A BAD PRECEDENT.

Timaru Herald, Volume XXX, Issue 1479, 18 June 1879, Page 7

A BAD PRECEDENT.

[From theTiMAitr; Hebald, June 3.] The withdrawal of the prosecution of < Hiroki Tuiha, charged before the Resi- ' dent Magistrate at Napier -with stopping a railway train, is the weakest thing tbat the Government could have < done, and is as impolitic, m the present ' state of native affairs, as it is unjust on '■ all ordinary grounds. The reason that i is given for tbis extraordinary inter- 1 ference with the course of justice, is 1 that the prisoner had received some 1 provocation from the guard ; that is to J say that the guard had found it ] necessary, m the discharge of his duty, < to remove the. prisoner from the train { for persisting m a violation of the Rail- 1 way Regulations. It is not shown tbat . the guard at all exceeded his duty, or * discharged it m an improper manner. ' On the contrary, he only did what he was bound to do by his instructions, : and by the rules of bis department. The ■ facts of the case appear to be quite simple. JHiroki was smoking m ■ a non-smoking carnage, wliich is strictly forbidden by the Regulations. The guard asked him to desist. He refused to desist. The guard, after doing his best to make him desist, but without effect, ejected him from the carriage. JHiroki then declared his intention of murdering the guard, and m order to get an opportunity of doing so, barricaded the railway with sleepers and rails, and stopped tbe train. The guard, fortunately, received timely notice of his danger, and did not come on m the train. Had he not been warned, m all probability he would have been taken unawares and tomahawked or shot. As it was, Hiroki, m pursuit of his revenge, committed a crime the lawful punishment of which is penal servitude for life. But there is no such thing as law or justice, now-a-days, where a Maori is concerned ; and wben the prisoner was brought before the Magistrate, the Crown Prosecutor withdrew the charge against him by tbe orders of . the Government. If an Em-op can had dared to commit the crime which JHiroki committed, he would inevitably have been prosecuted, tried, convicted, and severely punished, no matter what provocation he might have received. When an European named McDonald, being involved some years ago m a dispute about the road crossing a certain boundary at Manawatu, shot one of the coach-horses as a protest, he met with no mercy. Nobody looked upon him as a criminal, or a dangerous person at all. He was one of tbe oldest settlers m Wellington, and was perfectly well-known to be an eccentric character, who had lived very much m the bush, and beld primitive ideas about the rights of landowners. He was commonly supposed to be halfwitted, or at all events so impulsive that he was scarcely accountable for his actions. He shot the horse deliberately, after giving the coach - driver warning, and having a good-humored argument with him about the right of road ; and there is no doubt that he honestly believed at the time that he was quite justified m what be did. Yet he was prosecuted rigorously, and, m spite of every effort being made by his friends to get the authorities to take a lenient view of his case, he was condemned to a long term of imprisonment with hard labor. After his conviction, when every requirement of justice had really been satisfied, a petition was presented to the Governor for his pardon, on the ground that Jhis act was merely the result of rashness and ignorance, and was free from any criminal intention. The Ministry refused to recommend the prayer of the petition, however, and McDonald was compelled to undergo his sentence. It is impossible to deny that he was justly punished, though with unnecessary severity, or that his case was a salutary example to all who are inclined to take the law into thenown hands. But does not the very justice of McDonald's punishment make Hiroki's impunity the more flagrantly unjust ? His offence was a hundred times worse than McDonald's. In itself it was a gross and most audacious defiance of the law, and m its intention it was criminal m the extreme, being deliberately murderous. Yet because the offender is a Maori, the Government interfere with the very preliminaries of justice, and prevent Jhis even being sent for trial. We say that this is turning tbe administration of justice into a burlesque, and offering a direct premium to violence and crime among those who already have far too great a contempt for the law. At the present juncture, too, such partiality is especially unwise and unwarrantable. .There is a wide-spread feeling of lawlessness abroad among the Maoris just now ; and the internal peace of the country is actually placed m peril by the laxity with which the authorities have treated

it. An example was most urgently needed, m order to teach thc Maoris to obey and respect the law ; and there could not have been a better opportunity for making such an example, than was afforded by Hiroki's crime. His offence was a very bad one, and be richly deserved a substantial punishment. It was, moreover, one wbicb brought to an issue m a peculiarly marked manner the question of whether European law is to be binding upon Maoris. Hiroki had first broken tbe Railway Regulations, and afterwards transgressed tbe law m a more serious degree, m order to compass the murder of an officer of tbe law. We cannot conceive a case m wbich it would be more incumbent upon the authoritie to vindicate the law to tbe utmost ; or consequently, m which the neglect to vindicate it would have a more demoralising effect. The action of the Government m withdrawing the charge against Hiroki is, further, a great injury to the officers of tbe Railway Department. If these worthy and devoted public servants are not to be protected m the discharge of their duties, how can they possibly be expected to carry out their instructions? Ever since the railway was opened from Napier tbe Maoris have been an endless source of worry and anxiety to tbe railway officials. They are constantly to be seen at tbe stations and m the trains under the influence of drink, and all efforts to make them conduct themselves m a manner conducive to the comfort of their fellow-travellers or their own safety, are all but hopeless. Tho guai-ds have more trouble with them than witb a hundred times as many Europeans, mainly because the Maoris know what a degree of licence is allowed them, and take the greatest possible liberties m consequence. This JReese Watkins, the guard whom Hiroki is bent on murdering, is an excellent officer, thoroughly up to his work, and withal most obliging and courteous. We have the testimony of those who have travelled almost daily under bis care, that his patience and forbearance with the Maoris are perfectly wonderful. Yet, when he has for once been obliged to use strong measures m order to make a Maori behave himself, and bas thereby incurred the bloodthirsty hatred of the savage ruffian, the Government, instead of supporting him m his praiseworthy conduct.actuallypreventhis obtaining tbat protection which the Courts of Justice are supposed to offer to every citizen. After this, of course, Maoris will do exactly what they like on tbe railways, and no guard or other official will dare to restrain them at all. Hiroki, instead of being a prisoner and a standing admonition to all evil-doers of his race, is a free man, a hero, and a dangerous menace to the European officials. He is a monument of the insane policy of pampering the Maoris as if they were spoiled children, and making the Europeans subordinate to them. That policy, if persisted m, will surely end by breeding such an animosity between the two races, as will lead to very serious results. A few more cases such as that of Hiroki, will bring matters to a crisis.