19 April 1934

MANSLAUGHTER AND THE CONSTITUTION 

Story Of The Whaling Station

In the middle of the whaling season in '39, Mr. John Dutton, chief headsman of the party when fishing from Granite Island, Encounter Bay, learned that a party of his men were about to abscond and stave in the oil before they went. 

A watch was consequently stationed. Two men were taken into custody. They had come down to the oil flat at night, and were unable to give any account of themselves. 

That same night Mr. Dutton, acting on further information, went down to the men's huts and ordered them out of bed. Tying their hands behind them, he fastened them to a chain. It was said that in doing this he struck some of them. It was not long, however, before some of the men got free from the chain and went down to the reef, then used as a crossing place at low water. 

Some of them, with a man named Alexander Riches, attempted to cross, Riches having done so frequently before. But the water proved to be too deep, and he slipped into a hole out of his depth. The other men returned, thinking he was drowned. 

Soon after, some of the men got across and went to Mr. Strangways, a magistrate, who was then on the spot, and wished him to interfere. It appears that he refused to do so, and the men then came up to Adelaide and made a deposition against Dutton, before Mr. Wigley. the resident magistrate, who passed them on to the Advocate-General. 

This gentleman, Mr. Mann, stated that it would be necessary to have the case investigated before a magistrate could be sent down, or else a warrant would have to be issued for Dutton's apprehension, the law being that if anyone placed a man in confinement with threats of violence towards him, and the man, in escaping from confinement met his death accidently, the party who confined him was guilty of manslaughter. 

In consequence of this, Mr. J. B. Hack one of the owners of the fishery, obtained Mr. Morphett's consent to go down, as a magistrate, to investigate the charge, and accompanied him to the Bay. The case was thoroughly gone into by Mr. Morphett in the presence of the police sergeant and several gentlemen, and evidence was taken as far as it could be procured. 

The result was that it seemed at the time doubtful whether the man was drowned or not, as his body had not been found, although a great search had been made for it. A man who was with Riches in the water swore that he would not have had any fear of violence if he had returned to his work again. 

As no case appeared likely to be sustained by the evidence, the matter was dropped, and Mr. Dutton stated his willingness to appear to answer any charge when called upon.

Subsequently the body of Alexander Riches was found by Mr. Thompson, of Encounter Bay, and the Government was informed of the fact. A coroner went down to hold an inquest, the body was exhumed at his orders, and after a long examination, a verdict of manslaughter was returned against Dutton. The original charge was, of course, revived and Dutton was placed under arrest. 

But manslaughter is — and was— a bailable offence, except in the most serious circumstances, and a though the proprietors of the fisheries offered to go bail to any amount, Dutton was refused his freedom. It did not take much to stir up trouble in the past, and the refusal of bail was ample, because restraint placed upon Dutton's liberty meant that the fisheries would have to stop. 

Now the whale industry in South Australia was older than the State, but it had been carried on by other States, and even other nations in what were properly South Australian waters. It was accordingly a matter of some pride when local enterprise in the person of Mr. John Barton Hack, of the firm of Hack, Watson & Co., joined forces with the South Australian Company to exploit these natural resources, of our southern waters. And it had been a matter of general regret that the new undertaking had met with many setbacks. 

So that, when the authorities held up the fisheries in the middle of what promised to be a most successful season— already 140 tons of oil had been taken— by detaining Dutton after unexceptionable bail had been offered to any amount, public disapprobation flashed out in no mean manner. 

The 'South Australian,' the anti Government paper at the time, came out with an editorial in which it ambiguously attributed Dutton's detention to 'our rulers' and 'our authorities.' These references were generally construed to apply to the Governor and the Chief Justice. 

Sweeping on, the 'Southern Australian' attacked the negligence of the authorities and drew an interesting moral. 'Months ago,' it wrote, 'our readers will find by referring to the Official Gazette, notice was given of the intention of the executive to pass an act for the protection and regulation of the whole (whaling) industry. It was also announced that the Act was referred to a committee of the Council, composed of the Colonial Secretary and the Advocate-General; but then it stopped. This committee, for ought that is known, have not yet been able to make up a report for the Council, or, if they have done so, it has been carefuly laid on the shelf. We do know that the committee consulted with those chiefly concerned in the fisheries, and, it was understood, with their advice, had arranged a measure in every way calculated to answer the necessities of the case. It is further understood that the details met with the approval of his Excellency; but that is all'. 

'Now we think that under these circumstances the death of Riches may fairly be laid to the Government, for, had the Government done its duty, the occurrence that led to his death would never have taken place. Not the slightest protection being offered to the proprietors of the fisheries by our proper authorities, Dutton thought that it was his duty to save his employers' property. He did so, and one of the rogues, in trying to escape, met his death. Had there been proper authorities on the spot to appeal to, the rogues would have been secured. Instead of Dutton being placed in custody for circumstances arising out of his having done his duty, they (and the drowned man among them) would have been placed at the bar of justice and tried for their outrageous offence.' 

'We leave the subject, simply re marking that it is one of the daily occurrences that show the necessity that exists for our endeavoring to obtain an independent legislature— one which will, and act for the common interests of the community. And we recommend that a petition be immediately sent home to the Queen and both Houses of Parliament to obtain this much needed boon.' 

Thus early one discovers the seed from which the whole of our political institutions have grown. The editorial provoked a retort from the conservative 'Register':— 'We think our contemporary attributes blame where none exists.' 

And the following week the 'Southern Australian' had to take a much more subdued tone. Mr. Hack and the manager of the South Australian Company, David McLaren, wrote a joint letter to the 'Southern Australian,' in which they declared that 'in so far as his Excellency the Governor and his Honor the Chief Justice may be thought to be included in the terms 'our rulers' and 'our authorities,' the reflections made by you are altogether unfounded. We have ever experienced at the hands of his Excellency the most prompt attention to our wishes, and his Honor the Judge, immediately on the case being brought be fore him, admitted Mr. Dutton, the in dividual accused, to bail.' 

This last was no less than the truth. The authorities, possibly because of the general outcry, had decided to release Dutton on bail, but not before he had been brought up to Adelaide upon a Habeas. To this extent the fishing was interrupted, but the delay was not nearly as great as the public had anticipated. 

Early in November, Dutton stood his trial. The first charge in the indictment charged him with inflicting several mortal wounds on the body of Alexander Riches by kicking and striking him on the head and other parts of the body. There were two other counts varying the charge— the first that he had thrown Riches in the sea where he had drowned; the second, that he had threatened to take Riches' life, which made Riches attempt to escape from the island, and in trying to escape to the mainland, he was drowned. On top of this intimidating array of charges, the prosecutor was unable to secure sufficient witnesses to make out a case, and the jury as a matter of course brought in a verdict of not guilty in favor of Dutton. — 'Kestril,' Adelaide.

Good Appetite

This is strange but true. A man living in the country felt that something was wrong with his health, but could not locate the trouble. His appetite was about the usual. One day he decided to send for a specialist. When the doctor examined him, he could not find much the matter. 

'Tell me how your appetite is,' he said. 'Oh, about the usual,' answered the patient. 'I will tell you the menu. It seldom differs. For breakfast I have six rounds of bacon, 10 eggs, bread, and several cups of tea. At 10 a.m. I have morning lunch. For dinner I have six pounds of mutton, kidney and caul fat included, twenty-eight potatoes with the skins on, apple pie, cups of tea. Then I have a light afternoon luncheon. But I always have a good evening meal as well. So there is nothing wrong about my eating.' 

'Do you sleep well?' his adviser asked. 'Yes, I sleep very well.' 'Well,' said the medical gentleman, 'I would advise you to reduce your evening meal.' Next time the doctor called the patient said, 'I tried to eat less for tea, but it would not work. I got that craving feeling and could not sleep, so I had to get up and get something to eat.' He weighed 18 stone. 'This is quite true,' said his mother, 'I have to cook for my son, so I can confirm his words.' 

— 'E.H,' Brooker.

Not Doing Overtime

Some years ago, it was the custom of a hardy old Scotch squatter living in the South-East, to gather his house hold together morning and evening for Bible reading and prayer. Sometimes some of the men employed on the place were rather 'wags,' but usually they joined the family circle without any fuss. 

Then an old German went there to work. After finishing his first day in the paddock, he was on his way to his room when the squatter called to him: — 'Hi mon! Come on in and waarship.' Old Hermann paused for a moment, scratching his head in bewiderment. 

Then, turning towards his room again, he called over his shoulder: — 'Aw, no you don't. I vas vurk hard all day in the field, but I nod doing no vashing up when I finish.'— M. E. Maitland, Port Pirie.