The Accused Schmidt.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 6848, 9 May 1890, Page 2

The Accused Schmidt.

About the fate of the man Schmidt very conflicting accounts have been cabled. First we were told that he had been shot, then that he had been sent to Siberia, then again that he bad been shot. The j latest statement is that he has been released, ag hia guilt was not proved, but that he has been dismissed from the navy. It is impossible to decide which, if any, as lawyers would say, of these statements i 3 the correct one. But what we can see clearly is that the fortifications of all armed powers are guarded with extreme care ; woe betide the man tainted with the smallest suspicion. The guarding of forts is a necessity of vital importance. How far we are in these Colonies from realising this truth may be seen from the publicity we give to the locality of our forta, and everything that pertains to them. It is true that once there was a tremendous row when the Melbourne Age published a plan of the whole of the Melbourne defences, submarine mines and all. But the Colonies are nearly as bad everywhere. The whole population discusses the position of every gun, knows where every torpedo is laid, and is familiar with everything that people who are acquainted with fighting guard as a secret under penalty of death.