The Evening Herald. FRIDAY, MARCH 25 1870.

Wanganui Herald, Volume IV, Issue 814, 25 March 1870, Page 2

The Evening Herald. FRIDAY, MARCH 25 1870.

It requires no voice ,of public meeting in AVanganui to strengthen the almost universal opinion; that Tricker should be released. We, are quite persuaded that no jury; could be found to condemn; him now upon the, evidence offered at his trial, for wherever you go there you find opinion in his favor." There are still, it must be admitted, moral impressions -of his guilt, but these are caused more by the .antecedents of the man than by anything that, is- inculpatory connected with the murder of Rayner. . There is the expression of Tricker, ■ :tbat he would "do for Rayner," when smarting from. the[ effect of: Rayner's evidence in a case of cattle-, stealing; and that expression hasdiung over the case of Trieker like a; dark cloud, : which the most favorable . circumstantial evidence; •cannot altogether dissipate; and yet -there is.not much in that, if taken by itself. In a moment of .passion,, a violent 4 person will use threats of a very horrible kind,. which, after the burst of anger is past, would never operate on his mind to carry them into execution. A threat might be made one link in the chain of circumstantial evidence, but it could never be made the chain itself. With the exception of the threat;,' %he whole of the evidence offered at the trial in any, way pointing to' Tricker' as the murderer, has been upset. .The commissioners appointed to enquire into the ease found that the alibi was good, and hence that Hamilton, who offered direct evidence of the murder, as hieing an eye-witness, perjured himself; But use is made of alleged expressions of Tricfcer, which, after the triaij come of his fellow-prisoners «ay thsy heard, The chaplain of the gaol, Mr Stock, says it is impossible the prisoners could have heard Tricker in the way they assert, from the distance the sound would have to travel from one cell to another; while the gaol evidence is contradicted by other prisoner^//There is a multitude of circ-omstances publicly Iknftwn,, which renders the post-trial,;evidence, unworthy of credence. A principle, however, is involved whicli we am

very much surprised the Executiv j have notj recognised. The commis- j siori appointed to enquire into the! evidence'veported that the Verdict of the jury, based upon certain evidence, was wrong, the evidence itself being false. If the «Z*Ji bacT been maintained at the trial Tricker must have been acquitted. It comes to this, then, that Tricker was imprisoned upon the verdict of a jury of his countrymen — the evidence from which the verdict was arrived at has been authoritatively negatived—and what in the first instance would have obtained his acquittal is totally inoperative to effect his release. We never remember to have seen the old adage, that "possession is nine points of the law," more fully illustrated. How the authorities got Tricker is a secondary consideration: they have him, and on the faith of any tale or moral impression, they are determined upon keeping him. A public meeting would, perhaps, place the opinion of the people in a more demonstrative form, and it would be well to have on*; but if Hamilton is to be prosecuted for perjury, a public meeting would hardly be proper while the prosecution is pending.:

The reduced tariff of telegraph charges, published in our advertising ■columns, will be received with special favour, sis a-great public boon. A fresh instance will probably be afforded of the truth of the GHadstonian doctrine, that often a reduction of taxation may bring an increase of revemie. Short messages, can now be sent for a shilling, and New Zealand is no ; longer behind other places in her tariff for telegrams. The press telegrams are as moderate as the press can expect, and both the public and the Government will find the advantage of this reduction ; for newsp tp«r proprietors will spend a much larger sum than hitherto in obtaining telegraphic summaries of news. rl he postage on newspapers in the colony is another matter that demands attention. > The work of colonisation is to a great extent carried,on by the newspapers, and p&ied by a duty which in many cases ;is- prohibitory. For instance, the penny, press is fast becoming as great an institution in the colony as it is at home, and a penny postage is in a proportion out of all keeping with the price of the paper. Mr Vogel proposed the abolition of postage on newspapers in the last session, and he will probably propose the alteration iln his next financial statement. :

The Lowek Ferri.—Mr McNeill, whose tender for the lower ferry was yesterday accepted, has stated his intention to erect; a- temporary bridge within three months from this date for the accommodation of, foot passengers and horsemen ; it will also be available for cattle arid she^p.-We think Mr McNeill will .deserve the thanks 6i the community at large, for the great benei fit which he will render to the public, by such ari undertaking.

A New Velocipede.—Some sensation was created the other day among the Maoris in Auckland by the appearance of. a knife grinder in the streets of that city. Such, an object" was quite new to them, and at first, according to an Auckland paper, when they saw the man seated on his perch, working the treadles with hia feet,' they imagined that the. machine was a new kind of

velocipede, and that tjhe grinder would be borne v up the street at a slapping pace." Of course-this was hot the case, and the Maoris walked oft", uttering expressions of disappointment and contempt.

Serious Accident.—Last evening, about 10.30 p.m., Mr John Roberts, accompanied by a friend, was returning to Mr H. B. Roberts's, on the No 2 Line, when they suddenly got into the midst of a mob of. sheep, supposed to belong to • Major, Durie, some of the sheep, got between the legs of the horse ridden. by^Mr J. Roberts, throwing him and injuring the horse so severely that it. haa been rendered useless for lifo. Mr J. Roberts has received severe internal injuries, and is being attended by Br Samuels. The horse ia valued at£2s., ~...;.:."". ';:"; ■.'.;■■■' 7""

The Hebrew National saj^tbere are (5,000,000 Jews in the wbrld,4 of -whom 1,800,000 are in Russia, in Germany, 80,000 in France, .51,000 in (Jrea-c Britain, and 2(50,000 in America.