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THE " " '
MONDAY, AUGUST 27, 1849.
-o
" Stoo:n io no Master, of no Sect cm J."
THE DARLINGHURST GAOL REPORT.
WHAT should we say if any honorable member of Council were to bring in a Bill, commencing as follows: -" Wheieas one HKNRV KErK, a hermit,, is desirous of being made comfortable in a hermitage, at the public expense, and whereas it is not at all desirable that in the active and stir-
ring population of a colony, hermits should be encouraged, but on the contrary it is highly expedient that they should be by any and every means con- verted from their continent, secluded, and temperate ways : Be it enacted »hat the said Hermit KICK shall be provided for a3 Gaoler at Darlinghurst Gaol, and that for this purpose he shall in addition to his salary, be allowed the privilege of setting Judges' sentences aside, and of selling for his own profit the royal prero- gative of mercy, whether by employing convicted manslaughterers as coachmen, musicians, or pick nickians, so as to pre- vent him the said Hermit from relapsing into his old habits of melancholy medi- tation, Sec., &c, &c. ?" Is it not highly probable that we should consider such pro
posed measure as most conclusive evidence of the insanity of its author, and that his friends would lose no time in consigning him to the care of Dr. CAMPBELL, at Tarban Creek ?
Yet what it would be lunacy to propose has been actually done. And difficult as it is to astonish us in any matter relating to public departments after the revelations touching the same, which from time to time have been made in this colony, we confess to some such feeling as as- tonishment, upon perusing the evi-
dence taken before the Committee on
this Darlinghurst Gaol. We had always heretofore credulously con- sidered, that in the GOVERNOR was vested the supreme executive power of the colony ; that the Judges of the Supreme Court could really sentence a manto hard labour, with full confidence that their Sheriff-without being overwhelmed by this almost only piece of labour which the law casts upon him-would see that the sentence was fairly carried out. But
it seems we had deceived our-
selves, and that the- truth respect- ing these matters was not in us. A power higher than that of Gover- nor or Judge, nay the power of setting at naught Acts of Council themselves, has been for years exercised by Captain INNFS and by Mr. KECK, the Goaler of Darling- hurst. The prerogative of mercy has not only been assumed, but it has been sold. Judges have sentenced offenders" to im- prisonment with hard labour, and straightway Mr. KFCK (Captain IisNKa's hermit) has put the sentence in force j against the prisoners, or has ' omitted to do so, just as the j matter squared with his interest or his
convenience. If, therefore, an Act of Council had always been in force provi- ding that the administration of criminal justice, and that the efforts of Judges, and Attornies General, should be directed in the first instance to the comfort and ad- vancement of KECK the Hermit, and se- condarily for the public good, Mr. KECK would have discharged his duty faithfully and well. But as the law stands at pre- sent, we are bound to say that a more shameless, flagrant, and systematic disre- gard of duty, than that which the evi- dence discloses against Mr. KECK, we have never met with. How far he has been aided and abetted by his enthusiastic eulogist, Captain INNE», in this systema- tic breaking of the law of the land, we shall hereafter show out of Captain
INNES'S own mouth.
But first let us do an act of simple justice. Let us bear our testimony to the honest and admirable Report of Mr. CHARLES COWPER, the Chairman of the Committee. It is no easy matter to be honest in this colony. The rogue influ- ence is too strong for all but those " whose nature's plague it is lo spy into abuses." We believe that even Mr. GEORGR ALLEN and the generally reform- ing Mr. NICHOLS dissented from this
very Report. Great then is the meed of, praise due to the man who has' accomplished this good work. Not the most skilful and experienced Nisi Prius practitioner could have succeeded better than Mr. CowrER
-has done, in gradually eliciting the truth from those who were banded together in throwing dust into his eyes. Not the most able Judge could have summed up the matter better than we find it presented to us in this repott. Of course Mr. COWPER has made himself enemies among those whose enmity does him honour ; but as a set-off,-if he require any set off,-he has secured the respect and confidence of every honest and disinterested man in the colony.
Has Mr. COWPER done àuy thing to merit praise like this ? We humbly
conceive that he has. The abuses
he has brought to light, struck at the very foundations of society. What is the
theory of punishments? They are not inflicted as vengeance for wrong done ; but that they should «affect the human will, and deter from crime. Bearing this in mind then, ive would ask this. Of what sort of crime against society is he guilty,-what punishment does he de- serve,-who (having the opportunity) undoes the work of the magistrate, and créales a premium for the commission of crime 1 This is the point of view from which »ve ought to look at the actings of the parties reflecied upon in this report. That burglaries should he fearfully on the increase, that life and property should be daily and hourly becoming less secure in this city and in the suburbs, can hardly surprise when the model gaol of the con lony is converted from a prison into an hotel ; from a house of mourning into a house of feasting ; in short, from a place of restraint, tiiscomfort, and hard-fare, to a place of luxury and no discipline.
The reader may naturally feel some
doubt whether the evidence taken before the Committee establishes such a case
against Messrs. INNES and KFCIC. We can- not remove such a doubt, but by reference to the evidence itself ; and therefore »ve shall quote it on a future occasion. It has been »veil said, that fact is stranger than fiction ; and »ve must acknowledge that nothing in story ever filled our minds with suc'.i mingled feelings of the horrible and the ridiculous, as do some of the de- scriptions of some of these witnesses. Uut »ve reserve our comments on the con- vict contributions to Mr. IVECK'S festivities
-on the hominy fed cows-on the pri- soner supplying shop beneath Mr. KFCK'S house-on the prisoner attended pic-nics and fishing parties-on the .prisoner coachmen and gardeners of Captain INNES
and of the Hermit-and on the numerous
consequent escapes, until our next ; for this Gaol enquiry is of much too vast and various a character to be effectually disposed of within the limits of any one newspaper artie'e of reasonable leuglh.