COAL VEND CASE.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1114, 29 April 1911, Page 5

COAL VEND CASE.

MR. HUCHES'S ADELAIDE SPEECH. STATEMENT AND ASSURANCE. By 'I'elciraDfi—Press Association—Oopyriibt (Rec. April 28, 0.35 p.m.) Sydney, April 28. On the resumption of the Coal Vend case, counsel for the Commonwealth made a statement on behalf of Mr. Hughes in connection with his Adelaide speech. Mr. Hughes claimed that lie did not say anything in contempt of Court, or anything that could in anyway prejudice the defendants. Ho did not admit that he made any references to the case otherwise than was, in his opinion, justifiable. At tiie same timo, he gave an assurance not to publicly comment on the case till the Court has given its decision upon it. Mr. Wheeler, manager for the Ncw-castle-Wallsend mine, which stood out of the Vend, the objection being that it would be bound to sell coal to certain steamship owners, gave evidence. Ho stated that beforo the Vend was formed tho output of his mine was 150,000 tons yearly for the inter-State trade. After tho formation of the Vend the output sank to 10,000 tons. This was due to .steamship owners declining to put his coal before their customers. Giving evidence for the prosecution in the Coal Vend case, Mr. John Haynes, proprietor of the "News-letter," said ho wrote and sent to the "Adelaide Advertiser" a letter condemning the coal mine in New South AVales which tho South Australian Government contemplated purchasing. He admitted that he had received £50 for his services. Mr. Haynes declared that ho had heard certain Federal members would make from twenty to thirty thousand pounds out of the sale of a mine to the South Australian Government,