The Waikato Times AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE. SATURDAY, MAY 13, 1893.

Waikato Times, Volume XL, Issue 3257, 13 May 1893, Page 2

The Waikato Times AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE.

SATURDAY, MAY 13, 1893.

Equal and eiact justice to all men, Of whatsoever state or persuasion, religion! or political.

We have purposely avoided till now any allusion to the Waikomiti murder, either editoraUy or in our correspondence columns. We have done so because webeliove it to be the duty of a journal to remain silent while a case is sub jiulice, a stage, in the ■case of murder which it does not pass till the decision of the Executive as to the fate of a convicted murderer is published. There are very few men, except ,on the grounds that capital punishment be abolished, who will rhpt approve of

tho decision arrived at. There are iitaolutoly no mitigating circumstances, and had the Executive reprieved Scott there would be only one logical course opon to them, and that to introduce a Bill during the coming session to abolish capital punishment altogether. We should I not allude to the case now, were it not that it affords some useful lessons, It is within tho knowledge of all tint there has been consider able agitation by newspaper correspondence, petition and a public meeting, to influence the lixecutivc. That all this lias not done so, is evidenced by the fact that Scott is to suffer the extreme penalty of tho I law. It is interesting, however, to consider the reasons put forth for a | remission of sentence, Two °f them

ar«j in our opinion, such a# it should not' have been possible to urge. In the first place we are distinctly of opinion that Mrs Thompson should have been called by the prosecution to give evidence at the inquest, as by that of the Inspector, Mrs Thompson had made a statement with regard to the phial which contained the strychnine. In answer to the question as to tracing the phial to Scott, he replied: " Mrs Thompson had made a statement about it." If, as is implied by this answer, her evidence could have closed or opened a link in the chain o£ evidence, not calling her appears to us most culpable negligence, and lays the conductors of the. prosecution open to the suspicion that they sought the conviction of Scott, and were only willing to produce evidence having that tendency. It has been laid down by Judges and Counsel for prosecutions time out of number, that the police are bound to produce all evidencs whether for or against a prisoner on his trial. Her not having been called at either of the preliminary enquiries, and bound

over to appear in due course at (he Supreme Court, enabled her to leave the country, thore being no legal process by which sho could be detained, this was the opinion at any rate of the Counsel for the defence, which was endorsed by the Judge. A subpoena was issued just prior to her departure, but _ was ineffective in retaining her in tho aountry i to give evidence at the trial. If this is a true interpretation of the law it should be at once altered to meet any similar case that may arise. Another mistake, it appears to us 1 was made in not having a check analysis of the portions of the body submitted to Mr Pond. We do , not in the leist inc&n to inter incapacity or the probability of ' negligence to Mr Pond, but where . a man's lifo hangs in the scale, and

there is tho possibility of the miscarriage of justice, no matter how remote; the extra cost is of comparably little moment, . It is of the utmost importance that those who are liable to an attack of morbid sympathy with criminals should not bs aftordad a plausible excuse for giving evidence of their weakness. There was much correspondence after Scott's conviction, but aside from the plea that he is of weak intellect, and the two errors we have alluded to above, none were worthy of even passing notico. All wrote as it the judicial punishment was solely revenge for the breaking, of the law, and the injury inflicted upon society. This, of course, is not the case, the object is mainly to intimidate others from committing the same offences, and the usefulness of sentences in this direction depends greatly upon the degree of certainty that they will be carried out. The plea that a man is of weak intellect in any less degree than incapacity to know right from wrong cannot be admitted as a I reason for mitigation without lessening the deterrent effect of punishments. There can be no doubt but

that the penalty of death intimidates many from , committing murder, even those with a natural tendency to homicide. One of those who wrote letters to our contemporaries addueed by an illustration a very strong argument why the man whose life he was pleading for should be hanged. Writing of Scott he said: "He appeared to have no sense of moral responsibility. Ido not say he was not aware of the penalty certain actions, if detected, would neceswril'y incur." Then follows his illustration. A man somo years back was confined in the Auckland Asylum, but was relieved in opposition to the opinion'of the medical superintendent, on the ground that it was not safe to do so. He soon after waited at the superintendent's door with a sabre, intending to slaughter him, He did not succeed, because the medical man was warned, and the

lunatic was again confined. Some lime afterwards the writer had

a conversation with the man in the Asylum. He said: "I didn't manage to do for the inspector when I was out, but I'll have his life the first chance I get, and they

can't hang me jor I <mh ® lunatu, you know." Could a stronger argument be adduced fpr hanging men of reputed weak intellect, if only as an object lesson for those with

homicidal tendencies siwiiarly affoeted ? It is not, however, with the principle of capital punishment we purpose dealing with at present. The case under review and that of Ohemis clearly establish that a court of criminal appeal is a necessity. It is most inconvenient that the Executive should be called

upon to decide as to the verdicts of juries arrived at aftor careful trial and assisted by counsel and the judge, and with what is of almost equal importance, hearing the evidence given. This is certainly work that could be moro satisfactorily performed by the judges. As to mitigating circumstances the court could report to those in whom vests the power of clemency. In the event of the court not being able to find any it would be manifestly useless for Ministers to search for them. We fully recognise that it is better that two murderers should

escape than that one man should be wrongfully hanged; but wo also rccogniso that, except under very exceptional circumstances indeed, hanging should be the result of murder as certainly as night pre-1 cecds the dawn, If not, abolish capital punishment-,

k. mealing of the Waikato Hunt Club will take place at Ohaupo on Tuesday next, The Cambridge Bo.ough Burgess Roll was by the Council at a meeting held yesterday ul iiodd, Nominations of candidates to fill an extraordinary vacancy in tho Kihikihi Tmvn Board will be received up to noon of Wednesday next, Capt. Edwin wired at 12.40 p.m.

yesterday!— North to east and south-east gale, with rain, after sixtoeu hours from now, Glass fall. The first couwing meeting of the Avondale Plumptou Club will bo held on June 14th and 17th, Entries for the Avoudale Cup close on Thursday, Ist June. The Auckland Trades and Labour Council are resolved that the Council views with apprehension, the influx of foreigners, particularly ti the gumfiold districts, and urge the Government at onco to investigate. We learn that Mrs Thornton and family, of Mitungakawa, are returning to the colony, and will shortly take up their residence at their lull home again, it is rather more than » year since they left it for Europe. The Hamilton Amateur Dramatic Snciety gave a performance at Cambridge on Thursday evening. It was a most successful one, and was greatly enjoyed by those present, Wo shall give further particulars in our n6xt issue. , Mr L. Henriksen, watchmaker. i etc,, Auckland, advertises a large assort- ' ment of watches, clocks, jewellery, etc. He • makes a speciality of repair?, and gives r prompt attention to watches, &c., fi'r* ■ warded for repair from residents id the

iountry, , As per advertisement, there will ri 30 offered at McNicol's Ohaupo Sale )n « ruesday next, 100 turnip steers from the n Patetere Company, these cattle are four and o five-years -old, well bred, and in forward condition, and buyers cannot do better than g lake this opportunity of stocking their c turnips. ( A team chosen from the f :>llo win g t players will represent Huntly in their match to-morrow against Wainnarn, at | Ngaruawahia:—T. Connolly, Marshall (o), j M. Gleeson, Spiers, Sampson, Montgomery j 2), Lovoll (2), J. B. Harris, S. Harris, K. | Barton, A. Ngaiwi, J. Attroll, Douglas and | McSwteney. • It is stated that there is a j scarcity of persons able and willing to do j farm and st ition work, especially the milking department. Dairy farm and station | couples, unencumbered, aro scarce, al- I though £BO and found is offered, Accord- i ing to a correspondent the freer lifo obtain- , able on the gumfiolds is preferred, We are sorry that an error crept into onr report of the discussion re tho Town Clerk's salary at the last meeting of ihe Hamilton Borough Council. In that part referring to the rates paid by similar institutions the percentage should have been lG.j per cant, as paid by the Hamilton Borough Council, and not 10J per cent, as printed. Cambridge was filled with Maoris on Thursday, and again yesterday, They were on their way home from tho Maunfcakawa meeting, with which most of them appear to be thoroughly disgusted. Wo fancy it will be a considerable time before Tawhiao gets another big meeting at Maungakaka, and we should imagine the natives of that settlement are thankful the meeting is over. The Board of Education are call ing for tenders for repairs to the Hamilton West School. Sometimo ago the committoe reported to the Board on the state of the roof, whi«h in many places showed signs of leakage. It is to ba hoped, for the comfort of the staff and children, that the warm weather will last until the work is completed. The specifications may be Been at the Hamilton Auction Mart. J(r Thomas, surgeon dentist, advertises his intention of visiting Huntly from Tuesday next till the following Friday. We understand that Mr Thomas, as a rule, makes an application free of charge to the gums to relieve the pain of extraction, thuß rendering operations almost painless, This anaesthetic was dicovered by Mr Thomas' late tutor, Dr Tatton, at the Guys London Hospital. Gas, chloride of othyl, and chloroform administered also,

At the meeting of the committee of the South Auckland Rac'm* Club held last night, the secretary was instructed to write a letter of condolence to the widow of the late Mr J. McNicol. Mr T. Jones was elected on the committee to fill the vacancy caused by the death of the late Mr J. McNiciil. Mr Barton was appointed as tlfe delegate to represent the club at Iho forthcoming conference convened at tlio instance of the Takapuna Club to consider the position of suburban and country clnbs under the regulations laid down by the Metropolitan Club. This meeting takes place in Auckland on the 30th tart, We direct attention to the advertisement of Mr W. Parkinson, jun., which appears elsowhere in this i«3iie. That gentleman is a son of Mr W, Parkinson, Ben., confectioner, of Victoria • street, Auckland, who is deservedly respected. Mr Parkinson, jun., is a skilful tradesman, and an export monumental designer. His work will doubta give the almost satisfaction in the matters of material, taste and finish, and his "prices will be found most reasonable. We recommend those of our readers contemplating erecting tombstones or mortuary monuments to write to hiin for price lists and designs, A. few issues ago W9 referred to the cutting up into suburban lota of Mr Graham's property Richmond Hill on the Olkvido Road situate within a mile or so of the Hamilton Post-office. We now learn that Mr J. 0. Rutherford has employed Mr K. deC. Drury,' surveyor, of Hamilton, to cut up a portion of his property adjoining the town of Te Awamutu into suburban lots of about five acres in extent. We should think there should a good demand for sections of land in this locality, as here tofore much of the land in the township belonging to the Church Mission has boen difficult to deal with, the authorities being only allowed to lease. This land of Mr Rutherford will, therefore, supply a long felt want. Tha 11 anal fnrtniphtlv meeting

The usual fortnightly meeting ot the Hamilton Mutual Improvement Society was held on Thursday evening. There was a very good attendance, Mr E, White (vice-president) presiding. The evening was devoted to songs, readings, etc.. by various member?, all of which wore nicely rendered. Mr F. Clayton read a paper on " Sports That Kill," which broiißht about a most interesting discussion. At its conclusion a vote of thanks was accorded to the author, several new members were elected, and a syllabus for the quarter was adopted, At the next meeting a paper, on the progress of Wesleyan Methodism will be submitted, and at the first meeting in June a debate on " Capital Punishment will be brought on which should prove of special interest at the present juncture.