THE MORALITY OF TRAPPING A RAT.

Oxford Observer, Volume VI, Issue VI, 29 June 1895, Page 3

THE MORALITY OF TRAPPING A RAT.

■• Is it fair,' asked a rat, ' that I should be caught just for smelling at this bit of cheese, Which was put here for the express purpose of tempting me ? ' But the storeman retorted, 'If you had not cultivated a taste for cheese elsewhere, you would not have been so eager to smell at this bit.'

When Sir Charles Russell had Piggott, the forger of the Parnell letters, m the witness hox, he professed to want a sample of his writing, and asked him to write the word " hesitancy." ' A capital H. please,' said Sir Charles and Piggott wrote " Hesatancy." This was how the word was spelt m the letters, and Sir Charles was lauded to the fikies for his clever trick. He wanted to find out Piggott was m the habit of spelling the word, and he did so.

In truth, the tricks resorted to, to detect and expose crime are innumerable. Marked coins have been left m a till to catch a suspected thief. Change has been asked from persons suspected of passing base coin. Clothes have been left on the line all night as bait for " snow-droppers."

It is evident then that the public conscience does not condemn a trick as such, when it is played to catch an offender against the laws of society. But as a considerable number of people including the Invercargill justices, cry out against trapping a sly-grog seller m order to obtain a sample of .-his habitual practice, we must seek the reason of the cry. It does not lie. m the trick because that is eyeri applauded m regard to dlier offences. | t .

Of course, if the trick is itself an imposition, it deserves cens.ure=aSiSuch. But if the tnck consists simply m not putting him on his guard, or m the « askingfforia^rinkl^by 1 a^^e|§on3pho .does not mean to swallow it, there is absolutelir^^Hin^'njen^ufSble'^iir

To obtain a sample of a man's habitual practice is one thing ; to inveigle him into an unaccustomed offence is quite another. To leave marked money m an unusual and specially tempting place is to "procure ah offence;" but. to leave it m its usual place is a fair attempt to catch the habitual thief.

There are offences by man against another, m which self-interest secures evidence to convict the offender. .'.But there are other offences m which all the" ' parties are An collusion against society. The seller and huyer of obscene books and picturesj for example, are m collusion. The vendor will not he convicted until someone purchases a book or a picture^f set purpose. And we at: a] 'considerable am cflattb': .' of 'irickeryu* which migbt be necessary to break, through the safeguards of secrecy, behind which the vendor* carried on his infamous trade. We would scout his plea that he was trapped- into breaking the law, 'and the densest J.P. m the "country would say, ".you were not trapped into selling," But only into selling to the wrong person?' which is an important distinction. As far as we can see, this is on all fours with the case' of the 'publican who is caught by selling to a Prohibitionist on Sunday, and with the case of a sly-grog seller, who happens to sell to an agent of the police.

But it is said, that he who traps the Sunday trading publican is a* spy and informer. Whence arises the odium of these terms ? The hated informer is not the steadfast opponent of lawbreaking, who has no other purpose than to detect it. He is the Titus Oates who accuses the innocent for a rewaul. Or he is a criminal who sells his associates. It is the element of personal gain which makes the informer contemptible. No one believes m the informers virtue, or imagines that he respects the laws. Then the contempt of the name m no wise attaches itself to the Prohibitionist, who, for "the public good, secures a sample of the publican's habitual practice.

The Spy, again, is hated by the enemy only. In bis own country he is perfectly honourable. Alfred the Great was a spy m tke camp of the Danes. They would have hanged him had they known. But the Saxons did not accept Danish Opinion. In the War of American Independence, Washington hanged Major Andre, the British spy, though king George himself begged for his life, and afterwards gave high honours to the Major's family. When a spy is hanged, or shot or despised, it is always by the other side.

This then is the sum of the whole matter. The law cannot be enforced against the publican by means of his regular customers; for they are m collusion with him. If it is to be enforced at all, it must be by those who heartily believe that it ought to be enforced. But as the publican recognises these as his natural enemies, they can do nothing, except by not arousing his suspicions. The man who cries ' Spy ' or ' Informer ' when they succeed, simply belongs to the other side. There is no other reason for the hue and cry. The censor, be he J.P., Magistrate or Judge, is consciously or unconsciously m sympathy with the lawbreaker, and does not wish, to see the law enforced at all.

Advocate,