PARLIAMETARY NOTES.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 691, 10 August 1870, Page 4

PARLIAMETARY NOTES.

' ■» — — The following reports of business done in the House of Representatives are taken from the Wellington Independent : — CASE OF JOHN SMYTH. Ms Stevens asked the Governmentwhether they would state the reasons which actuated them in recommending that the sentence of John Smyth, convicted of murder at Lyttelton, should be commuted to penal servitude for life ? The hon. member said that towards the end of last year a man named John Smyth was tried and convicted of having murdered his wife under circumstances of un-heard-of atrocity, and sentenced to death, and as it was necessary that the public should beplaced in possession of thef acts which had led the Government to commute this sentence, he had asked the question standing in his name. .Mr Fox said that he was obliged to the hon. member for having asked this question, as the Government bad been blamed for having commuted this sentence. The reasons which induced the Government to advise a commutation of sentence in Smyth's case were as follows : — lst. It appeared that the trial, concluding late on a Saturday night, and the jury not having agreed on a verdict, the judge, at fifteen minutes past eleven, sent for them and told them that unless they agreed before midnight he would be obliged to lock them ap till Monday morning ; and further said, v I shall send for you in a few minutes, so you will have to make the best of your time." They were again sent for at twelve minutes to twelve, when they gave in a verdict of guilty. It was certain that up to If. IS p.m. the jury were not agreed on a verdict of murder, and it was alleged that up to a very few minutes before midnight they irere not agreed. The intimation that they would be locked up might have hurried them in arriving at their verdict. It was certain that the tendency of such a threat would be in that direction, and there was no reason to suppose that it did not have its natural effect. The law as to the, necessity of locking up a jury under such circumstances appeared to be unsettled, and in the Supreme Court at Wellington a judge had received a verdict at halfpast two otf a Sunday morning. Assuming, however, that Judge Gre.-aon had a , right to hold hia own opinions on this point, it appeared to the Government that he was wrong in intimating to the jury beforehand that it ■would become his duty to lock them up if they failed to agree by midnight. He should have allowed that event to happen, and then, if he conceived himself bound to do so, he should have locked them up ; but he should not have told them beforehand that he would b» obliged to do it, under circumstances which might lead to a hasty verdict. Another reason was that four medical witnesses having been examined as to the cause of death— by suffocation or otherwise— the judge was sai-1 to have charged the jury that all four were agreed on the point. One of them (Dr Turnbull) stated that, his evidence was decidedly the. other way, and in conflict with that of the three other witnesses. The judge admitted this, and did not deny, though not absolutely certain that he charged the jury as alleged. The newspaper reports of the trial agreed that he did. The jury appeared to have asked to have the medical evidence read over again to them, but the judge appeared, in reply,; only to have given an erroneous resume of his own impression of it. If he did, it clearly was: a material and important misdirection; : In . . the Correspondence , which ensued. between Judge Gfesson and the Government on the subject, the judge intimated his belief that "the prisoner may not I have intended- hid wife's death, though legally and. morally guilty of murder." As the essential distinction between manslaughter and .murder lav solely iv the intention of the perpetrator, this; if it meant anything, meant th«it the. judge did not think the evidence was -conclusive as to the; crime amounting to murder*/ and s*b .far disapproved of the verdict that he would. have been satisfied with a verdict of manslaughter. The facts of the case were strongly pressed. on .the Government by the counsel for the prisoner, by; one of the witnesses, and by residents at uhristchurch, who prayed, by memorial, for a commutation of the sentence of death to that of penal servitude for life, (Heaiybear.y ' . GOVERNMENT jAGENTS. In Committee of Supply, it was objected that the,;Balflrieß of pertain officers, notably that of the Commissioner of Armed Constabulary, and those of the Government Agents in Hawke's Bay and elsewhere, were placed dh the Civil 1 Listy'ahd so removed from thecontroldf the Houee. '"-' '■■'- i '■■ ..: -Mr SPLean rfJid'the Go Vernment had only followed the practice ol previous ' Governmenta ; with respect to the Inspector of Armed ConstabuTgryy 'Jthe Government thought that? he Was' ih the 'prositi6n of Under Secretaries of— the- Government, and therefore hiß 5 BSlary'-'shpuld appear' on the Citil Eisfc' <Tn6 Government were quite prepared to give the fullest information on thissuT>ject;~" """ Mr O'Bobke hoped the Government would see their way clear to bring down the votes of the Balaries of the Government Agents at Auckland and Hawke's Bay, if it were only that they should be in a position to express their sensej>f the valuable service^) rendered by those gentlemen. He deprecated the tone taken by the honi'member for Mongonui in this matter. . "; , Mr I?OLLEBjpVthought that the hon. member for Clive 1 had placed himself in a very false position by being, if lie might be allowed to cay it, a kind of harjger-on of the Government and at the same time head of a province, in' whioh former capacity he had taken occasion to decry the high office under the Constitution Act which he held. ; Mr OBMOND^faid he had never received such public insults during the whole course ofhiß politicftl c'nreer as had been put upen him by the l;on. member during the last two

days', .C^fae non * mem^ er then proceeded to detail the. history of hia, taking the office of General Government Agent at Hawke's Bay.] Shortly' after his appointment, he was elected Superintendent of the province, an office which he, holding the opinions he did respecting Superintendents, would not have sought, but it was pressed upon him. He regretted that there were a large crew of people who lived on the colony. For a long period he had done public service without taking one penny of public money, but the times had changed with him as with other hon. members, and it was simply this, that he could not afford to do the work without remuneration. He did not care for money, but now, seeing the filth and dirt which had been thrown upon him during the session, he bitterly regretted the loss of it. He had never during the whole course of his life felt so deeply humiliated as he had during the last few'days, and he thought that it was a cursed thing that he had ever, either for good or evil, had anything to do with it. He might say that if he was at all at variance with Ministers, he would, at once, Bever that connection. His views with regard to Superintendents had long been known, and he would work to place Superintendents in their proper situations, namely, servants of Provincial Councils instead of masters, and he wished to state that never in any way had bis votes or conduct as a member of that House been influenced by his connection with the Government. He would only in conclusion express hia bitter regret that he had ever placed himself in a position exposing him to such insinuations as had been cast against him. (Cheers.) Mr J. C. Bichmond deprecated the tone of the debate, which he would characterise as degrading to the House. He, for one, did not in any way reprobate any gentlemen for taking a salary for work done ; as he thought he was justly and fairly entitled to do so. (Hear, hear.) The hon. member for Clive had a perfect right to express his opinion with reference to Superintendents, as they had "do right to look upon any member in any other light than as a member of that House. (Hear, hear.) Mr Stafford thought that the attack made by the hon. members for Avon and Mongonui on tlie hon. member for Clive was derogatory to those hon. members, made, as it was, in consequence of some strictures which the hon. member for Clive had' passed upon the office of Superintendents ; and he felt bound to say that the hon. member for Clive had expressed those opinions previously to taking the office of Government Agent, and that the political career of that gentleman had been highly consistent, There was no doubt that the word "Bumbledom," used by the hon. member respecting Superintendents was an unfortunate one, but it did not justify the hon. members for Avon and Mongonui making a direct personal attack on that hon. member. He did not largely sympathise with the hon. member for Clive, yet he should have/felt if he (Mr Stafford) had been so attacked that he had been insulted in his place in the House, and he hoped that ! the member for Avon would in his cooler • moments express his regret that he had so jspoken. (Hear, hear.) j : Mr Gillies would desire to disclaim tb at jhe had attacked the hon. member for Clive. i Mr Osmond : I may say that I do not iobjeet to what fell from the hon. member for Mongonui. It was in reference to that which ; had fallen from the hon. member for Avon. j , Me Gillies would desire to advert to the speech of the hon. member for Timaru, who. bad accused him of attacking the hon. member for Clive. The real fact was that he (Mr Gillies) had not attacked, buthaddeV jtendt d himself ,fronva personal attack fin him, by the lion, member for' Clive^ \ [T : pe' < hon, b ■member then quoted from "Hansard" the jsp.eech of Mr Orm'ond to prove his assertion.)" jHe did not Care for himself, but he objected; jto the pr.Qvin.cie, andithe^offiee which. he: ; had it^e honour to hold, being insulted.in his person, and he' would always stand up and defend it when it was so treated. He did hope that the hon. member for Clive, if he had 'any idea,. that he had intended to personally attack him, would banish it from his mind. (Hear,. hear.) He knew from persorial experience that it was impossible for any one to serve two "masters, unless he did as the hon. member had done— cast his province aside. [He would again. express a: hope that the, hon. inepaber for Clive i w.p'ul'd I dismiss^ the idea of any thought on his part of^making a personal attack upon him. All that he had; spoken r of -was on a question of. public principle.' . , / - 1 ■ .^Mb'jMacakdrb^v^ and -Mr. Hall warmly, objected to the tesrms used by the hdri. merh r ber ? or 'Clive'. respecting people living' on the colony;'"' ':; '•''"•'' ; ' • ; ■ !r - Mr Rolleston saidthat if hie: bad ■said any-, thing insulting, to. t,he lion. naernberfor, ( Clive he regretted it, but^h^t. he did, feel' yery. strongly ; was the conduct of the ton.member in' depfyfng tlie oMce which he tiimself held, apd l imputing motives, to Whe holders of that offlcer^an: dfficelof .grate reßponsibilitieß--an,d ongyhtch had been taken iip: by^menyfbo had no other, "motive ('than "tlial" of 'setving trie pubifc/i? <:^ B tw'X ' ; )f : ' : •■ r'; , : '■"MfVboEL Saf^tHat the hon. member for Avon liad'not: ad d^d 'to the dignity; of hia reputation t by tinsinuftUng. gjerceqajx motives tq , v the, , hon^ mepiber^for, Cljye. [Mr $ollestqp:V' r t fcjeg ,th? hop^fneniber's pardon, 1,- did not Bay so."]' Wellf the hon. y member for Avon had said that the hon. member for Clive had his hands iv the pocketß.of boththe Pro.yiqqia) and General Governments, and that lie would stick to that out of which lie could get the most. (Hear, hear.) He was glad the hon. member for Timaru had set his face agrtinst-the tone of tbis.dtbate, and he.would here say that the honi member* for Clive had laboured unwearitdly in the cause of the colony, and had. done more than any other man in New Zealund for the benefit; of the colony at large. (.11 ear, hear.) Mr Fox could not, ulihough suffering from severe indisposition, refrain from rising to express his deep regret at the manner iv

'which the hon. member for Clive had been [attacked, even so far as to stigmatise him as :a hanger-on. The hon. member for Clive, of all hon. members in that House, had displayed his independence in a mo3t marked jdegree, and the most complete refutation of ;the charges made against him was shown [by his standing up and expressing his opinion .with respect to provincialism, in diametrical opposition to his (Mr Fox's) opinions and that of the Government. He contended that the paltry remuneration given to Mr Ormond did not by one-twentieth part represent the good done by him for the colony. If it had not been for the hon. member, Te Kooti would have been in a far better and stronger position now than he was last year, and the difference between his present position and that of last year was attributable to the unwearied exertions of the hon. member for Clive ; and he might say that neither the Government nor the colony coul-1 ever adequately reward that hon. member for those s< rvices. (Cheers.) After some further remarks from Colonel Haultain and Mr Ludlam, the subject was dropped.