THE COLONIST. Published Daily—Mornings. Nelson, Wednesday, August 14, 1895. A DANGEROUS DEPARTURE.

Colonist, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 8326, 14 August 1895, Page 2

THE COLONIST. Published Daily — Mornings. Nelson, Wednesday, August 14, 1895. A DANGEROUS DEPARTURE.

It is apparent from the reports of the Masterton murder trial, whioh are to hand, that the jury was led to bring in a verdict whioh entirely overturns all previous ideas of law and justice. The accused evidently believed that he bad suffered injustice at the bauds of hie victim, and, baying provided himself with the neoessary weapon, shot the man within the sight of a number of people, There was only one ciroumstanoe wherein thiß murder differed from tho bulk of similar deeds of blotd, and tbat was the openness witb wbich it was perpetrated, but it was by no means singular even in that respect. It waß assumed, rather than proved, that the man's past life showed signs of weakness of intellect, and upon the evidence brought before tb§u tbe jury found the aooused to be in sane, In a sense _o doubt he wasj insane, just as every man is who! does a wrong or stupid act, but we have scarcely reached a stage at v hich all such are to be treated as insane. If we had, it would be necessary notj ■ merely to detain murderers in lunatic

asylums, but many who have never been proved to have broken the law. Admitting that a murderer with a supposed grievance is to be treated as a lunatic, a person who gave offence might with equal justice be so treated if the manner of offence was not in accordance with perfect sanity. Some yeara ago the law on the question of sanity was plainly laid down, it being held that to establish want of responsibility it must be proved that the accused was laboring under such a defect of reason, in consequence of a diseased mind, that he did not know the nature and quality of his act, or, if he did know it, that he did not know he was doing wrong. It was also held that if a person acting under an insane delusion that a person had inflicted an injury to his character, or had wronged him financially, killed such person in revenge, he would be liable to punishment. Admitting that to be the law, it is certainly understandable ; but, then, in the Masterton case the jury acted improperly. 1 hat one man should escape the penalty of his crime would not, perhaps, be a matter to greatly regret ; but the verdict of the Wellington jury has opened a way of escape for criminals, and there is a danger that the community may in consequence suffer.