PROTEST MADE.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1845, 3 September 1913, Page 3

PROTEST MADE.

LETTER SENT TO THE MINISTER. - :BY CAPTAIN'S COUNSEL. - POSITION OF ONE ASSESSOR. At tho hearing, Mr. M. Myers, who appeared on behalf of Captain Caunce, master of the Devon,, sought to have a certain point brought out in evidence, which was, however, ruled as inadmissablo by the president of the Court (Dr. A. M'Arthur, S.M.). The point was that ono of tho nautical assessors appointed to try the case was a coastal pilot who had previously offered to navigate the vessel into Wellington, but whoso services had been declined by Captain Caunce. Dr. M'Arthur ruled tliat the matter was not ono which concerned tho Court, but with regard to which representations should be made to the Marine Department. Text of the Letter. At the close of tiie hearing, therefore, and beforo the decision of tho Court had been delivered, Mr. Myers sent tho following letter to tho Minister for Mariner "On behalf of Captain Caunce, tho master of tho s.s. Devon, and on his instructions, I havo to tako tho strongest possible exception to tho appointment of ono of the assessors appointed by you to inquire, into the ' circumstances of tho stranding of tho vessel. Tho assessor to whom objection is taken is Captain Felix Black. It is respectfully submitted that to appoint, m a caso of this kind, a coastal pilot is manifestly unfair, because it is presumably to the interests of a coastal pilot that every ocean vessel .should engage a pilot when travelling aiong tho coasts of the Dominion. It is not for a moment suggested that an assessor who might be a coastal pilot would be consciously aifcctcd by such a consideration ; but surely the consideration might affect an assessor with unconscious bias. But in the present caso there is a further reason why the appointment of Captain Black is taken exception to. hon Captain Caunco was m Auckland, he received a letter from Captaiu Black, offering his services as coastal pilot to bring the vessel down from Auckland at a fee of,. I under-

stand, £'J1 10s. Captain Black's services wero not availed of, and Captain Black is now appointed to sit as an assessor to adjudicate upon Captain Caunce's navigation. Again, it is not suggested that Captain Black (or any other persons in his position) would allow such a consideration to consciously aliect him; but is it'not''reasonable to think that Captain Black's natural inclination of opinion-might bo that the accident would not have happened if his services had been availed of? And such a view might be calculated to unconsciously alfect Captain Black's judgment. Unfortunately, tho objection could not he made in time to enable it to bo considered by you with a view to some other assessor being appointed. It was not until this morning that the names of the assessors were announced, and the inquiry commenced at 10 a.m., to-day." Further Letter by Captain's Solicitor, j Sir. ll.vers submitted in another let- I ter to tho Minister dated September 2 that the finding of the Court that the Devon never camo within the while sector of tin- Some Island light was absolutely contrary to the evidence of all the witnesses who were called from the ship, and that it was not even suggested on behalf of the Department during the whole of the proceedings that tho witnesses were not speaking the truth when they said that the vessel came, and travelled for some distance, within the white sector of Sumcs Islaiki lit'ht. Mr. Myers also states that when Captain Caunce was giving evidence, Captain Black observed to 'him: "You could not havo been in the white sector at all; you were in the green sector all the time." This shows, Mr. Myers remarks, that Captain Black must have, come to his conclusion at a very early stage of the prooocdings. "Indeed," lie

continuos, "I may go further and say that I am informed by the manager of the Now Zealand and African Steam Ship Company, the local agents of the Devon, that before the inquiry was held Captain Black said to him that 110 casualty would not have happened if (Captain- Black) had been on board. On these and other grounds Mr. Myers submitted that there is "ground tor suspecting that a miscarriage of justice has occurred." He stated that Captain Caunce's fiuanoial position put an appeal in the ordinary way out of the question. Tho matter, lie adds, is of great importance to Captain Caunce, and also to tho mercantile marine generally, because' frequent exception had been taken to the appointment of assessors and to the personnel of assessors when appointed, although lie did nou know that much strong' exception, hail been taken to any previous appointment as in the present case.