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AUSTRALIAN OUTLAWS.

BUSHRANGERS OF A BVEGON- DAY. ** [All Rights RkservST).] CHAPTEPv XVlll— (Continued.) The Commission of Inquiry <?xh:rab-t<id all evidence procurable in tiie- district concerning the relation of the magistracy to bushraugiiig, sitting for several days, and furnis_in£ a most voluminous report, ba.s«?d upon the evidence given, no le^s than fortywitnesses having ueen exci'iunied. SJioi-tly after tl^at report ■ was handed in to the Government an oftickil announcement was made that a certain prominent magistrate of the district had been superseded — or, \v. other words, dismissed. Beyond seen ring the removal from the Bench of an occupant adjudged to have been unfaithful to tlie trust reposed, in 'him. the labours of Ihe Commission- were not fruitful of much good ; but its' presence in the disturbed districts served as an assurance to t-?n- people, that some regard- was being paid to their complaints, and that there was a disposition to ' correct the evils to which they were so frequently calling attention. Still the Clarkes l:eld the road, the army of • -visiting police being as -powerless to i arrest them or to eht-ek their outrn-gL-s as j the few who .resided in the district had been. Cases of " sticking-up ' were of 1 weekly, if not .daily, occurrence, and it 1 really seemed as if the outlaws were pn.---s«sved of charmed lives, so easily and often did they -appear and disappear without leaving their pursuers a trace that they could follow. It -was about this time (April, 1867) that Goulburn was adorn e-d with 'he pve<aence of ono of the Clarie family, as the following letter will show: — "It was to be expected that, with so many important criminals, some of whom had been closely mixed) up with bushrangers, we should have a. dilution of the I Braidwood notorieties. We have- _ad no male Clarkes or Connell3, and I should be very sorry to refer to any of their relatives, had there not been a conspicuousness that rendered it abnost impossible foi. me to shut any eyes or leave my pen still. I daresay that you have not forgotten what has been reported about Annie Clarke, sister of the outlaws, anoV one of the police, who, if I (recollect rightly, got into bad bread on the occasion referred to. Well, Annie Clarke is in Goulbur-n, and it is supposed that her presence here is one of sympathy. I can't say about that. She is, however, here, and would no doubt have passed without notice -had.fhe not apparently coveted distinction. Let me afford her vanity scope! She is really not a bad-looking girl; about twenty years of age, fully the proper height for a woman, with, a figure that, would pass anywhere. But she strives for 'observation. I only saw her during one. -itey, and then — mimicking the la^4» of the land — she changed n-er ,di , «_s-io_«tati_ve&* ; -poi»Bibly more than that, because I did not see her 'full -dressed for the evening.' There was something quiet jn the fuvst two costumes, but in the afternoon she came out in a 'blood-red' one, with hat -and feather, and nether pendants well ankled ; presently, out she appeared, in blue silk, with white shawl, ankled 'as before, but without that finish as to hose that lends its particular charms to criticising eyes. I wpuid not have dwelt on the subject had it not been my impression that the Proteau change of costume appeared to be as if in bravado — as if to sfcow the less aspiring of her sex how much value there was in being connected with the most worthies, of the ''manly' sox. Such an example does more harm than fifty revolvers. I have nothing to say against the girl herself, except to condemn her want of judgment and womanly taste." But the end of this lawless -caneer was drawing very near. The police were working with a diligence that indicated their anxiety to como to close quarters with the desperadoes, who within the past few months had been three only—^Thomas Clarke, John Clarke and Scott. On one occasion they pressed the trio very closely, and, having done so, they strained every nerve to get to close auarters with them-. Just 'here the value of an experienced!, bush policeman in such a place and under such circumstances was an-ade v«-ry apparent. Senior-Con-stable Wright, wno^e character for efficiency in suoh setrvice stood very high with his superior officers, had been sent to the district specially to hunt down the outlaws, and with four men and a skilful black tracker he at last succeeded. | It was on Saturday, April 27, 1867, that the " running down " took place. Tlie party of polio* had been . camped at Fairfield, about twenty miles from Ballalaba, on the road from Jinden and- Cooma, and lying on one side of the Jingeras, in the fastnesses of which the bushrangers had for sucb ai length of time defied all efforts to capture them. The police, consisting of Senior-Constable William Wright, the officer in charge, Constables Walsh, Egan, Lenehan,, James Wright, and a black tracker named Sir Watkin, pieked up the tracks of the bushrangers- at about one o'clock in the afternoon and followed them, the party being j ail on foot, until darkness and heavy rain 1 prevented ' further movement for the time. j They had their suspicions that the bush- | rangers were making for the house of a settler about two miles away, and oonclud- ' ing that they would there seek temporary shelter, they cautiously pushed forward. Reaching the hut, they saw sufficient to convince them that the men of whom they were in search were inside, and thev at once made arrangement- .for spending tne nigh'fc on watch in the open — a not by any means l pleasant task, owing to.the heavy rain and dense "darkness. Seek-in _• shelter behind a email haystack, some distance from the dwelling, they waited until the moon rose, and then 'they observed a couple of horsegrazing in the paddock, which, upon closer 1 inspection, they- saw were the "blood-' I which were 'known to be in tihe possession of the Clarkes. Having driven tbe horsesto the far end of the paddock, so that tihey could not be easily reached by the bush-' t rangers, Senior-Constable Wright and bis men waited patiently behind the haystack ! urisil daybreak, when they saw the two broth*-, emerge from, the hut with bridleon tiheir a.rms, intending to bring up the horses. Before reaching the animals, how- ; over, one of tbe brothers^ called out, " Look! j out, there's someone at the stack," and the pair immediately turned nnd commenced tc ! run back to the hut. The police party at once left their hiding plaee, called upoa the bushrangers to stand, and fired at them, but the shots did not take effect, a<nd the fire was returned, by the -brothers as they* ran, they having tiheir revolvers with them. i Several shots were thus exchanged, but the brothers succeeded in regaining the hut,, apparently unscathed, although it. was afterwands found that Johnny C3arke had been j wounded, a rifle ball having struck him. in the breast near the. socket of his right -arm* I and in a most remarkable manner passed Lolean through his body without touchiogi ,

a bone or vital part. Having gained the shelter of the hut, which was of slabs, tho I bnahransrerg seized their rifles and fired at ! their pursuers through the interstioee, pomp4ii.ng them to retire behind whatever shelter they could find in the yard. For some time an irreguiar fire was kept up, and two of the attacking party — Constable Walsh and Sir Watkin — were wounded, the former in the thigh and the latter in the arm. Meanwhile reinforcements had been sent for to the nearest police rtation, B«l---laUba. and when Sergeant Byrne and six additional troopers appeared on the scene, the bushrangers, seeing that further resistance would be useless, called out that they would surrender. Opening tho hut -door, they came out unarmed, and submitted to be handcuffed. Having been secured they were tnktm to Ballnlaba, wherei they were met by another posse of police, under Superintendent Orridge-and Dr Patterson, the services of the latter being call-' ed into requisition to dress the wounds of Johnny Clarke and the black tracker. The value of the services rendered by the black tra-cker -was greater than many persons imagined. As has been seen. Sir Watkin, why was looked upon as one of the best of tra<:l:evs, not only conducted the party n;i<ler Senior-Constable Wright to the retreat of tlie bushrangers, but took an active p;«,Tt in the assault upon the hut, and was, during the encounter, more seriously wounded than any of the party. From the first it was seen that his arm had been wounded so severely by the bullet from Tommy Clarke-'s Tranter rixle that amputation would be necessary : -and shortly arrer his arrival in Braidwood he was admitted as a patient in the. ]ocai hospital. A few duys after his -■dniiwsion Dr Patterson periormed the opera lion, taking off the arm above the dbjw. "With the stoical indifference to bodily pain ior which the aborigines—equally with the Red Indians of America — Were celebrated, Sir Watkin bore the painful operation without a murmur. He coolly walked from the upstairs' wa.d down to the dissecting room below, and after the operation unconcernedly walked bnck again, as it he merely had had a finger punctured. The old fellow — he had seen fifty-one summers — was not inclined to bear his honours meekly, and, with pardonable pride, - strutted about exhibiting the stripes ■ which had been attached to his ordinary uniform by the Superintendent of Police, declaring that he had been promoted to the rank of " ser-geant-major." It may be remarked that Sir Watkin did service as a tracker on many subsequent occasions, and was always treated by his comrades as an "officer" who had "won his spurs." The prisoners underwent a private examination in Braidwood Gaol on the Thursday after their capture, before the Visiting Justice and one or two other Magistrates ; but prior to its commencement their mother und; sister were permitted an interview. In due course they were committed for trial at Sydney, and were sent thither by one of the Ciyci? Ih'v«r boats, the escort consisting &i Superintendent Orridge, Sub-Inspector Wright (he had been promoted from senior constable after the capture), and Coostaibl. Walsh. When it became lasown in Sydney that the notorious bushrangers .of Braidwood were in the harbour, crowds of people assembled at the different wharfs in expectation that the landing would be effected at one or other of them. But,, in order to avoid the mob, the police, authorities sent out the official boat and intercepted the-eteftra-er ayshg wasrernrring up the harbour, received the prisoners, and conveyed them to tho Circular Quay, which was bare of spectators. An expectant crowd, which has assembled at Mrs Maicquarie's Chair caught sight of them, however, and at once rushed down to the wharf, and had the satisfaction of witnessing the landing. A good deal of disappointraeiTE' was expressed .at the appearance of the two men. Instead of seeing two strong-bearded, villainous-looking desperadoes, they saw' two sheepish-looking, overgrown native youths, and they could scarcely bring themselves to think that these were the ferooious, bloodthirsty bushrangers who had robbed) and murdered; people in the Braidwocd district z and frustrated every effort of the police to capture them for such a long period. Both men were heavily ironed, and immediately upon landing were conveyed in a cart to Darlinghurst Gaol, where they were kept entirely separate from the other prisoners, pending the preliminary inquiry, which was conducted privately. A. committal followed, of course, and. the public looked forward scmewhat anxiously to the opening of the Central Criminal Court in Sydney, at which the fate of the two bushrangers was to be decided. / That Court opened) on May 28, 1867, before his Honor Sir Alfred Stephen, Chief Justio?, and the two prisoners were jointly charged with having wounded Constable William Walsh with intent to murder him. Mr Isaacs, Solicitor- General, prosecuted for the Crown, and Messrs Dalley and Blake appeared- for the defence. His Hoiior, at the commencement of the proceedings, directed, the strictest order to be maintained in Court, and announced that the constables had been ordered to arrest anyone, attempting to contravene) that command. He was determined that a repetition of. the display . of public\ sympathy which i_ad taken place on the occasion when the Eugowra Escort robbers and Gardiner were tried in Sydney should not occur. A question was raised by prisoners' counsel concerning thW legality of the proclamation by which" Thomas Clarke was made an outlaw, for the first summons calling upon him to surrender before a given date, having been discovered to be faulty, had beon supplemented by a second summons. The point was argued at great*.length before the evidence . closed, but it did not affect the issue. Both Mr Blake and Mr Dalley delivered powerful addresses to the jury. Their contention was that it. had 1 not been (satisfactorily provet_ that tlie shot that wounded Walsh was fired by either of the prisoners, and that even if it had been, no felonious intent had been shown in the firing, the men having simply sought to defend themselves from a sudden attack, at the time not knowing that their assailants were police. . ' • > The Crown Solicitor ad_res_ed the jury in reply, and the Chief Justice having summed up, the jury returned' a verdict of guilty. Asked if they had anything to say why sentence of death should not be passed upon them, the brothers simply replied " "So," and then his Honor addrewed them thus: — Prisoners Thomas and John Clarke, if in the opinion pf most of those who hear me, and of a large portion of the community, it should- be thought that you are about to •receive a just retribution for your crimes, it will be fproper for me to say that no such feeling influences this Court, or ia known to our laws. You ate not to receive sentence j of death as retribution — which belongs not ! to mortals — but the taking of -your life is believed to be necessary for the peace and good order, for the __fetjr as well' as the welfare of .the community ; because of the ' example and warning that a capital execu- i tion may hold out to others to restrain | them from comxaittdng similar crimes to l I;hose for which yon etsjid convicted. 'This j is the. principle upon which all' our punish- J nwnt-Toertainly the punishment of death-— I rests, or it has no justification whatever, j NoWil'told the jury, that they; were to be- j

i lieve you innocent- of those various crimes lin respect to which th<?= efi'ori j was ma do to apprehend you, and j for wiiich you were finally ap- ] prehended ; and, of course, the jury took it for granted that you were innocent. But now I am not restricted by any such necessity or duty ; on the contrary, without wishing to wound your feelings or add any sense of shame or humiliation, I must address you for the good of the- community, and a.lso to show what really is the exte-irt of the" crime committed by, or reasonably supposed to be committed by you, in respect to which the Executive will have to pronounce whether they can with -propriety, or with any sense of decency, commute the sentence about to be passed upon you. Thomas Clarke, I hoki in my hand a- list of the offences on which you stand charged within the last/ two vears. Th<sy amount in . the whole, exclusive of the murders of which- you are suspected, to nine robberies of mails and thirty-six robberies of individuals. Among those individuals robbed were all classes of persons— Chinamen, labouring men, publi.eans, storekeepers, tradesmen, and settlers. Wit- respect to you, John Clarke, I find chat- 'offences are charged" upon you, committed within the last. year, most of thSm in company with your orotiier, numbering twenty -six. Now this is the result, you see, of a long career of bushranging. You have had many abettors ; you must have had a large number of them in the district from whicii you have come. I believe that not only those but others — violent and infamous as they are — sympathise with you in your crime. — I hope not in the murders of -which you are suspected. I shall not waste words in respect to such people. The. community is disgraced by such cranes, but I Avould ask others — not you — and possibly it will be well for you to reflect before you die — what is the value of this course of violence d,nd outrage that you have been pursuing for so long a time? In ali cases — arid I have tried many — of robbery, it has been a question with me, as with others, where is the money they have gained — where are the results? You have not one shilling in the world to call your own, and therefore you have not profited by it in the way of money. I never knew a bushranger, except one, who is now suffering a sentence of thirty-two years' hard labour, j who made any money by it. Well, df yojj have not made anything by it, what could have induced you to pursue it? Crimes must end eventually in murder. Human life taken, life imperilled, misery inflicted upon haid-working men, and all this for no earthly good to any one of you 1 And yet you, young men, might have been happy — happy fathers of , faimiiies, living happily with your wives — happy, be- , cause happiness is confined to the virtuous. Instead of which you are to die a dishonoured death on the gallows. Another cpnsideration ; all along from the beginning you must have had tbe idea of the gallows hanging over you. You must have known *that the result of all this iaust be death, shocking and infamous to think of. I ' iiope all those who ever think of pursuing . .such a course will only reject that there is this horrible feeling of a public execution hanging over you for years or months that they can never escape from. - You must have been constantly in terror ; always in a state of alarm lest the polioe should track you out in your haunts-. I have no wish to harrow your feelings— -God forbid; I am saying this that it may sink into the hearts of others, and that it may restrain them from entering on a career so fatal: 1 say that during all this time men like you must have been dreading the intrusion, of the police in your hiding-places. Hunted about like wild beasts, you must actually have undergone an amount of labour and fatigue greater than you would had you been working on the roads — an amount of fatigue which, through honest -labour, might have resulted in happiness, with a consciousness of virtue, and finally competence and honour. I say the amount of fatigue , and want of comforts of all kinds surrounding you must t be taken into consideration. The balance' is all against you. "I have said I never knew a man, or heard of one, who through a course of bushranging, gained a shilling's worth of property that he could call his own, or could gain it if let loose to-morrow morning. Where "is there one flourishing jn any single respect? I will read you a list of bushrangers, many of whom have come to the' gallows within the la~t four and a half years. I believe they are all caught. but one. Many of them were young men, capable of better things ; but died violent deaths; — Piesley, executed ; Davis, sentenced to death ; Gardiner, sentenced to thirty-two years' hard labour - ; Gilbert, shot dead; Hall, shot dead'; Bow and Fordyce, sentenced to death, but sentences commuted to imprisonment for life; Manns, exeduted ; O'Meally, shot dead; Burke, shot dead; Gordon, senced to death; Dunleavy, sentenced tc death; 1 Dunn, executed ;' Lowrie, shot dead ; Vane, a long sentence ; Foley, a long sentence ; Morgan, shot dead ; yourselves, Thomas and John Clarke, about to be sentenced to death ; Fletcher, 'shot dead ; Patrick Connell, shot dead ; Tom Connell, sentenced; to death but sentence ; commuted to imprisonment for bfe ; Bill Scott, a cbmpanion of your own, believed to be mfirdered — by you. There is a list! The murders believed to have been committed, by you bushrangers are appalling to think of". How many wives made widows, and children made orphans 1 What loss of property, what sorrow have you bushrangers caused! I have a list here of persons killed or wounded in ths perpetration of robberies since August, 1863— -six killed and ten wounded. Unfortunately, of the police ceven have been killed and sixteen wounded in three years. I say this is horrible. Much as I dread- crime, and much as I have had to do with the punishment of criminals^ I don't know anything in the world that could furnish such a long list of horrors as that which I have laid before this - crowded Court to-night. And yet these bushrangers, the scum of Ihe earth, the lowest of the low, the most wicked of the wicked, are occasionally held up for our admiration! But better days are coming. It is the old leaven of convictism not yet worked out, but brighter days are coming. You will not live to see them, but others will. Others who may think of com.mencing a course of crime like yours may rely on it that better days are coming, and that there will be no longer that expression of sympathy with crime which some time since disgraced the country, and sunk it so low in the estimation of the world. Though the people among whom I move are much above those who sympathise with crime, it humiliates me to think that in this very Court in which I am now sitting, one of the greatest ruffians of bushrangers, who: was' the very head and front of offenders, stood in the dock and was acquitted— -and, I say it, acquitted wrongly — and when that, verdict was announced there were expressions of rejoicing in the Court, such as would disgrace any community on earth. I am happy to think that those days are gone at last. There may be. some here ■ who were guilty of participation in that most abominable and most scandalous eihibition. You, young inen, have now to receive the last, sentence of the law. You will pass from the country which you might have helped to raise in "tbe estimation of the world. Yon will pass out of the world felons, convicts, bushrangers, and, I very much fear, murderers, ' Sentence of death was then passed on the prisoners in the usual form, and' in the most solemn manner, and immediately afterwards they Were removed from the dock.

Both prisoners fixed their eyes on the Chiei Justice, while he was addressing them, and appeared to be listening attentively, but there was scarcely any emotion perceptible from their manner. As soon as his Honor had ceased speaking, John Clarke turned, ta his brother and made some remark witH ft smile on his countenance. The police removed the prisoners from the dock, and th*. immense crowd of persons who bad thronged the Court, and who had preserved the utmost silence, began slowly to disperse. The condemned criminals were then re. moved to DarLtnghurst Gaol, and after I week of suspense in their cells— lalthoug. neither of them expressed any hop© of the sentence being commuted — they were officially informed that the Executive had fixed the day. for their execution, and they would be hanged on June 25. On the Friday following their condemnation tbey were allowed to receive as visitors their mother and sister, and a very affecting scene took place as they parted from each . other, never again in' this world to look upon each other's f;-c?s. The brother, who was then serving a sentence on Cockatoo Is- • land, was also permitted to visit them t and they strongly advised him to pursue an honest calling upon his release from custody. The two men appeared to be 'very attentive to the ministrations of the- Rev Father Dwyer, Roman Catholic chaplain of tbe gaol, and the Sisters of Merdvy who were constant in their attendanceAt the gaol. But if they were reconciled to t_eir fate, the lawyers who had defended them at the trial were not. They moved. the Full Court for an arrest of judgment, and a new trial in the case, on the ground that there b a 4 been a non-direction of the jury on a p'oint of law. The alleged .-omission was that the jury were not directed by the Chief Justice as to their right to acquit the prisoners of the capital offence (wounding Constable Walsh with intent to murder him) and- to convict them only of the minor offence of unlawfully wounding, if they thought that the evidence warranted and necessitated such a course. The answer given to this objection was in effect that as the jury had already on their oaths pre*nounced both prisoners guilty of tile cap its offence, the prisoners ha_t_o right to com plain of the omission referred to; for as suming the finding of the jury to be correct no question arose or could have arisen as U the prisoners' guilt of any minor offence. Their Honors upheld this view of the case and ruled that ; the judgment should stand. There were some persons— -prominent / public men amongst the number — who considered that the Government did not exercise a wise discretion in putting the two Clarkes upon trial :for their last offence, seeing that no life had actually been taken, and that many even more serious offences were understood to have been committed " by the prisoners. But although they were suspected of having murdered the four constables and several other persons, including one of their own mates, it must be remem- . beired that the Crown could not hope for conviction upon mere suspicion, and they had nothing but suspicion to go upon in any of those cases. The shooting at Constable Walsh with/ intent was, on the other hand, very easily* proved ; andl perhaps it was gust as well that the bushranging fraternity and those, who sympathised with them should learn that there was danger in firing at a -policeman even in. resisting arrest. To head: some persons speak during the .bushranging; era, oneymight .imagine . tbat'tlfe roeinhers of the police force were under a social ban— that they were engaged in a conspiracy against the happiness otf mankind— and that whatever happened to them " served then, right." To give confidence to the police, and to intimidate those 1 who were arrayed against their lawful authority, was, therefore, a matter of great moment at that period ; and in enforcing upon the Clarkes so awful a penalty, the administrators of justice gave everyone .to understand that a policeman's life was just as valuable as that of any other man. And judging from the fact thai bushranging received about this time a tern- . porary check — only a few cases of lawlessness occurring — the les«on inculcated by tha conviction and hanging of the Clarkes was not altogether thrown away upon those for whom it was chiefly intended. The remarks \-made by the Chief Justice when sentencing the two brothers had- one good result— it secured) for the services- of the police a fairer and higher appreciation than that generally accorded. The public bad simply expected marvels of them. It complained of them npt being good' marksmen when it had not taken, the trouble to teach them to- shoot ; -of their not riding down lighter men better mounted; of their not knowing by instinct the entire topography of a district they had never so much, as ridden over. Tbe public had) continually ignored what they had done, while taunting them with what they had failed to do. And' yet, to take the annals of one crime alone, the number of bushrangers whom they had taken or slain formed a very respectable list, attesting their efficiency, while the number of those who had lost their lives in defence of the law afforded proof of their zeal and courage.' So much .it is right that I should! say concerning a body of men who, under many disadvantages — some of which have already been touched upon— efficiently performed a public .duty 1 that was both difficult and dan- „ gerous. And this brings me back to the murder of the four special .onstables — Carroll, Phegan, Kennagh and M'DonneU—concerning which something (more remains to be said. Although the impression prevailed generally that Thomas and John Clarke had committed those murders, it was known that they must have been assisted by others, a few facts connected- with the mysterious affair that the police were able to gather up pointing to the conclusion tihat at least four men had engaged together in the bloody deed. The reader has seen that the Clarkes were not charged' with this murdeii — there was no necessity for that ; but the polioe had arrested one man, a connection of the Clarke family, and against him they preferred the charge of murdering Carroll. The name of the accused was James Griffin, a young man of about twenty-one years of age, and who resided on a -farm about twenty-five miles from Jinden, near which- place the murdei was committed. Griffin was placed upon _is trial at the same sittings of the Court in Sydney as that at which the charge against the Clarkes had been heardi and foe also was ! defended by Mr Dalley. The case occupied a very lonr time, and created quite as i much sensation as the trial of the Clarkes, the Court being inconveniently crowded during the hearing. „'.-. (To be continued on Wednesday.)

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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/TS19030411.2.3

Bibliographic details

Star (Christchurch), Issue 7678, 11 April 1903, Page 1

Word Count
4,993

AUSTRALIAN OUTLAWS. Star (Christchurch), Issue 7678, 11 April 1903, Page 1

AUSTRALIAN OUTLAWS. Star (Christchurch), Issue 7678, 11 April 1903, Page 1

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