WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE SOUTHERN MERCURY. (WEDNESDAY, JULY 31, 1907.) THE WEEK.

Otago Witness, Issue 2785, 31 July 1907, Page 51

WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE SOUTHERN MERCURY. (WEDNESDAY, JULY 31, 1907.) THE WEEK.

'• Xaaqaua slUd mar*, allmd upleati* dint."—Jor«»*i."CmS nun no* (tod him aim »T«r j»iß.'"- tar*. s The Budget debate came to a rather unexpected termination on Phases of Wednesday night oi last Parliament: week, the evident lack of interest shown by members generally in tbe proceedings affording the Prime Minister opportunity' to "reply .ere the hour for adjournment was reached. The Prime Minister's reply wa& effective largely owing to the fact that the Government in their proposals hftye stolen much of the enemy's thunder. Mr Massey vrill do well to bear in mind one at any rate of the well-known maxims enunciated by Lord Randolph Churchill when in Opposition, namely — "Whenever by an unfortunate concurrence of circumstances an Opposition is compelled to support theGovernment, the support should be given with a kick and not with a caress, and should be, withdrawn oh the first available moment." „ Lord Randolph is often credited with tKe authorship of the phrase —although his claim to that right has, been, disputed — " The duty of an Opposition is to oppose." And in this connection it may not be out of place to quote a brief extract from that most fascinating book — a cheap popular edition of which has recently been published by Messrs Macmillan — Winston Churchill's " Life of Lord Randolph Churchill " :—": — " Lord Salisbury condemned, early in 1883, the temptation so strong to many politicians, to attempt to gain the victory by bringing into the lobby men whose principles were divergent, and whose combined forces therefore could not lead to any wholesome victory. ' Excellent moralising,' observed Lord Randolph, ' very suitable to the digestion of country delegates, but one of those Puritanical theories which party leadens are, prone to preach on a platform, which has never guided for any length of time the. action of politicians in the House of Commons, and which, whenever apparently put into practice, invariably results in weak and inane proceedings. Discriminations between whole; some and unwholesome victories are idle and impracticable. Obtain the victory, know how to follow it up, and leave the wholesomeness or unwholesomeness to critics.' " This and another maxim conceived in a like' spirit, namely — "Take office only when it Buits you, but put the Government in a minority whenever you decently can," may well be commended* to the consideration of Mr Massey and i his supporters during the * present session of Parliament. For in view of the divergence of opinion amongst the Government supporters in regard to Land and Fiscal issues, there can be little doubt that a careful and clear observance of Lord Randolph's parliamentary maxims under the leadership of a man possessed of the courage, energy and decision, industry and thoroughness in work, persuasiveness and pertinacity, readiness and resource in speech, and, above all, the tact in management which characterised the famous leader of the famous Fourth Party in the House of Commons, would result in considerable damage to the Government majority, if not in placing the Prime Minister in actual dilemma ere the session be half way through. But then Mr Massey is no* Lord Randolph Churchill, and no one knows this better than the Leader of the Opposition himself. Just one other sample passage from the "Life" will serve to show what a wonderful influence a single member — not a powerful Prime Minister with an obedient majority at his back ; but a practical free lance, fighting all the time for hie own hand-^-was able to wield over Parliament and people "Whether he was supported by loud applauses of Conservative members or heard' by them in chilly silence ; whether he seemed to be the accepted spokesman of the Opposition or a solitary politician — his hand Against every man and -every man's hand against him — his almost unerring eye for a parliamentary situation, his mastery over the House, and his formidable power for good or evil upon the fortunes of his party became continually more evident. Alone, or almost alone, he waged his double warfare against Government and Opposition. Assailed on all Bides — from Ministerial box, from the front Opposition bench, from those Tvho sat before him and behind him, and even beside him ; confronted with his own contradictory statements, now by one side, now by another ; rebuked by the Prime Minister, repeatedly repudiated by his colleagues and leaders, he nevertheless preserved throughout an air of haughty composure and met or repelled all attacks with resourceful and undaunted pluck." The news that William D. Haywood, secretary of the Western The End «f a Federation of Miners, has Famous Trial, been acquitted on the charge preferred against him — principally upon the evidence of Harry Orchard — of the murder of exGovernor Steuneriberg, marks the first stage in the conclusion of what will go down to posterity as one of the great criminal trials of the twentieth century. It was not denied by the lawyers for the defence that Orchard killed Steunenberg; by his own confession he stands convicted of that crime. But they denied the allegation that he was the agent of the Western Federation of Miners, hired by its officials. It has all along been believed by multitudes of persons, who cannot seriously be accused of condoning murder, that the State authorities of Idaho and Colorado were in league with the mine owners to send to the tallows tb* leaders

of the Western Federation of Miners, aKS the opinion was further held thw Orchard's deed was the outcome of a personal feud against the murdered man, any\, that having Committed the fiendish act M sought to screen himself by engaging tv 3 give evidence on the „. side of the min<\> owners. 'As one leading Americ&j^ periodical remarks — "^lt appears almoy^ beyond belief that in this age and country conditions such as were described by thu witness Orchard could exist. That nje.vi who occupied positions of leadership among .their fellows, and enjoyed the coi^»\ fidence aVid respect of a large number of law-abiding American working men, could surround themselves . with a band 06 assassins ' paid -to kill those who opposed! their rule seems incredible. Yet this is? what ihe officers- -of the 3?ecler»tion of Mifiers have done for years, if we: are to believe this witness, who admitsr that he was "himself one of the hiredl murderers. With every appearance ofi exactness and truthfulness, and in the mosti cold-blooded and callous way, Orchard told of trafficking in human lives at » stipulated price for each victim. Nine-* teen human live.3 were destroyed by hu( own hands, according to his admission int the witness box, and he asserted that he*' was but one of a number who - wer« engaged in the: same villainous work." Lest it should appear that the above inf any way exaggerates the The Teittmoay shocking state of affairs, the* of a Proftutoakl following summary of) Assaula. Orchard s evidence in the witness box during the trial, given at Boise in June last, speaks for itself :— " Orchard'^ hands pulled the wire which fired the fataS explosion under the railway station ati Independence, which resulted in the death of fourteen men. It was he who hurled the bomb in the shaft of the Vindicato^ mine which killed two men. In cold bloodf he shot down a detective in Denver, on» the street, after dogging his victim for two miles. He -placed a bomb in a vacant! lot for Justice Gabbert, but missed hisl intended victim, and killed another whose? life he did not seek. In relating the storyj of that murder, Orchard, said that Hay-* wood' [the now acquitted prisoner] made the remark 'It is bad that you missed^ Gabbert and killed an innocent' man. ' They last chapter in the career of this admitted!} assassin was the killing of ex-Governor^ Steunenberg by means of a bomb attached? to his gate. Until that crime Orchard^ had (escaped arrest. All the time that hia| criminal career lasted he lived, he said, on* the funds of the organisation, and was inf the confidence of the, officers. They com-f plimented him when he succeeded inf accomplishing his murderous work, andj they consoled him when he failed. Tuej urged him on after setting out the worus l o* him to do." - The - jury have now] shown their disbelief in ■ Orchard's * testimony by returning a verdict of acquittal in favour of Haywood. " Possibly thia verdict may "to" some extent be explained in. the fact that 'on cross-examination* Orchard was shown to be a bigamist, a| hard drinker, and an inveterate gambled all the time he had lived in the Western! States. And further, that he was in thef pay of detectives for a railway in Co'o-. rado when he first met Haywood; that het first suggested the idea of blowing up tha< Vindicator mine, that he was an orethief while he worked in the mines ; and that he tried to sell intelligence to the State authorities or the mine owners, op both, while he was, as he asserted, the paid assassin of the union. There is notthe slightest doubt that he committed the crimes to which he confessed in the* manner outlined. The jury empannellecf to try Haywood is described as an intel-: ligent and representative body of men.< With one exception the twelve jurymen) were all over fifty years of age. Nine o2 them are American born, two were bora in Scotland, and one in Canada. All ara men who know what it means to meetl obstacles and overcome them. They have all been farmers in Idaho or other part* of the Western States, they Jsnow littlet of labour unions, and they do not believe) in a class struggle. At the commence* ment of the Haywood'e counsel ex-t pressed, themselves as satisfied with th« - composition of the jury, and the verdicti may, therefore, be regarded as thoroughly in accordance with the evidence. So fan 8(T good. It now appeal's that Orchard will stand] charged with the committal A Grave of the murders to whicl* lime. he has confessed, but even should he be called upon to) pay the utmost forfeit of the law thd matter will not end there. A great deal of hysterical nonsense has been written about this trial, for the organs of thet Socialist Party and other equally rabid publications in America — echoes of which) have appeared in 6ome of the New Zealand papers — have been trying to make iti appear that the trial represents a death struggle between organised labour and) organised capital. A competent American authority remarks anent this point :— "It is nothing of the sort. It is a trial of men charged with one of the blackest) murders ever committed in this country. If they are given a fair trial by a jury of their peers and found guilty, to sa£ that their conviction means a death blow to organised labour is worse than an insult to the organised wage workers of the country." It is evident that the verdict! has .come as a surprise to- all who watched; the progress of tbe trial, foe the cable - conveying the- news declares that a disagreement amongst the jury was the besti that Haywood and his friends anticipated., There is' the. possibility, therefore, of a! reaction of opinion, and an attempt maj be made by the Miners' Federation tdt icjharge, home to the mine owners the responsibility of Orchard's evidence. Thati this is no mere- fancy may be gathered from the following comment taken fronn the source already quoted: — "The mine* owners have resorted to many unscrupulous methods to discredit th miners* organisation, hut it is hardly conceivable

that they would wantonly murder nonunion men in their employ. It is hardly conceivable that they could have planned to blow up the station at Independence and bill the men who were helping them 4o operate their mines. Haywood pretends to believe that they did, but few will agree with Mm." And when the mist engendered by bitter opposing interests m cleared away, and the men begin to meditate away from the feuds of the class hatreds of the Western States, it will probably be conceded by both sides that the entire esponsibility of the series of diabolical murders rests with Orchard and with Orchard alone. For while on the one hand it has to be admitted that- ma^f °* the teachings of the officers of the Western Federation of Miners are dangerous to the forces which make for law and order, yet it is not conceivable that they have been parties to a cold-blooded^ and long-existent conspiracy to 'murder, each as Orchard's testimony unfolds. And on the other hand, it is stifl less conceivable that Orchard was in the employ of the Cripple Creek Mine-owners' Association, ana that the mine-owners, in an endeawnr to weaken the power of the Miners' Federation, would stoop to suborn such a type of witness. Probably the solntion of the matter » to he found in the fact that Orchard is a desperado of a particularly villainous type,, who would not hesitate to murder in cold blood any man or numbers of men against whom he cherished a grudge, and who, afterwards, sought to turn his murders to good account and render them remunerative fay offering his evidence to whichever side would pay him best. Were De Quinoey *till alive he would find in the incidents of the assassination of -ex-Governor Steunenberg materials for another essay "On Murder Considered -as one of the Fine Arts," whilst Edgar Allan Poe would add to '"the Murders of the Hue Morgue," and "The Mystery of Marie Boget/* another .weird tale of "Mystery and Imagination."