A.—2b

12

No. 3. Sir H. Eobinson, K.C.M.G., to the Earl of Caenaevon. (Extract.) ' Government House, Sydney, 30th June, 1874. In my despatch of the sth instant,* I stated that I would by this mail report fully to your Lordship all the circumstances connected with the proposed mitigation of bush-ranging sentences, which have given rise here to so much discussion ; and I now proceed to carry out this promise. In August, 1872, about two months after my first arrival in this colony, a petition, marked A, addressed to me, praying for a mitigation of the sentence passed upon a prisoner named Gardiner, was sent in to the Colonial Secretary's office. The petition, which will be found in the accompanying Parliamentary paper marked A, was supported by the signatures of former Ministers of the Crown, of members of Parliament, Justices of the Peace, ministers of religion, members of the bar, and altogether by the names of about 400 citizens. Ido not ever remember receiving before a petition in favour of a prisoner so numerously and influentially signed. And here I may observe that although at this time, as I have shown in another despatch, it was the practice in ordinary cases of petitions for mitigation of sentences simply to forward such application to the Governor for his independent decision upon them, the ordinary routine was not followed in this case, which was dealt with out of the usual course. The petition, which was sent in to the Colonial Secretary's office in August, did not reach me for nearly four months, and the following action was, in the interval, taken upon it. On the 12th August, 1872, the petition and accompanying papers were referred by the Colonial Secretary to the Sheriff and Comptroller- General of Prisons for his report. On the 12th September that official reported on them. His minute was to the effect that the decision in Gardiner's case would be of unusual importance, as it would necessarily be a guide in numerous other cases of a similar character; that it was probably never contemplated that Gardiner should serve his full sentence; and that, as the crime of bush-ranging had been practically suppressed, the time was favourable for making a mitigation in his case, as well as in the other cases of like character. In conclusion, the Sheriff suggested in effect that the case of Gardiner might with propriety be disposed of by granting him a conditional pardon at the end of ten years' imprisonment in gaol, the condition contemplated being that specially authorized by clause 4 of the Local Enactment, 11 Vict., cap. 34, a copy of which is annexed, marked B. On the same day, the 12th September, this minuto was read by the Colonial Secretary, who ordered it, together with all the other papers in the case, to be referred to the Chief Justice for his report, an order which was carried out by a letter from the office dated 17th September, 1872. Three days later, on the 20th September, the Colonial Secretary wrote the following minute, which was transmitted to the Sheriff for his guidance : —" I have spoken to the Chief Justice on the subject of the sentences of the men convicted of the crime of bush-ranging at and about the time of Christie's conviction. I concur in a suggestion, made by Sir Alfred Stephen, that the Sheriff prepare a statement of each case, showing age, previous character, number of offences, sentence, conduct in gaol, and other particulars, with a view to the consideration of all the cases." Thus it will be seen that, before any paper in this case had been even laid before me, the Colonial Secretary was acting as if the Sheriff's suggestion in his minute of the 12th September, 1872, as to Gardiner's release, was approved of, as he called for a report on the other cases referred to in that minute, and which the Sheriff had pointed out were dependent on the decision in Gardiner's case. Such a proceeding appears to me fairly to imply that the Colonial Secretary was at that time personally favourable to the recommendation of the Sheriff for Gardiner's conditional release. Two months later, on the 30th November, 1872, the Chief Justice sent to the Colonial Secretary a report on the petition, in which he declined, for the reasons stated, to incur the responsibility of advising a mitigation in Gardiner's case. A few days later, that is, on the 4th December, 1872, the Colonial Secretary for the first time laid the petition before me, with the reports on it which he had procured from the Sheriff and Sir Alfred Stephen, together with a statement from the principal gaoler, showing the particulars of Gardiner's sentence, his previous conviction, and prison history. In submitting these papers, Mr. Parkes accompanied them with a minute of his own in which he specially pointed out to me (as if counterbalancing the unfavourable report of the Chief Justice) the names of the gentlemen of position and respectability who were in favour of a mitigation of Gardiner's sentence. Shortly before this the Colonial Secretary had prepared me in conversation for the reception of such an application, and had stated verbally all the circumstances of Gardiner's case, and the altered condition of the country as regards the practical extinction of the crime of bush-ranging. After I had perused the papers, and before I had come to any decision on the case, I had an opportunity of again conversing on the subject with Mr. Parkes; and although he offered no formal Ministerial advice (such a course being unusual, except in capital cases), the facts that he laid before me appeared to lead to but one conclusion —namely, that the time had arrived when the case of the prisoner Gardiner might, with both safety and propriety, be viewed with merciful consideration. Acting on this view, in the correctness of which, after full consideration of the case, I entirely concurred, I gave the following decision, which I indorsed on the papers under date sth December, 1872 : — "When the prisoner has served ten years his case may again be brought forward. If his conduct should in the meantime be good, I should feel disposed to grant him then a pardon, conditional on his leaving the country. At present I do not concur with tho petitioners that the sentence which the prisoner has undergone is sufficient for the ends of justice." This decision was at once transmitted by me to the Colonial Secretary, who conveyed it by letters from his office, dated the 10th December, to the Chief Justice, the Sheriff, and the petitioners ; and I may here remark that neither then, nor at any subsequent time, did I ever hear from the Colonial Secretary one word to lead me to suppose that he did not cordially concur in the propriety of my decision. * Not printed,