LASH FOR BANDITS

Southland Times, Issue 19223, 19 April 1924, Page 5

LASH FOR BANDITS

CANADIAN SENTENCE REVOKED. A LIVELY CONTROVERSY. (By Telegraph—Press Assn. —Copyright.) (Australian and N.Z. Cable Association.) OTTAWA, April 16. (Received April 18, 7.5 pan.) A Montreal telegram says the remission of part of a bandit’s sentence calling for the lash has not only precipitated a sharp controversy between the Judiciary and Federal authority, but aroused a great deal of popular interest in the discussion. Judge Monet sentenced Raoul Beauchamp, who robbed a bank, io 25 years’ imprisonment and 20 strokes of the lash. The Solicitor-General (Mr McMurray) immediately remitted the lashing. Judge Monet, without contesting the legality of Mr McMurray’s action, declared it was a serious blow to the cause of justice, saying: “At a time when hold-ups in Montreal are growing, when the public is rightly demanding greater protection, when all right-thinking people are dem inding that justice be very severe toward bandits of all sorts who are invading the country, and when the penalty of the lash, if an ignominious dole, is not a chastisement too severe for the offence committed by Beauchamp, it is regrettable to see Mr McMurray intervene. Bandits must applaud the good news.” The Judge added that he would continue to impose the lash whenever he deemed it wise.