The Wanganui Herald. [PUBLISHED DAILY.] WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 10, 1902. CRUELTY TO CHILDREN.

Wanganui Herald, Volume XXXVI, Issue 10820, 10 December 1902, Page 4

The Wanganui Herald. [PUBLISHED DAILY.] WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 10, 1902. CRUELTY TO CHILDREN.

The love of a mothqr for her offspring is. aB a. rule, the strongest emotion of which the female mind is capable of eVolving^ This parental affection is, not confined to tho human raco, m wo have all seen many touching examples of it exhibited by the lower species of animal life. It is no donbt an. instinct deeply implanted in the female brain 'by- Mother Nature for the protection of the helpless young of all animals, whose dams at times .display a fearlessness, when their offspring are attacked by a stronger animal, strangely at variance "with their usually timid nature^ In the human race this instinct, as might be expected, has been developed and strengthened, greatly, and nothing is more touching than the self-sacrificing care of most mothers tor their children. Some of the latter unfortunately ate not always im-t bucd with' a reciprocal affection, and fail to perform their duties to those who have ■suffered and sacrificed so much for their ungrateful offspring. But- this does not' discourage the patient but neglected mother, who generally has mpre affection for tho erring ones than for those , who have never failed in their duty towards her. This is one'vof the paradoxes of life, v and is explicable we think by the fact that her care and solicitude are' more required > by these troublesome ones than their tnore tractable brothers and sisters. Now and again this maternal tenderness 'by some strange process is transformed' into unreasoning hatred of one or more members j of a family, who 4 are treated "by their nfothers -as aliens arid subjected to cruel, ill-usage, which can only be the outcome of a disordered brain: In the Drake case we have • a mother showing hostility to one- of her little daughters al-v mpst from "its birth and finally so [ severely thrashing the child,, when it wa-s some, seven years old, that it died of its injury. Could any sane mother x so ill-use her own. offspring? The question is i difficult to answer 'convincingly*, as it so hard to exactly draw the line between [ sane' responsibility and insane. irreßponsii bility. A paraon may be perfectly sane on most things- aiid under- most condition's. . but, be dangerously insane under other influences. The. ancients truly said that -"anger is short niadnfess."' Many people, who give way to fits of anger are for the .time being dangerous lunatics^ and liable in their fury to kill or maim, even those nearest and dearest, to them. In the hearing of the Drake case it was stated by some of the witnesses for the defence that the accused was subject to fits of anger, which were generally vented on the deceased child, whom its mother seemed to treat as" a "changeling.". The prosecution made it plain fo the jury "that -the accused liad on several occasions 'treated the unfortunate victim of .her dislike with cruel neglect . and great harshness* and finally in a fit ,of fury thrashed 'the unfortunate thild so savagely that the doctor who wae called in, when it was found that serious results were likely to ensue, swore that the little victim's ■ body was due mass of bruises so 'close together that a sixpence could not be got between them. -The defence did rtot set up a plea of Hnsanity, nor did the jury think the accused was suffering from mental aberration when she committed the crime: they therefore brought in a verdict of "Guilty" with a recommendation to mercy. . This Jatter^tc' our mind seemed to indicate a, doubt , in the minds of the jurors as to the accused's mental condition at the time, she ' was so savagely assaulting 'the deceased child. If they had. such* a thought they should, have stated so, before recommending the prisoner to mercy, for never was there a more* unnatural onslaught made on a young and helpless child by its own mother, who actually enlisted the' assistance of two of her elder daughters in the terrible castigafion. If the accused "\Vas not in her, right senses she was not legally responsible for her terrible crime; if sho was compos mentis she was deserving "of no recom- | mendation to mercy, a quality she seemed to have- had no acquaintance- with herself. In sentencing Mrs Drake Mr Justice Edwards, who tried* the> case, rightly said there could not be one law for the rich and another for. the poor, and that 'he could not pass a light sentence in the face of the. evidence. He therefore sent her to gaol for six years with hard labour. Iv a similar case in England, not followed it, is truo by tho death of the six-year-old child, -its unnatural mother wae fined £50 ! As sho happened to be the wife of a county magnate named Pcngid- ' dock, yfhty is <t Wiltshire Magistrate, the presiding Judge who heard the .case let her off with a fine, which of course her husband would have to pay. There is evidently one law for the rich and anotheT for tho poor inEngland, or Mrs Penruddock would have been seat to gaol and punished for her cruelty to her little daughter. As i-t was her husband was punished for the crime, and her friends got up a petition to Parliament against the sentence, alleging that there had been a -miscarriage of justice ! We should think there had, but not in the .direction indicated by the petitioners. If Mi-sPenrud-dock- had been tho wife, of a poor labourer stht> - would have been sentenced to a. term of imprisonment with hard labour; ns she

was the wife of a county magnate ' flue Court merely inflicted a fine, which, as before mentioned, came out of her husband's pocket.

The 'result of the Drake case will tto doubt serve to convince unnatural mothers that they must * curb " their , anintosity ** against any of tljeir uttfortnnate children" against whom they may entertain an inexplicable'feeling of hatred, and. not- sub-- " ject them to improper neglect or violence. The object of the "Jaw in imposing 1 the' penalty of death on those who wilfully commit murder is t not so much to punish . -, the murderer, as to' deter othei'» from com-* . mitting a similar crime. Sentences which are looked" upon as vengeful flo' not -have' the effect of acting as deterrents, Tint on ' the contrary evoke "sympathy, for the , wrongdoers upon whom they have been 'passed; on the other hand penalties' like that inflicted oil Mrs Penruddock give rise to feelings of disgust an)! contempt and the impression that the fountains of Justice arc- not running as clear as they . should. •