The Akaroa Mail. TUESDAY, APRIL 10, 1877.

Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, Volume I, Issue 76, 10 April 1877, Page 2

The Akaroa Mail. TUESDAY, APRIL 10, 1877.

Mr. Justice Johnston in his charge, to the Grand Jury at the last Criminal Sessions held in Christchurch, after expressing his regret at the number and serious nature of the offences comprised in the calendar, said:—" There is a " great variety of charges, such as we " often have in the Colony, but there is " one that appears to be of very great " prevalence, viz., that of obtaining " money by means of false documents. " There is, upon this occasion, a series " of charges of this nature of getting " money by means of false cheques. I " am very sorry to see this, and cannot " suggest any reason why crimes of this " particular nature should be so rife in " the Colony generally, and in this por- " tion of the Colony in particular. The " only reason I can conceive is that " cheques are received here with extreme " carelessness by shopkeepers and others, " and faith placed in those who tender " them, however much they may be un- " known. I cannot say what the-cause " may be. I will, however, submit to " you that this time the cheques have " not been taken with the same reck- " lessness as on former occasions. Some " of the cases are those of down-right " deliberate forgery. We have to look " somewhat further to see what causes " such a great prevalence of this crime of " forgery in a country like this —a country " in a state of prosperity. Whether it " be from the joint influence of drink, " and the facilities of passing such " cheques or not, that leads to this crime, " we may discover in time. It is the " duty of every well-wisher of society, to " get if possible, at the source of all " crime or offences prevalent in society, " and I therefore hope, gentlemen, that " you will give these matters your utmost " care and consideration, with a view of " means being taken to eradicate, or at " least lessen, that amount of forgery " which at present unquestionably exists." We have given the learned judge's remarks in full, because of their importance, and, because we hope to be able to increase the light which is evidently dawning upon the judicial mind. And here we wish to draw a distinction between the cause of the crime and the facilities offered for its commission. The cause or incentive is one thing, the facilities afforded are another. It is with the cause that we have to do at present. " Nine-tenths of the crime," said Mr. Justice Gresson, when presiding on a

similar occasion, " nine-tenths of the " crime which comes before me are the " result of drink." We venture to affirm tli at nine-tenths of the cases of forgery now unhappily bo prevalent, in the polony, are the result of drink. Let us consider the nature of the cases of forgery committed here, as well as the position in society and the educational status of those committing them, and compare them with similar offences committed in the old, country. There, the crime of forgery is generally perpetrated by men of education, men holding apparently a respectable, and in some cases a high position in society ; the fraud is committed either for the purpose of obtaining large sums of money, or of covering defalcations to a serious amount; such an offence as forging a cheque for the payment of a few pounds, is comparatively unknown. Here, the forgers are, for the most part, working men, illiterate so far as learning goes, or they belong to the seedy genteel class, whose seediness is the result of debauchery and who use what education they possess simply as a means of administering to their vices. The forged documents almost always are cheques drawn for small sums often as low as two or three pounds, and, in many cases, are ill-spelt and worse written. Forgery of Bills of Exchange for large sums of money rarely occurs. In the old country, losses occasioned by over speculation, or the false shame of being compelled to quit a high position in society are mostly the incentives to forgery ; in this Colony the incentive is the gratification of an appetite which lowers its victim below the level of the brute, and too often fixes upon him the felon's brand. We affirm, without fear of contradiction, that nine out of every ten of the cases of forgery committed in this Colony, have been preceded by a drinking bout, which has left the parties penniless. The craving for more drink is continually gnawing while the man's moral principles are excessively feeble in action, if not, for the time, wholly suspended. A cheque is forged and cashed, and the forger finds, when too late, that he has to forfeit three or four years' liberty for having fraudulently obtained possession of as many pounds. Doubtless, the ease with which those forged cheques are cashed offers considerable facility to the perpetration of the crime, but it is not the cause or incentive thereto. That cause is an ungovernable craving for drink. How this cause is to be eradicated or even lessened is another matter, with which at present we do not propose to deal.