WANDERING HORSES.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1716, 5 April 1913, Page 5

WANDERING HORSES.

INTERESTING COURT CASE. A curious position was revealed in tho .Magistrate's Court yesterdays when 'Georgo Nash was charged' J b'y' ;tho* HVollington' City Corporation .with _having, allowed th,rc'o horses to wander"at largo on tho Main Itoad, Wadestown,"ttiid;'. "\Vil-. liam Nash was charged with having allowed 0110 liorso to, wander. 1 Richard Greeks, a corporation inspector, deposed that ho had found* tho four horses wandering, ' Mr. T. JI. Wilford (counsel for Georgo Nash): A month ago Mr. Nasli for allowing horses to wander, and Mr. Morton (tho City Engineer) gave instructions for th'e information to 'tx!" withdrawn. Is that correct? Inspector Greeks: I beliero so. What is tho extent of the property Nash occupies?—"l don't know." It is about ten acres. ' Is it a fact'that tho corporation put a tramway" through, it?—" Yes." Is it not a fact that tho corporation pulled down hia fence?—"l'can't say who pulled it down." Is it not a fact that tho fences have been allowed by the corporation to get into disrepair ?—"I cannot say." Is it not a fact that the mail train had to bo stopped tho other dny'throligh' his stuck getting out on to tho lino because of tho gaps they niado in hisfonce:'—l dfln't know anything about that. Don't you know that Mr. Nash allowed tho corporation to put two' miles of pipes through tho property ho occupies without asking anything from them?—"l can't say." ' Mr. Wilford, addressing''the- Court, said: "I think this is Ono-of the most outrageous prosecutions that has ever been taken by tho City Council against a public man. Mr. Nasli is a man of repute in this city, a justice of the peace, a member of the Charitablo Aid Board, and the Hospital Board, -and . lias occupied publio positions in Wellington for a considerable numbor of years.. Tho corporation, continued Mr. Wilford, in extend* iug its tramway works at Wadestown, had encroached on Nash's property,, and without asking compensation, Nash had placed the land at tho disposal of tho city officers. Tho corporation had run a temporary tramway for nearly two miles through tho property for the purpose of carrying certain pipes. lhcso operations had spoilt Nash s quiet enjoyment of the property, and tho fences were left in such a state that stock got on to the . roads. Nash was •prosecuted, but when the civic authorities ascertained tho position thev ordered that tho infornuition'should bo withdrawn. Nasli had had two horses' injured through the operations of.tho corporation's workmen. Ono liorso had been badly staked. The present pvoseoution had really resulted from the corporation's meu leaving .Nashs fences down. Such treatment of men who had acted towards tho corporation us Nn«.h had would discourage puhHc-spinl-ed citizens. "Am I exaggerating, Mr. Wilford concluded, "when; l : say that a prosecution i« &" c h -a caso is an outli,jubert Christie l'cngelley, corporation overseer nt AYadoslowiv deposed. ,io. tiic effect thai tlio gap mudo (or tho entry of tho tramway had been repaired left as it had been found. ' . Mr. W. G. Kiddell, S.M.: After hearing tlio evidence, it Rooms to 1110 that although a technical breach has-been committed, the Citv Council has to some oxlent contributed to the plUmeo Under these circumstances, 1 think that tho information should bo dismissed. Mr Wilford: I ask that tho-council bo asked to pay Mr. Nash's costs in" tho'inatl<His Worship: lam not proparod to allow any costs. V •'