NOTES AND COMMENTS.

Otago Witness, Issue 1162, 7 March 1874, Page 2

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

(From the Dal'// Time*, Feh. 25 to Mar. 3.J

As charges of murder, fortunately, are of rare occurrence in this community, it is not surprising that the rumour which prevailed on Sunday that an offence of this kind had been committed should have created some excitement. Elsewhere wo give such particulars of the circumstances connected with the alleged crime as we feel justified in publishing. That M'Doxxi.v has been shot by some ©uo of oour.so there can be no doubt, but who that sonio one is, and whotlier the act constitutes a j case of manslaughter or of murder, or has been accidentally brought about, are questions which the jury to bo empanolled before the Coroner to-day will bo called upon to answer. Loxu, the landlord of the Kuikorai Hotel, it will bo seen, h;is been taken into custody upon the chargo of shooting M'Donam), and will appear, no doubt, at the iuijuost aa a prisoner, and it is only to be hoped that the evidonce will not brin^ home to him the commission of tbo most sorioua ofl'enco which is known to the law. It is said that oither a woman or drink is at the bottom of nearly every deed of violence, and if a crime has been perpetrated in the present instance, it is ;

to the latter cause probably that it will be traced. At least about the time when the alleged murder took place, there appears to have been a general drinking bout at the public house of which the accused is landlord. The deceased, along with 'others, had received his week's wages, and he and his companions were in their cups. With many of the class to which M'Donald belonged, a Saturday night's spree will continue to be regarded as the legitimate mode of winding up the week, and so long as this practice finds favour with navvies, so long must we expect to hear of "offences against the person," arising out of their drunken quarrels. Let us be thankful that they so rarely lead to results as serious as in the case which we chronicle to-day.

" What is to be done with Sullivan, the Maungatapu murderer ?" is a question we have frequently heard asked during the last week, and we have not yet heard a satisfactory answer. In fact, Mr ullivan is now, and always has been, a most difficult subject to deal with. A criminal of the deepest dye, his escape from just punishment for his horrible crimes was necessary to the conviction and hanging of three other equally bad men. He turned Queen's evidence under promise of a pardon ; and, to give the Devil his due, the Government did break faith with him in placing him on his trial for the murder of James Battle. The state of public feeling at the time when the details of the horrible deeds committed by this gang of murderers were fresh in the minds of all, no doubt, almost demanded that Sullivan should oe tried, but now that this feeling is not so strong, it must be seen that a man like Sullivan would never have turned approver had not the conditions upon which he did so embraced a free pardon, as far as he was concerned, for all the crimes committed by his gang. He was convicted, however, sentenced to

death, and then the sentence was commuted to one of imprisonment. Since ■ that time Sullivan has been a burthen upon the Government, and this, combined with the justice he had upon his side, no ■ doubt induced the Executive to yield to > his importunities, and grant him a pardon . on condition that he left the Colony. At 1 this 3tage of affairs, however, the difficulties increase. The facts in connection with , the late attempt to get him off to San Francisco by the Mikado, and its failure, will be fresh in the recollection of our readers. This endeavour to send such a criminal to America — in the rirst of a new line of mail steamers, too — was, to say the least of it, ind judicious, and even had it succeeded, might have led to unpleasant results. We may be sure that for the future a pretty sharp watch will be kept to see that Sullivan is not shipped to America — directly at any rate ; and after the publicity the Mikado affair has obtained, any attempt to send him tc any of the Australian Colonies will only result in his services as a colonist being declined — probably not with thanks — and the return of the criminal to New Zealand. It is unquestionably wrong to turn a man like Sullivan loose upon society anywhere, but what are we to do '? He would not be permitted to live as a free man in these Islands ; and if such a monster is capable of reformation, he would have no chance to lead a life of penitence here. Go where he might he would be shunned as a leper — the blood stains upon his hands would never be forgotten — and the probabilities are that such treatment would only have the effect of goading him to the commission of fresh crimes. Pie has been pardoned on condition that he leaves the | CoL >ny, and therefore can scarcely be kept in Gaol here for the remainder of his life. The only course open to the Government is to send him from the Colony, and the choice of a place to send him to comes next. Murderer though he is, it has been found necessary to allow him to go unpunished, and the law has done with him. Does the detestation in which we must hold such a man make him any the less an object of pity — a miserable wretch with murder on his conscience, and the evei*-presenl knowledge that he has yet the penalty of all jicnaltics to pay ? His only chance is to go to sonio country where ho is wholly unknown — the Jftjis, for instance ; and if it is decided by the Government to send him to some such place, his departure must be kept a close sscret, and so must his destination. Tjik elections in Great Britain are over, and the result is that tho Conservatives havo n majority of fifty iji tlio House of Commons. Mr Gladstone, under the eire i instances, had no course open to him but to resign. This ho did, and on the arrival of the next steamer from Australia we shall no doubt bo made acquainted with the names of the members o; Mr Dwkakli's Cabinet. Mr Gladstone took office in December, 1868, with a Liberal majority of 120, and during the live years that have followed pinos the

date of his last accession to power, his majority in the House has been gradually lessening. Whether this has been due to a reaction in favour of the Conservatives, or to a reaction against the Liberal party, it would be hard to say. Probably both have combined to bring about the Conservative victory. It remains to be seen whether Mr Disraeli can form an Administration, and uphold a policy which shall be regarded favourably by the people. From amongst the members of the two Houses, he should have no difficulty in selecting a good team. With Lord Derby as Foreign Minister, in the Lords ; backed up by Lord Cairns, the Dukes of Richmond, Mam-borough, and Buckingham, Lord Carnarvon, and probably the Marquis of Salisbury, the Conservatives will possess great strength ; while in the Lower House, Mr Disraeli wiil have the assistance of such able men as Mr Gathorne Hardy, Sir Stafford Northcote, and Mr Wahd Hunt. As regards policy, there need be no apprehension, we should think, that the home policy of the Conservative Government will not be framed with a due regard to the requirements of the age ; while it is to be hoped that a more enlightened and statesmanlike sj^irit will pervade the Cabinet iv their foreign and colonial policy. With some the accession of the Conservatives to power will be regarded as a dark day for Great Britain. Old fogeyism has its representatives even in these parts, who can only see in the Liberals and Conservatives of these times the Whigs and Tories of their youth. To convince such persons that the British Empire can thrive under a Conservative rn/lme would be simply impossible. We are, nevertheless, constrained to think ' that the affairs of Great Britain will, for a time at least, be quite as well managed by a Conservative Cabinet as thejr would be by the Ministry which has just retired from office.