JUSTICE'S JUSTICE; OR, WHAT MAY HAPPEN TO A MAN IN THE DUNSTAN DISTRICT.

Cromwell Argus, Volume I, Issue 7, 22 December 1869, Page 5

JUSTICE'S JUSTICE; OR, WHAT MAY HAPPEN TO A MAN IN THE DUNSTAN DISTRICT.

To the Editor of the Cromwell Arous. Sir—Permit me through tho medium of your valuable journal to bring under the notice of the miners in your district, and the public in general, the hardships and injustice that have been inflicted upon me by Mr Warden Pyke ; and in doing so, I may state that I am solely actuated with the idea of preventing that gentleman from acting in such an arbitrary and unreasonable manner should any case of a similar oharaoter ever come under his jurisdiction again. In the month of last, I made a statement in Court to the effect that I was not the owner of a certain dredge. Another person inadvertently swore that he had handed me over all the papers in connection with the said dredge, thus making me the owner. The result was, I was committed for trial, the bale being fixed at one thousand pounds. This Ido not complain of, although the amount of bail to any unprejudiced person must appear exorbitant in the extreme. But, Sir, three days after my committal, and whilst I was waiting to be transmitted to Dunedin, the person who had inadvertently sworn that he had placed all the papers in my hands forwarded those documents to my agent. That gentleman immediately brought them under the notice of Mr Warden Pyke, and asked him to reduce the bail from £IOOO to £4OO, which my agent was prepared with : but Mr Pyke was inexorable, and although having my innocence brought before him in such a palpable manner, he still persisted in sending me to Dunedin to await my trial—thus damaging my character, injuring my health, putting me to upwards of £IOO expenses, and last—but not least—subjecting me to three months' incarceration in a common gaol, rendering me the associate of thieves and of the most desperate and depraved characters—and all to result in an acquittal! Novr, Sir, I would ask you, in the mildest terms, " Is not the conduct of Mr Warden Pyke censurable in the extreme, (Ist) in fixing tho bail at the excessive amount of a thousand pounds, and (2nd) when my innocence was brought under his notice, for his refusing to reduce the amount to the £4OO offered by my agent, which certainly would have been a sufficient guarantee for my appearance at the Sessions in Dunedin, and would have saved me the loss of time, expense, and moral degradation and pollution complained of ?" I will not trespass further upon your valuable space, for Mr Pyke's vagaries and eccentricities are becoming proverbial and pretty well canvassed through the length and breadth of the land, but I do hope that by your giving this a corner in your valuable journal, it may deter this model Warden from again declaring so unjustly in the case of any unfortunate miner or miners who may be brought into his august presence for judicial examination. —I am, Sir, yours, &c., Robert Hksdkrson'.