August 5, 1907.]
of birth, by no royal favour, but by per- sonality, individuality, force of character, or whatever name we apply to that highest endowment of the gods which stamps his caste, if all men, and journalists, have not lied. His record promises that he will be no dr.amer. This island is no Prospero's isle, to be experimented with as GONSALVO would have done.
"Had I the plantation of this isle, my lord, I' the commonwealth I would by contraries Execute all things, for no kind of traffic Would I admit; no name of magistrate; Letters should not be known; riches, poverty,
And 1188 of service none; contract, succession, Bourne, bound of land, tilth, title, vineyard
none;
No use of metal coin, or wine, or oil; No occupation-all men idle-all! And women too, but innocent and pure; No sovereignty;
All things in common nature should produce,
Without sweat or endurance, treason, felony,
Sword, pike, kuife, gun, or need of any engine
Would I not have; but nature would bring forth Of its own kind all foison, all abundance, To feed my innocent people.
I would with such perfection govern, sir, To excel the golden age."
As a military man, His Excellency will certainly devote some attention to sword, pike, and the rest of it; but his modest speeches in London, as reported by us, show that he clearly recognises our raison d'être to be a commercial one; we, and be, can afford to ignore "no kind of traffic." As to use of metal coin, our columns have lately borne ample witness to the nature of the most urgent problem to which we trust Sir FREDERICK LUGARD may be able to bring some originality of mind. We look to him to see that officialdom at least will
"
not be of no occupation," and so save
us from the fads for which insufficient occupation has perhaps been largely re- sponsible in the past. There is a great deal that requires strong handling, and we welcome the new Governor because he is ntroduced to us as a strong mau.
BRAIN STORMS.
(Daily Press, July 30th.) There are two ways of looking at it. Ether the lawyers of Hongkong are not up-to-date, or they have sufficient com., monsense to avoid importing into local legal proceedings the absurdities of ultra- modern humbug. The second view is the one we adopt. We are alluding to murder trials, and the special defence of a special type of insanity with which the forensic genius of America has familiarized us. Some time ago we reported a Singapore murder caso, in which a soldier fatally stabbed a comrade in barracks and wounded another. A recent issue of the Straits Times informs us that the trial of the murderer was still proceeding on July 18th, and that the best part of two days was devoted to “
** expert discussion of the theory of brain stormis." In addition to its important bearing on the maintenance of law, order, and public safety, the dis- cussion has some interest for people resident in the tropics, as illustrating the risks we are all supposed to run. The advocate for the defence at Singapore, who introduced medical witnesses to explain to the jury the frequency and peculiarities of "brain storms,'
said something, in the course of a technical objection, to the effect that the proceedings were degenerating into a Gilbertian farce. The Judge caid:
M
CHINA OVERLAND TRADE REPORT.
Don't talk nonsense. That was not the correct retort to make. In our opinion, his Lordship should have admitted the im- peachment, and informed the orator that it was he (the counsel for the defence) who was doing it. When the defence suggested that "complete absence of motive for a crime might he prima facie evidence of lunacy," his Lordship very properly re marked that if that were so, society woull not be safe. We wish to go further, and to say here that if this wave of sentimentalism is not damined, if the "brain storm
11 idea as patented in America for the benefit of a millionaire murderer is to be incorporated into British law,-society will be still further from safety; and we may have to revert to the early conditions of the vendetta in order to discourage homi- cide. It is marvellous how complacently | men cau cite insanity to account for unpleasant features of life.
We are all potential murderers: civilization has not eradicated the instinct, the impulse to slay, which inevitably follows certain natural emotions common to us all. It has, however, given us all a lively consciousness of the conditions in which we associate with our fellows, the terms upon which we are allowed to enjoy the benefits of such asso- ciation. The communal contract is that we agree not to molest in order that we may go unmolested the Mosaic law was not so much a supernatural revelation and command as a natural. fundamental principle of co- operation. The inevitable consequences of breach by any unit, long inculcated, alone made unity possible. Now there are people who for various reasons would have us abandon that safeguard. It is a pity they cannot be introduced to a community where their sentiments prevail; in such case, the race of sentimentalists would soon lerome extinct.
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63
helps. People with a certain shape of head brachycephalic?] were not strong minded; they were more liable to brain storms. One of the experts is reported to have testified as follows:
The headache, sleeplessness and stolid cou- dition were departures from the normal, also the deep sleep, or unconsciousness, of the night, followed by a disappearance of the headache in through a brain storm. the morning. This would sbow he had passed A sane person, he said, his weapons in a different way to that of the after seven years of soldiering, would have used aocused. Then again, prisoner did not stay to further attack the man lying at his mercy, bat for rapid movement as they found in all cases ran after the other. It was the same impulse
of amok. Tue ab ence of motive for crim belief s'rengthened the hands of the prof-ssion in the
that the criminal was i sane, submilt the man's unconsciousness particularly deep and past the stage of alcoholism.
was
£
To have a headacho which disturbs repose, and afterwards to drop into a profoun1 slumber, from which we awake feeling somewhat stupid that seems common enough experience. If we thea go out in a bad temper-a by no means rare phenomenon known for generations 18 "getting out of the wrong side of the bed "-and hit a policeman, we have only to allege a passing "brain storm" to be absolved of blame. How convenient for persons with uncontrolled tempers; and how inconvenient for the rest! We are not denying the existence of "brain storms." Every vi leut emotion may be so described. The man dressing to catch the Peak Tram, who cannot find a shirt with a button on it, to have gone through a brain storm. What and who swears at the "boy," may be said
we say is that it should not be a sufficient excuse for him if he murders the "boy."
TIBET.
(Daily Press, 81st July.)
It may be noted that the Sngapore discussion was quite as irritating as the farce of the Thaw trial. Several times the As is Japan in Korea, so is China in Tibet. platitudinous cynicism that all men are mad With some slight modifications, this asser- was expressed in varying phrase, and Dr. tion is warrantable. The chief qualification W. G. ELLIS, the medical superintendent of of it would be that China has done less than the Singapore Lunatic Asylum, clinched Japan in the interests of her suzerainty- the whole natier by saying, under cross- China has, so to speak, had greatness thrust examination : "I would pronounce no man upon her, while Japan has deserved it. The to be sane. This was received with relations in both cases are far from dissimilar. laughter. Exactly. It is a popular joke, Toe Tibetaus have no more affection for and we are in danger of overlooking the the Chinese than the Koreans have for the mischief of perpetuating error in fun. Not Japanese; but they bave no Hulberts Dr. ELLIS, not the Judge, not one of the among them to warn the world of the lawyers, nor one of the jury, would seriously threatened extinction of a sovereign people, admit any doubt of his own sanity, although and to protest in the ho'y name of Liberty. he does not mind doing so by way of a jape. L ttle as China has ever done to earn the If when serious we all claimi
to be overlordship she claims, which claims, from sane, what do we mean by sanity? The our point of view, were too respectfully definition does not involve the sort of regarded by Great Britain during the events opinions or beliefs we severally hold, or the leading up to the Conveation of 1904, we more earnest and enthusiastic of us would are informed that there is a section of be busy trying to secure the incarceration Chinese officialdom which regards Tibet as of those who differ from us. By Buity we probably mean capacity for self control, and get nothing out of such a far away depen. a white elephan'. Probably because they the plea of insanity should be rigorously confined to the cases of those manifestly unable to control their passions. The only peculiarity to be noted in the case of the Singapore soldier was that the pupils of his eyes react. d somewhat sluggishly. O.her- wise, the doctors could find no "indications" of insanity. A mall of previous good character, he had ruu "amok," without any apparent motive-therefore, the assumption was, he must be insane. The same loose assumption is popular in the case of suicides. Because somebody does some extraordinary thing for which we ourselves have no present inclination, the poor fellow must be insane. In the tropics, according to the Singapore experts, we are liable to brain storms." The sun does it; sometimes alcohol
ency, they begrudge the comparatively small allocations made from time to time by the Caiuese Government, and their idea- openly memorialized-is to sell China's interest in Tibet t the Indian Government. At present this un-imperial attitude cannot be said to have made any headway. The Chinese garrison in Tibet, as already re- ported, is being strengthened. Arrange. ments are being made to give military training to young Tibetans-another night- mare for the yellow peril folk; and tiree million taels per annum are set aside for the purpose of " colonising Tibet with Chinese farmers. Tuese settlers are to be conveyed at Government expense, aud B few have already gone, and it is understood that while they are undergoing
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