OUR MELBOURNE LETTER.

Tuapeka Times, Volume XXIV, Issue 1904, 15 June 1892, Page 3

OUR MELBOURNE LETTER.

(From Our Own Correspondent.)

We have at last got rid of the Deeming horror, with the execution of the monster himself; and though it will be some time before the public mind is purged from the morbid influences of the publication of the murderer's deeds and restored to its normal condition, yet there is already a change for the better in that direction. For weeks past scarcely anything else was talked about ; it was the staple topic of conversation at all hours, in all places of private and public resort ; in the train, and in the tram, at public and private dinner-tables ; and even in the church, where one naturally looked for rest and an asylum from the everlasting atrocity, it came up in the sermon for the day with half-a-dozen blood curdling morals at the end of it. In fact, io had eaten itself thoroughly into the mind of Melbourne, and the result in very many cases is not likely to be salutary to the individual or conducive to the general morality. What would have happened had th<s murderer's vile concoctions been given to the public it is easy to foresee. But "it was impossible so atrocious an act would not have been allowed among any people pretending to be Christian and civilised. Besides, the extreme depravity of the writer, as might be ex* pected, defeated his object. Some of the charges he made against respectable and well-known men and women in both Sydney and Melbourne were of so odious and repulsive a character as to render their publication out of the question. The prison chaplain, the Rev. Mr Scott, read the manuscript, and, said he, in an interview with a reporter, " the whole was filthy beyond conception, but some of the passages were so unspeakably vile as to make my head swin round and my heart almost stop beating, and, Christian minister as I am, I felt a feeling of loathing for the wretched creature rising up within me." Towards the end when Miss Rounseville persisted in her refusal to visit him in the condemned cell, Deeming asserted that she was his own sister, and was repeatedly rebuked for his infamous invention by his spiritual attendant. Take him for all in all "He was the strangest conglomerate of depravity that, not improbably, the world has yet seen.

But coarse and atrocious a ruffian as all are agreed in admitting Deeming to have been, it must be said he appears to have exercised a strange influence over almost everyone with whom he came in contact. The prison chaplain was absorbed in him as he never was in any man before. He studied and watched him and analysed and examined his every look and movement and speech and change of expression ; but he admitted he knew just as little of him at the close as he did when he first surprised him in his prison-cell. Sometimes he inclined to the opinion that the man's mind was somewhere on the

border-land of madness, and the next moment he was ready to scout the idea of insanity and believed Deeming to be cleverly acting a part. To the end the chaplain swayed uneasily between the two beliefs, and even now he is still undecided, as perplexed as ever, and freely admits he failed, with all his experience and his long and intimate knowledge of the closing chapters of crime and oritninals,to retain his opinion for five minu es at a stretch as to the mental condi.ion of the murderer. It is understood thafc Mr Marshall Lyle, Deeming's lawyer, seriously believed in the theory of instinctive criminality which he put-for-ward on his behalf, and to the last he never- ceased to urge for a respite in the sentence. His last appeal to the Governor was a wild and somewhat incoherent rhapsody for a shrewd and very matter-of-fact member of the " devil's own "to put his name to. The Cabinet refused to hear him further, and gave orders that he wasn't to be admitted to the prisoner, and then he penned his final appeal to the Governor, winding up with the following incomprehensible gem : — " And now, on the eve of this terrible drama, we shall see far away through the clouds and all the unutterable gloom that there is one swaying harmonious mystery of this earth even hotter th«»n Prime Ministers." But neither this jargon, nor his previously more reasonable and determined efforts availed to save the " swaying harmonious mystery." The death sentence was carried out unattended by any incident of an unusual or exciting nature. The preceding night was passed by the condemned man in a terrible state of mental perturbation. Up to that time he was more or less obdurate and callous, and exhibited no outward or abiding signs of contrition. But when he fnund that his sojourn on this earth was merely a matter of a few hours, and that all hope between him and the gallows was irrevocably cut off, the enormity of his crimes and the thoughts of what he had to face beyond the grave appeared to burst on him with crushing effect. His whole conduct underwent a violent change ; he sobbed and wrung his hands and paced his cell distractedly, prostrating himself on the floor every now and then and passionately crying out for forgiveness "for despatching my wife and-family without warning, and for all the other crimes of my terrible life." And yet when pressed for a detailed and truthful confession of the murders by the chaplain, he prevaricated — lied down to the last. But in the te upest of despair and terror that swept over his troubled soul throughout the last terrible night, he said sufficient from times to time to amount to a confession of the Rainhill crimes. On these, his thoughts apparently ran, their enormity, owing to the harrowing circumstances attending the butchery of his little children, overshadowing his more recent murder at Windsor. Towards morning he flung himself down on his bed ; but the warders who kept watch and ward over him say his sleeping were no better than his waking hours. He cried out wildly, and several times sat bolt upright and glared terror-stricken around him. The sheriff early entered his cell, accompanied by the governor of the jail, and formally demanded his body. Then the warrant for his execution \va9 read to him, after which the hangman and his assistant entered, pinioned him and put the white cap on his head. He tried to eat some breakfast but couldn't, and asked for brandy, which was given him by the doctor. The <?oor of the condemned man's cell opened on to the drop, and as he stepped | feebly out he looked with a dazed and uncertain expression in his eyes on the forty-five or fifty pressmen, doctors, and scientists who had gathered below. He was a complete physical wreck, and with his clean shaven face and close-cropped hair, his appearance, it must be said, was decidedly .against him. The hangman and his assistant, with a hand on either arm, led him to where the rope dangled ominously. When all was ready, he was asked by the sheriff whether he had anything to say. His answer was a last petition to the Eternal Judge for mercy ; and while he spoke, the hangman, with a quick movement, pulled the cap well down over his face, | adjusted the rope, and the next instant the button was touched, and the body of the murderer was left swaying to and fro on the drop.

Destitution in the city among the working classes has reached an appalling stage, and the Cabinet is at its wits' ends endeavouring to devise some mean 3 to alleviate the sufferings of the people. Their task is rendered more than usually difficult by the enormous decrease in the revenue and their consequent inability to undertake fresh public works. And, worse still, in all the public departments, and particularly in the railway service, men are being turned adrift daily, salaries are being cut down with a very free hand and offices and duties amalgamated in every direction, with the object of reducing the expenditure. All this naturally intensifies the situation, and I fear very much there will be greater and still more widespread suffering before the end is reached. Some hundreds of men have received free passes and been sent up country ; but for every one who goes, there are a score who cannot avail themselves in the same way of escaping from their misery. There are hundreds of married mechanics who p:ck up an occasional day's work and live with their families in a condition of semistarvation from week to week. Harrowing tales come to light every day_ of families being compelled to part with their clothing and furniture bit by bit in order to feed their hungry children. In a great many instances philanthropic people have found respectable workingclass families sleeping on the floor, having had to part "with their beds, in tenements destitute of either fire or food. Private charity has done a good deal to mitigate the sufferings of the poor ; but private charity ,in the face of such general and widespread poverty, cannot after all do much. What is required is employment, and it is to be feared relief from that source is very far off. Never before have the evils of overcrowding been so fearfully demonstrated in any city, and it is very probable the Government may be impelled to take effective steps to cultivate among the people a greater taste for country life than has hitherto existed. The fact is, as far as population is concerned, Melbourne is Victoria, an unhealthy state of things that is sure to breed poverty and crime and other social disorders.

From Sydney there is also a distressful story to tell. The number of unemployed men in that city is estimated at about 10,000. Last week the actingPremier and Minister of Works, received

a deputation consis ing of a number of labour members of Parliament, together with some of r,he unemployed, on the subject of providing bread or work for the people. Harrowing tales were poured into the ears of Ministers of the distress existing amoug the families of the unemployed, and it was plainly .-tafced that if rhe men did not get bread they would be forced to take it ; they could not see their wives and children famishing with hunger before their eyes. Several instances were given of eviction for non-payment of rent; and on the independent authority of the police it was shown that respectable families were found huddled together in the domain at night, having nowhere else to lay their heads, and that destitution to an extont never before" known in the city was rife in the poorer quarters. Ministers promised to push on unemployed works as quickly as possible, and stated further that no workingman or his family should be permitted to starve. A Government relief system was subsequently organised, the preference being given to ! married men with families. Relief of a kind sufficient to keep those without work from actual starvation, without encouraging loafing, is being given. The Exhibition Building has been granted for the use of the homeless people at night, and ifc is crowded every evening with such a mass of distressed people as no other oily in the world of Syduey's age, I feel sure, could furnish, lip to date the names of between 9,000 and 10,000 men have been handed in, all of these being out of work and destitute. Among all the churches, the Salvation Army is the only religious body that has shown itself to be possessed of the bowels of compassion. None of the other religious bodies have made any organised attempt to alleviate the distress, though their spiritual heads live on the fat of the land and wear purple and fine linen, just like the bad man of old, whom they hold up as such a terrible example. No wonder that the world is gradually turning its back on such teachers.

In view of the determination of the new House to increase the stock-tax to the point of prohibition, the rush of stock over the borders from New South Wales is unparalleled in the anuals of the colony. As a result our farmers are in a white heat, and are loudly calling on members to rush a resolution through the House and put au end to the traffic. An attempt was made in that direction, but Mr Alfred Deakiu and others who are opposed to the tax announced their intention of exhaustively debating tlie question and fighting ie inch by inch. In view of this formidable and unexpected obstacle, the Ministry decided on allowing the stock-tax to rest until they had disposed of the debate arising out of the dismissal of the Railway Commissioner?. This they have since done, and have taken up the stock-tax with the settled determination to impose such fiscal restrictions on the introduction of stock from the neighbouring colony as will give our farmers a complete monopoly. Over sixty members were returned at the late general elections solemnly pledged to the introduction of the tax, so that there is uot the slightest doubt not that the tax will be imposed, but that it will be such a one as will compel the New South Wales graziers to look in some other direction for the consumption of their beef and mutton. Retaliation for this will, of course, follow, as it will hit our neighbours very hard, and we may look forward to a regular war of tariffs between the two colonies. As regards our trade ov commercial relatious, we might as well be two hostile peoples, divided by thousands of miles, instead, of being, as we are, children of the same race living on the same continent. Probably legislation of this kind may hurry on federation, though, it must be said, there are many weighty difficulties in the way of that desirable consummation. In New South Wales they are building up a protectionist tariff that will soou make thafc colony as iron bound as our own.