announced by the Minister when ho was moving the second reading of the Defence Bill in the Lower House, the position of first military member of the Council, with the title of Chief of the General Staff, is to be filled by Colonel Robin. It may be regarded as a peculiarly satisfactory circumstance that 'the colonially-trained officers include one who, in the opinion of the Government, is competent to discharge the duties of a position of so much importance and responsibility as that to which Colonel Robin has beeu appointed. Major-general Babington expressed the opinion, in a memorandum in which he recorded his views upon the oystemi of military administration not? to be brought into operation in the colony, that there could be " no possible doubt" that it was "most essential that ail Imperial officer of high military attainments" should occupy the position of Chief of the Staff. This accords, moreover, .with the view taken by the Colonial Defence Committee in 1904, when it declared that for the performance' of duties of the kind that will devolve upon the. Chief of the General Staff a course of instruction for two yeara at the Staff College was a. necessary qualification, and when it recommended that in the meantime the services of an officer of the General Staff of the regular army, with the necessary qualifications, should be obtained for the appointment for the term of three or five years. The desirability of maintaining a link, such as has been hitherto supplied in the person of tiro Commandant, between the Imperial and colonial defence systems must lxr recogniscd. But the Government proposes that this shall be> furnished in the appointment of the second military member of the Council of Defence, in whom is to be amalgamated the offices of Adjutant-general and Quartermastergeneral. This position has not yet been filled, but the intention of the Government is to secure the services of an Imperial officer with the rank of major, whose presence on the Council will enable it, as the Premier says, to "keep in touch with the up-to-date systems and methods which are essential for the preservation, by way of defence, of this country of ours." Whether the salary it is proposed to offer—of £500 to £•550 per annum—will be sufficiently high to attract an officer with the requisite qualifications may, possibly, bo doubtful: certainly the Government should not sacrifice the chance of obtaining a thoroughly competent officer for the sake of effecting a smnll saving in the salary. We take it, however, that N the strong conviction which Major-general Babington entertained as to the necessity of tho appointment of an Imperial officer to the position of Chief of the Staff will be more or less satisfied by tho appointment of such an officer as second military member of tho Council, the more especially as the latter will be closely associated with the first military member, the law requiring that these two officers "shall be responsible to the Minister of Defence for the administration of so much of the business relating to the organisation, disposition, personnel, armament, and maintenance of the Defence Forces as shall be assigned to them, or each of them, from time to time by the Minister of Defence." In any event, we are satisfied that Colonel Robin, who, besides having had considerable experience, lias a gift for organisation, will justify the confidence which the Government has reposed in him. The feeling of gratification with which the Volunteers and the public in Ota-go will receive the f'lnouncemeut of his appointment will only be tempered by the consideration that his acceptance of the office of Chief of tlie General Staff will necessitate his relinquishment of the command of the Otago district and his removal from Dunedin. There can be no room for doubt, either, as t-o the fitness of Colonel Davies for the position, to which he has been appointed, of Inspectorgeneral. He is, Sir Joseph Ward says, to be the eyes and ears" of the Council, and it will be his duty

to inspect, and report from time to time upon, the work of organisation. The ofiics is one of great responsibility, for upon its occupant, we are told, will rest the onus of recommending such expenditure as may be necessary to ensure the efficiency of tiro forces. The Inspector-general will not have a seat in the Council of Defence, but it i 9 contemplated by the Government that after a period of service on the Board the Chief of the Staff shall change positions with the Inspector general, so that both officers may have the opportunity of acquiring a full experience in both the working of the Council and in the performance of the duties of the Inspector-general. The appointment of Colonel Collins, who is accoiuitaut in the Treasury Department, as the member of the Council responsible to the Minister for the finance of the Defence Forces recommends itself, and the qualifications of Colonel Webb, at present Acting-Comman-dant, for the cffice of Secretary of the Council cannot be questioned. Sir Joseph Ward anticipates that the system of defence administration which is being inaugurated in the formation of the Council will, from many points of view, be found to be superior to the methods of the past. We liope that it may produce' the improvement wliioli is expected from it. Certainly it cannot be less satisfactory than the old system, under which the Commandant was utterly unable to obtain the reforms he deemed to be necessary. But everything depends upon the spirit in which the new administration is conducted. A weak feature in the scheme undoubtedly seems to exist in the omission to provide the Dcfcnco Council with any power other than that with which the Minister may entrust it. For the business of the Council is, the Act provides, to be limited to that" other than business which the Minister specially reserves to himself." Moreover, it is laid down that the duties of the several members of the Council shall be such as may from time to time bo assigned to them by the Minister. Clearly, the law renders it possible that the Minister may, if lie so chooses, reduce the Council to a condition of absolute impotence. We shall not, however, assume that any such result will attend the administration of defence matters under the present dispensation. We shall look forward, on the contrary, to the manifestation of a reasonable determination on the part of the Minister, in common witlf the other members of the Council, to give the new system a thorough trial, and we shall be disappointed if the fruits of the creation of a Defence Council arei not revealed in a vigorous effort to improve the organisation of the defences of the colony and to place the Volunteer system on such a footing as 'frill give increased satisfaction to the community as a whole.

THE INQUIRY I.\ RE ROBINSON. The proceedings which -were concluded in tho Supreme Court on Monday last, when tho jury returned t'nei; 1 verdict with regard to the mental condition of Mr Robert Robinson, of Bc-rwick, wore as interesting as they were painful and unusual. There has, so far s,s the recollection oi Mr Justice Cooper, who presided, serves him, been only one case similar to this in the history at ths colony, and we hope it may bo long before any court is required to hold another inquiry in which tho fundamental question at issue wiil be or cueh a. description as admittedly formed, in the legal aspect, the crns ot' tho recent investigation, 'l'lie law has always taken a somewhat narrow conception of Insanity, as v.ws illustrated: to some cxtenS in the llobinsou case, n-herc tho issue was practically confined to a consideration by the jury of whether the respondent did or did not suffer from a. purticulnv delusion. Latterly some judges have refrained from pressing very strongly the legal criterion of insanity where it lias been brought into conflict with the medical view, and the effect has been that, despite tho ruling authority, the ground upon which the

(lewc-r.inatiott of' the responsibility or ii person is bused has to some extent bsen widened in harmony vut-h the ex tension of the knowledge of medical experts of the phenomena of insanity. There are, indeed, many tests of whether a man is or is not insane. The test of whether a person is subject to delusions, even to horrible delusions such as Mr Robinson is mleged' to harbour, is in itself not very convincing. For, as was observed by one of the witnesses in the course of the case, it is a common thing for a person of unsound mind; to conceal his delusions. Most common of all, we suppose, is this when the person possessing them is subject- to the active influence of others whoso interest it may b? to secure the formation of an impws--sion that he is free from delusions. In the Robinson case, however, the tent of whether there were, on the part of tho respondent, " beliefs," as the learned judge put it, "in things which did not exist" was that whereby the jury were required to decide whether lie was of sound or unsound mind. To the elucidation of' the point a large amount of medical testimony was directed, and, the doctors differing, it was left to a body of laymen to settle the question. The competence of nonprofessional gentlemen to solve a medical problem concerning which the professional witnesses disagree is not unimpeachable; but in this case it cannot, we think, be fairly doubted that the conclusion of the jury was distinctly sound. Any verdict other than that which was returned would have involved the rejection of the evidence of two witnesses who have made tho study of insanity a specialty, and also of a third 1 practitioner who lias had experience on the staff of a mental hospital. Though a disposition is sometimes shown, even, it is to be regretted, by professional men, to belittle expert testimony, the jury would certainly have acted rashly and imprudently if they had attached less weight to the evidence, founded' on exhaustive examinations, of the experts in lunacy than to that of the general medical practitioners.

The Hon. Mr M'Xab (Minister of Lands) leaves Clinton by the first express this morning for (ioro. where he will present the prizes at iiie break-up of llio District High School. The Minister leaves (lore by the second express for Duncdin, and goes on lo ralmorston, for Mr T. Mackenzie's social, at 7.5 p.m. by a goods train leaving Duncdin at that hour, and to which piuscngcr

carriages will be attached for the occasir'*' Tho Minister proceeds to Lyttelton by 'e first express on Thursday, and the S'l° evening: .'eaves for Wellington to nttejJ » meeting o[ tho Cabinet before the hol'iilys.

Tho Supreme Cour* was occupied Ihwighout. the whole of yesterday with tho owning stage ot the trial of John l'indiav, vlio is charged with tho murder of Williifl Hay Kennie, schoolmaster, at Papakaio. Mr A. 0. Hanlon, who appeared for nceii.?d, challenged four jourymen, whilst Mr Fjiser (tho Crown Prosecutor! exercised the right of challengo in regard to four more. Waiting jurymen were discharged until :o-morrow morning, when, should there he i disagreement, they may be called upon. ?Ir Eraser's opening address occupied nearly two hours. His Honor intimated that tho jury would havo to he kept together dtirinj the wliolo trial. Evidence for the prosecuion was not completed when tho court rose for tho day at 5.30 p.m., and will be resumtd this morning at 10 o'clock.

The petition in favour of substituting Saturday for Wednesday [or the half-holiday for grocery estaHishments met with further approval yoslerdav, a number of employers ill city and fitibmbs appending their signatures to it. It; has been decided not to prcssnt the petition to tho City Council tonight, but to hold it over until tho meeting of delegates from local bodies, to l» held in January, to fix. tho weekly half-holiday. A deputation, consisting of grocers from each district, will ilntu wait on tho delegates. In the meantime an endeavour is to be made to bring ; other trades into lino with the movement.

At yesterday's meeting o; tho Education Board it was decided to apjoint Mr P. (J. Stewart (senior assistant masfrr of the Union Street School) a 9 head master of that school in the meantime, pending tlo transformation of tho institution from a primary school to a normal school and training college. The appointment, of coursc, before becoming final, requires tho concurrence of tho Union Street School Committee.

Steps aro being taken to have Green Island brought into lho same Parliamentary constituency a 9 Cavetshani, and the council of the borough is to be asked at its next meeting to mako representations to the Boundary Commissioners with that object in vioiv. It is felt in the district that the interests of the people of Urcen Island lio moro with lho city than with Taieri, and .consequently their desire to Ixs included as part of Civersham in Dnnedin South, whirl) the old electorate of Cavevsham now becomes under lho proposed redistribution. Thu Boundary Commissioners will also be asked to include an outlying bunch of about £0 houses at Look-cat Point in with Mornington as part of Dunedin Central.

| During tiio course of conversation a day or two since with a country resident of some standing a member of our staff extracted tho information from him that three years since, when in that district, he wroto to (ho department concerned and pointed out that, unless a strip of ground woro cleared forthwith between tho rivcrbanl; and (ho Dusky plantation, it was an absolute certainty that some innoccnt picnicker would quito unintentionally set the whole place ablaze. This could havo been done at a trifling- cost, and tho onus of not having acted on tho suggestion rests with tho department, with tile consequent enormous loss to the country that accrued from the recent tiro. Sir G. Hogbcn, Inspector-general of Education, arrived in Dunedin yesterday, and this morning, in all probability, -will wait on lho Otago Education Board, when mnttera connected with the training college will bo discussed. At an extraordinary general meeting of tho National l'ire and Marine Insurance Company yesterday afternoon, Mr J. jr. ltitcliio presiding, it was unanimously agreed io amend lho articles of association by fixing the directorate's fees at £800 por annum, liiu amount, to bo divided in- such proportions and manner an tiio directors themselves may determine. Tho resolution hao to be confirmed as a subsequent meeting. A telegram was received by his Worship (he Mayor yesterday from tho Premier statin;; that tho 18th January would bo a suitable dalo for him to be present in Dnnedin to attend the receplion gathering which it is proposed to tender him in this city.

The Mornington Borough Council mot last evening in committee of the whole and considered a re-port from Mr G. M. Barr, C.K., on the reticulation of the borough for a water supply. After consideration it was resolved to take a voto of the ratepayers to borrow £14,000 to reticulate the whole of the borough. A report from Mr W. G. T. Goodman for the electric lighting of the borough will bo considered at an early date,

The Education Board has taken cognisance of the fact that certain of the. schools in the district aro having demands made oil them for rates, both special and general, this being particularly (ho case in regard to tho schools within the area formorly constituting the C'avcrsham Borough, and now part of the City of Duncdin.. At yesterday's meeting of the board tho following resolution oil tho subjcct was adopted:— "That in viow of tho solicitor's opinion, the committees interested bo informed that they will require to pay the sanitary rates in all instances where they liavo been in roceipt of the services of the council; that the board's secretary lx> instructed to pay tho water rates on all the board's properties on tho flat where water ha& -been supplied, as is now dono in the caso of tho town schools, and that all other rates imposed by tho council bo resisted to the utmost.

Charming pictures of Motutapu Bay, Auckland, and of the Rakaia Gorge will ba found among the contents of tho illustrated pages of the Otago Witness, published today. A whole page is devoted to views secured at tho annual schools' athlctic championship meeting, and two pages to tho winners at tho Gore summer show. A group photograph of the M.C.C. team on tho era of its departure from Plymouth by the Corinthic, and one (in cricketer's costume) taken on tho day following its arrival in Wellington, possess special interest in view of the approaching visit of tho team to Otago. Exhibition- views arc, on this occasion, confined to views of tho visit of tho Fijian natives to tho Maori pa. -Three pictures of tho comio captain of Kopeniclc aro most instructive. A general view of tho grounds on the occasion of tho Balclutha A. and P. Society's show is, in many respects, one of the best pictures in tho number. Some excellent enapshota secured at the opening of the I'avensbourno boating season aro reproduced. The sketches of " Types I Jlavo Met on the Road " will be generally admitted to be not only clever, but true to life. Among other illustrations, mention may be made of a portrait of Mark Hambourg and his fiancee, a novel archway in tho Oamaru Botanical Gardens, n portrait of tho recently-deccased husband of Charlotio Bronte, a spirited skctch of a Maori dancing a war dance, and a view of an " 0.K.P." picnic, etc.

Tho Mines Department has obtained, through the High Commissioner, tho loan of life-saving apparatus for rescue work in inince The apparatus is due to arrive by tho New Zealand Shipping Company's steamer Kuapcliu, and is intended for tho Mines court in the International Exhibition in Christehurch, where it can !« inspected by mine-owners and iho-e interested in minimising the danger to life in coal and other mines. The exhibit 6hould prove of special interest in Otago, which possesses a largo coal mine at Kaitangata, where two deaths occurred lately. It is considered probable that had these appliances been available tho lives of tho men might i.avo lieen saved. Should the new apparatus bo approved of by tho Government mining experts, it is likely to be brought into uso ill ihe CJoverni!*'nt mines, and private owners will also bo enabled to gain the full, est information as to it j working, cost, eta,

When a letter was read from the Domain Board fit Iho Norlli-Easfc Valley Council on Monday evening, requesting the animal contribution, Cr Macandrcw remarked in a resigned tone, "I suppose ii. lias lo lie paid." Cr Green: "It should he done with pleasure," and the councillor proceeded to pay a glowing eulogy lo tho board for tho amount of work it had done on a very small sum.—Cr Anderson: "Fin sorry we can't get out of it. It's tco far away from 111 is borough."—Cr Green: " You are too parochial, Cr Andersonand so on. When a. request for moro money was rend from the Drainage Board, however, Cr Green delivered tho following dictum: "We arc not receiving a quid pro quo for our contributions to Iho board. We are gelling nothing, and I am sorry we are not in a position to refuse to pay it. If my vote could frustralo the request, I can assure tho council the board would bo .unpaid." Tho monthly meeting of the Mornington School Committee, held on Monday evening, was attended by Messrs J. Hope (chair), Haslctt, Ilolgate, Bill, Napier, Cnrskle, Henderson, and Dickson. The Head Master reported that, in spilo of a good deal of fiickncfs, tho attendance had kept up well. All arrangements for the break-up on Thursday are complete. The infanls and lower standards meet at 2.30 in the afternoon, and the upper standards at 8 o'clock in Iho evening. Programmes have been arranged for both gatherings. The secretary was instructed to wrilo lo Mr Jan Galloway, congratulating .liim on "his appointment as gyinnastio instructor to the Southland Education Board awl tho Southland High School Board. The committee will not meet again till tho third Monday in January. Tho commission appointed to hear I lie Mciklo ease—consisting of their Honors Mr Justico Edwards and Mr .luslico Cooper— lias appointed Thursday, December 27, at tho Supremo Court, Wellington, for (he further hearing of the commission. Mr T. M. MaeDonald (Crown Prosecutor at invercnrgill) will act as counsel for Iho Crown owing to Dr Pindlay's elevation lo the Attor-ney-generalship. The accounts in conncction with Mr A. 11. Burton's lecture, "Tho Spilcious Times of Queen Elizabeth," in August last, in aid of tho Widows and Orphans and Aged Masons' Turn! of Iho New Zealand Masonic body, liavo now been settled, and Iho net proceeds pan out at something over £60. In conncction with tho appointment of Mr Alfred Snowball, of Bradford, as assistant lo tho ltov. W. A. Sincluir, and organiser of 1110 Central Mission Brotherhood, it is proposed lo introduce institutional methods of work in connection wilh the Central Mission. Theso methods arc being employed in England with very great success, and Mr Snowball conies wilh a special knowledge of this of work, especially among men. Tho Bradford Mission Brotherhood numbers 3000 members, ami is a great power for good among- the men of tho city.

Miss Marion Walker, mistress of the Macandiew Itoad School, was yesterday granted by tlm Education Hoard six months' leave of jtltsencc next, venr in onler tint sho might visit the Old Country.

A meeting of grocera favourable to the retention of tlie Wednesday half-holiday will b? hold at Messrs Mirams Bros.' office at 3 o'clock tin's afternoon.

Xnuis and New Year useful presents can 1)9 scan mid purchased at low prico at 1\ and l'\ Martin's, Octagon—Advt.. Bowlers will he interested to know that Messrs 0. and T. Young, of 88 Princes street, liftvo just received a fresh snpylv of Taylor's bowling-green howls, and these are noiv on brlc.—Advt..

You should not miss the opportunity of feeing tho up-to-dato footwear display of Simon Brothers' Continental Boot Depot, Princes street.—Advt.

Notice.—The famous Star Cloth lieneiver quickly icmoves paint, greaw, elc,; no water required; Is bottle; all grocers'.—Advt. Tile craze of the cily is centred on Dallas find "Walt'H end-ot-Heasoii pale.—Advt.

_ Spaeo will only permit of lis -fo direct attention to n npccial purchase nf rummer dvc?s fabrics which arc very suitable for Christinas gifts; price, Is ltd per vnrd.—MuUisons, Ltd —Advt.

the present fearful epidemic of influenza can ho successfully fought with "Lancer" Inllncnzn Cure. II strikes at Die root of the disease; 2s a bottle, at your chemist's. On no account accept substitutes.—Advt.

Who is Peter Dick','—The most reliable Watchmaker and Jowoller. opposite Coileo Palncs, Moray pl*ce, Duncdin. Ouargtr lirictly moderate.—Adrt.