CAPTAIN KIDD.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 16749, 2 June 1922, Page 6

CAPTAIN KIDD.

A RESPECTABLE PIRATE.

SCAPEGOAT OF POLITICIANS

If you are middle-aged or over, you will be able to remember that the fiction of your boyhood was ] . ar S e J>_ c< ™' cerned with the buccaneering profession The Spanish Mam was scoured bv wicked men who wore earrings and bandanas, and swaggered broadswords^ Although these men were ‘“orrißjble iu their evil, you regarded them with secret envy. Roring the sea seemed more exciting titan attending school. Very probably you formed certain resolutions With regard to your future m which the Spanish Mam prommentl., figured. You did not share your secret with your parents ; you knew them to be unroraantic and likely to be. unsympathetic. That you have never realised vour youthful ambitions occasions vou now no regret. But you know that. at one time, 3-ou fully intended to be a successor to that picturesque charactei Captain Kidd the. pirate king. There was quite a glut of pirates m those far-off days, but among them Kidd was pre-eminent. All others were imitators. Kidd was as principal to pupils. No other flag was so black ns bis, no other skull and crossbones seemed so gruesome. How gallantly he cax-ried the fair maiden aboard the lugger how sardonically he ejaculated “Ha! Ha!” a-, he made his victime walk the plank !

A CRUELLY MALIGNED PERSON. You are now sufficiently old and strong of nerve to have the news broken to you that there is not a. word ot truth in what has been said about Captain Kidd. For over two hundred years lie has been a cruelly maligned pel-son. Past centuries have been curiously misinformed about their famous and infamous men. Quite apart from boyish fiction elderly persons, knowing that Kidd was hanged, have perversely decided that he deserved to be. Reasoning backwards cbmes na.tfira.l to some PS It > 'was alleged that Kidd murdered crews of peaoeful vessels, stole their gold and buried it somewhere on the American coast. Ballads- have been sung about it. most of the best, known buried treasure stories in fiction are based on it: quite a literature has been written to show where it must he hidden. Thousands of tons of soil have been shovelled over in the search for Captain Kidd’s golden ingots, doubloons and ducats. , From Nova Scotia to the Lulf ot Mexico explorers have tried to locate the hoard At this present time, if you visit Oak Island, Nova Scotia, you will in all probability find machinery and workmen digging; for the pirate’* gold. Tt is estimated that £20,000 have been invested in these crazy ventures. Company after company has been formed, but no gold has ever been found. REWARDED FOR BRAVERY. What, then, is the truth concerning this man, around whom so many myths have grown? Captain 'William Kidd was a Scotsman, with a.ll that passion for respectability which characterises his race. He is believed to have been horn at Greenock, but the- West Indies is where he is first heard of. He was captain of a privateer in the war with France, and in that capacity his bravery and ability won him the applause of his crew and the confidence of his commander. Indeed, in 1691, the New York Assemblv declared that for his services against pirates Captain Kidd deserved to l»e rewarded. Ayd they gave him £l5O. By this time he was resident in New York, and was married to an old mate’s widow. He was a prosperous and worthy citizen, with no higher ambition. It i■=» difficult t-o realise now how the seas were infested then with piratical rats. The evil was difficult to suppress, owing to the fact that influential officials were in league for a share of the spoil. World commerce was paralysed. So numerous and audacious were the pirates on the Rntish-Tndia route- that war ships "had to he sent out to protect the merchant ships. And sometimes the pirates were powerful enough to put up a fight with the protectors. KIDD'S EVIL GENIUS. The evil genius of Captain Kidd was the Earl of Bellomont. In 1695, Bellomont was appointed Governor of New York, with special directions to suppress piracy, of which America had become the chief nursery. At the. time of appointment, a New York citizen named Livingston was in London and Kidd was on tfi-e Thames trading with a small ship of his own. Livingston interviewed the prospecti ve. Governor, and in discussing the piracy question lie said his fellow citizen Kidd was the very man to lead any antipirate expedition that might be organised. In the later vernacular of liD country lie ‘‘ boosted ” Kidd. Bellomont jumped at the suggestion. He asked the Government for a frigate. which was refused ; every frigate was needed for the war with France. Bellomont and some others then conceived the notion of fitting up a vessel of their own. If Kidd could capture the pirate’s hoards, the returns would be handsome. Some very big men therefore invested money in the. hope of earning something more than a dishonest penny. Among them were the Earl of Orford, First Lord of the Admiralty; the Duke of Shrewsbury, Secretary of State; and Baron Somers, Lord Chancellor. The King himself promised to invest, provided that he should have one-tenth of the profit. PLAUSIBLE REASONS. Kidd was unconscious of what was going on until th© matter wa« mooted to him ; and he was far from enthusiastic about it. He had a happy home, a wealthy wife and a pretty daughter. He had turned fifty, an age when comfort- appeals stronger than adventure. Why should he mix himself up iu such an affair ? Many plausible reasons were shown why. The final one was forcible rather than plausible. He was told that if he did not consent the big men had power enough to seize his ship and prevent him ever returning to America. Kidd at last consented, and the Adventure Galley set sail. Tt had barely cleared the Thames before the press gang came aboard, and took off the best men to replenish the fleet. Kidd had therefore to cross to America, and be content to ship a crew of cutthroats. vSome shrewd people were sorry for his chances of controlling such a cjr>wd if pirate hunting brought no 1 110 k. For a long time nothing was heard. But by the end of two years rumours were rife. Tt was alleged that Kidd and his crew had turned pirates, and were seizing and looting vessels belonging to the East India Company. Without making anv kind of inquiry the British Government proclaimed Kidd an arch-pi rate, and excluded him specially from the amnesty promised to other members of that fraternity. PROCLAIMED A PIRATE. Subsequent evidence proved that that had happened which some people had prophesied. Kidd at first had scant success with pirate chasing, and, as he refused to turn pirate at the suggestion of his crew, they mutinied, and joined a noted pirate chief. The Adventure G*Hjcy having laconic mi-

seaworthy Kidd sailed for America in one of his prize ships- Reaching the West Indies he learned of the P£9“ clamation calling for his capture. He immediately communicated with Beliornont. who sent word that if Kidd had not been guilty of piracy he might enter port with perfect safety. Trusting this man, who was not only his old friend, but . was one of his partners, Kidd placed himself in Bellomont’s clutches, only to find himself instantly arrested, manacled and shipped to England for trial. \ Now emerges the real reason for all the obloquv which has been heaped on Kidd’s head. The English Tories were looking for mud with which to bespatter the English Whigs, and they thought they had found some in Captain Kidd- Party methods have not changed much over the centuries, and anything that would discredit the Whigs was welcomed by the ToriesThey had got wind that socme of the King's advisers were at the hack of Kidd's expedition ,and they were determined to cret at them through him HOW IT ALL CAME OUT. Their troubles about the wickedness of piracy ! Few of them were morally sensitive, but all of them were politically vindictive. 'rile more mud they threw at Kidd the more chance there was of some adhering to his secret partners. So they charged him with piracy and murder, and, after a trial in which thev proved neither satisfactorily against him, they hanged him, and sent his body to swing in the gibbet. In most political controversy while one side blackens the other whitewashes. In Kidd’s ca.se there were no white-washers. Quite innocently the poor feLlow found himself to be the bone over which the leading politicians of England elected to quarrel. The Tories wished him condemned in order to brincr odium on the WhigsThe Whigs wished him out of the way. lest he should sav anything incriminating of them. The political situation called for a scapegoat, and a substitute was found in a “ scape-Kidd.” From his place in the shades the respectable pirate probably smiles at the thought of the infamy with which he has been branded. But at the day of reckoning it will be up to posterity to offer Captain Kidd a* very handsome apology.