The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1902-03-01
MAS Ir MyuuUua

O.. Ue mail rom Nau conn. more
HeJ... la to tna death 0t the woman
Ht NlaIehu There were various ere
1ors ion the report brought by the S S.
kauai IL appears there had been "a
uau and "a flood of swipes and liquor.
There was a great row, which was
Thompson, the wife of the giycr of the
feast, was found dead i'm the front
yard. with one side of her head smash
ed iu According to- report the police
cat once suspected foul play" and have
been investigating" ever since.
This would appear to be case in
which even the country police might
have their suspicious aroused, but it is
very plain that they have their doubts.
Perhaps they think that the woman
smashed i'm her own head. The proba-
bilty is that not having actually seen
the crime committed. there is natural
hesitation and dididence about arrest
ing any one who might prove to be the
wrong person. Besides if might be a
good thing to let the murderer escape
He might prove a desperate individual,
and he might object to arrest. Inves-
tigauon and no arrests is certainly
good policy, and is according to re-
port from the district being very care
fully and ably carried out.
one must again ask why coroner's
jury was not at once impanelled, and
taken to view the remains, the cOndi-
ton of the premises and so forth.
After the burial the jury could then
proceed to examine witnesses. Every
witness would be on oath and some
tangible view of the condition of af-
fairs at the luau at various times dur
ing it's progress might be arrived at,
for though perjury by some classes is
not regarded as a very heinous crime,
it has awkward results if it is found
out.
The holding of inquests in Honolulu,
and in fact throughout the whole of
Oahu, is no longer neglected, but it is
sadly neglected on the other Islands,
especially in the more remote districts.
The idea prevails still that if a person
is dead, why that is end of him or of
her. Why bother about an inquest. 1t
takes time, the police have to hunt up
witnesses, and some of these are I'M
willing to come. 1t is much better to
bury the corpse and proceed to inves-
tigate until the affair is forgotten
The Star holds and always has held
that the inquest is as much for the
protection of the living as it is for the
avenging of the dead. People, who
may be suspected, when there is a
thoroughly open legal enquiry, can be
completely eXonerated. If there is not
such open legal enquiry, suspicion of
the darkest may clog a persons foot
steps through life. Upon this point
there can be no doubt There are cases
in this community
There Stin fingers in various parts
of the Territory the idea that having
appeared as witness at an inquest
connected a person in some way with
a crime. An inquest is by no means
necessarily an investigation into a
crime. 1t is an investigation as to the
cause of a sudden death. The death
might be due to natural causes, it
might be due to accident, it might be
due to criminal. carelessness on the
part Of others, or it might be due to
actual crime The enquiry made by
the coroner and his jury gives a basis
to work upon. But there are OATS who
cannot see an inquest in this true
light but insist that it must be an in
Yestgation for crime.