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Auckland Star, Volume II, Issue 563, 30 October 1871, Page 1 (Supplement)

[FROM THE "' EVENING NEWS," BEPT. 21.]

We were supplied some weeks ago with a pimphlet entitled " Craig's Troubles, or our Antipodean Courts and Laws," which we read with very painful interest at the time, aud then laid nside. It relates to the celebrated case of Mold versus > raig, which occupied the attention of the Supreme Court for a period of nine days in the mouths of June and July last, and discloses an amount of wrong-doing seldom to be met with anywhere, yet not to be reached, it seems, by the law of the i.-010 .y, as it n»w stands What the jury who tried the case thought of it, and of' what ought to bo done to repair the. wrong inflicted, may be gathered from the following statement;, which appears us an appendix to the pamphlet:—

We, the undersigned, do licreby state as follows : — That we served as special jurors on the trial in the case of Mohi 'Vtaugj.kahia v. Thomas Craig, heard before his Honor the Chief Justice in th i Supreme Court at Auckland in Juno last. That the trial lasted nine days, and that at the end of the trial we fully understood the merits of tho whoie ea*e. That our verdict was unanimously for the defendant, except as to certain issues, with regard to whioU the Chiel Jusiiee exprensly directed us in law to find (lie plaintitf with 3s. damages. i hat in our opinion fcliu ac>i«u was a most unrighteous and vexatious one, and instead of Mohi being entitled to damages for the pretended wrongs complained oi' by him, we consider Craig to have been in the whole matter tho injured party; and if it had been iv our power in that action, we should certainly have awarded substantid damages to Craig aa against Mohi and his aeo unpliee, 0. A. Harris, jun., for the grievous wrongs which he haa sustained at their hands. That in spite of the demands ou oath of Mohi and Harris, we are perfectly satisfied that, to all intents and purposes, these two are one, and havo throughout worked in concert, at least as against Craig. That we give it as our deliberate opinion and conviction that the two thousand legs, more or less, cut down and squared by Craig at Opitonui, and now lying there or ai Harris's mill, are in all honesty aud good conscience the absolute property of l'homas Cmig.and that Mohi and Harris have not the shadow of an equity on which to ground a claim to such logs. That being satisfied, therefore, that the law ha 3in thia caso been made tho iuatruineiifc of spoliation aud oppression which shocks every sentiment of natural justice, we shoul i be highly gratified it' the legislature would devise and carry into effect a measure calculated to repair such an intolerable wrong.—

James Fabmeb (foreman), Chakles StichBuar, F. R. Claude, Barton Ireland, O'Nkiltj, W. R. Logan, James Wallace, R. J. Taylor, J. 0. Morris, George Bust, A. Barnes, C. 11. Otway.

We should hardly have referred to this matter now—of which the public beard so much while the trial was proceeding— but that a gentleman is, we understand, on liis way to Wellington in the Phoebe, to see what can be done towards bringing it under the notice of Parliament. This may be thought an unusual course, but it is alike unusual for a jury to be unanimous in declaring when a case is over that the decision given " shocks every sentiment of natural justice," and for all who strive to master the case in its various bearings to join with the jury in that declaration. The language the jury employ in describing this case may be thought utinec-essarily strong by those who have not gene into ils merits, but not by any others. It is another "Bleak House" affair, with some modifications, and a few additional enormities. The defendant gets the verdict, and yet has to surrender all to the plaintiff.

We can form no idea of the way in which the c.ise will be brought before the Par'iament, or of what Parliament will do with it. Hut that something is demanded in tlie interests of justice must be abundantly clear to all who take the (rouble to read the pamphlet which has been written on the subject, and which is got up with very great g>\t% Had our space allowed, we shoul 1 have liked to have re-printed it in extensio, and thus have made ils contents generally known. But that is impossible; and the next best thing, perhaps, is to present every member of Parliament with a copy, and contrive in some way to have it made a part of the records of the House. In that case it could not fail to have a very great influence in any new native land law legislation that may bo attempted.