LAW REPORTS.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1964, 22 January 1914, Page 9

LAW REPORTS.

MAGISTRATE'S .OTTjfS^f CHINESE & DOCTOItUGAINJ "& LOO SIIOOK'S CLAIMJIIH DOCTOR'S LETTER TO MAHACER|| The hearing of the civil claim of Loo; Shook against Francis Wallace Mae4 kenzie, eye specialist, of Wellington, for £182, as wages for about three and " a. half years' work on a bush farm near Kawhia, was recontinued before Mr. J.' S. Evans, S.M., yesterday. ■ Mr. \*. K. Meredith appeared for Loo Shook, and Mr. C. H. Treadwcll for Dr. Mackenzie..' Dr. Mackenzie went into the box, and was questioned by Mr. 'Treadwcll. 1 ■ Ho. stated that when Loo Shook came . to him some years ago he had been drinking, and be had told witness that he was not fit for work. If was not.true that he had undertaken to employ .'tho. man at £1 per week. ■■■[■:■ . k;'' 1 Is the Letter Admissible? i :^^',f: At this stago Mr. Treadwcll : stated, thp.t he could produce a copy of a let-, ter from Dr. Mackenzie to his foreman, holding out the terms on which he was. willing to employ plaintiff. Mr. Tread-, well submitted that this letter could bo. received in evidence. Mr. Meredith held that a copy of a, letter was not admissible. .' If it Were admitted it could only be admitted in its original form. ' If the original letter were lost it would be necessary to have the farm foreman as a witness,', with a view to proving its loss. • Any contract could he upset by the admission of such a letter, as, in the interval of time, any fabrication could ..;■■■ be made. •;-■ r^.'i/; His Worship said that be would tike,, to go more carefully into this matter. Further argument ensued -on 1 this, phase of the case, and, eventually, the Magistrate stated that he would admit the copy of the letter as evidence, pro tern, but if he found, after consider:;-;: tion, that it had been improperly .admits' ted, he would reject it. -... V;'';■.'~or-j Text of the .". ;&<&s*s ; The copy of the letter in question was then produced, and read as follows:— -:J To T. Ciioetham, Opaurau, '-.'-.'. v, Wellington, September 17, 1909...1 An old Chow, who worked for my •'. father in Ota o about forty years ago, called on me. Ho says his cousin in Napier cheated nim out of his garden, and he is undoubtedly hard up.. Besides, ho looks on tho • border line of a D.T. I am sorry for the old heathen. He always . drank in the old dr.ys, and was a notoriously quarrelsome man, but ,- he looks broken down now, and I think the Dad would bo good to him if he wcro still alive, and I told the . old hoy that he might go and stay with Low Wye. He says ho can't. work. Poor old chap, tbero's nothing else hut the O.M. Home for him. I'll pay for everything for him, and send him clotiiesy and just let him fool around and enjoy himself; I'm giving him £3 for . his journey up. ' Yours faithfully, F. WALLACE MACKENZIE. Further evidence was taken, and the rase was then ' adjourned sine die in consequence of the Magistrate's absence iu Nelson. In tho meantime, Mr. Evans stated his intention of consulting legal authorities as te, tho admissibility of the letter in question. OTHER CIVIL CASES. ; CORPORATION. & HOrSEHdibER. '. Points of- interest, to. solicitors "were raised in a judgment delivered by Mr. J. S. Eyaus, S.M., in tho ease Wellington City Corporation v. A. Rizzi. The defendant was charged that, within the space of six months past, to wit, on July 15, 1912, he unlawfully failed, and still continued to fail, to "comply with a notice requiring him to connect ins premises with 'a drain. The notice was served on the defendant on Julv. In, 1912. It gave him 30 days in which to do the work. The information was laid on December 18, 1913. obviously (commented. His Worship) ntoro than six mouths after tho date alleged as the one on which the offence was committed. The proceedings were therefore on their face bad, and the Court had no jurisdiction, tho offence charged having been committed about 17 months before tho date of tho laying of the information. Mr. O'Shea had contended at the hearing that the offence was a continuing one, and that the time, limited for taking proceedings did not apply to a continuing olfence. i , Tho .Magistrate, held to the contrary, with a qualifying, remark that the only ] difference was that a continuing offence ] might, bo laid and charged as on any day after the same arose and during its continuance,.hut if proceedings were taken for an .offence which was a continuing one, the dato alleged must be within six months from the. date of tho laying of the information. If this was not so, the defendant in a ease like the present ono eould be charged with an offence for a period which would be limited only by his lifetime, at a penalty of £20 per day. His Worship added that the information was bad on a further ground, in that it disclosed no offence at all. The notice was served on the defendant on July 15, 1912, and required him to do certain work within 30 days. There was therefore no failure to comply with tho notice until after tho expiration of 30 days, whereas the information charged him with an offence on the day tho notice was served. The defendant, who had made no appearance, was entitled to ignore the summons. Ho .(His Worship) had no power, to bring him before the Court '< n defective proceedings of tin's kind, and had no power to amend tho proceedings and convict him in his absence of an offence for which he had not been charged. .. BAKERS' AWARD. . :'■*£{;. H. Fisher was fined £4 for failure to enter tho correct number of hours worked by an employee. The proceed-' ings wore taken under . the bakers' award. V; . ;■' THOSE RAIDED DENS. * ■'; PAK-A-POO FINE TOTAL £146;''-: l'ak-a-poo fines amounting to £146 woro imposed by Mr. W. G. Riddell,S.M., in tho Magistrate's Court yesterday morning. The defendants in Court wero four Chinese and threo Europeans, and the proceedings.:wero the result of Tuesday night's raid on Haining Street by tho Mount : Cook police. Cbong Kum, a Confucian of sixty summers, and Ah Loo, a man of about' half his compatriot's years, pleaded guilty to charges of keeping premises in Haining Street as common gaming houses. Kum's house was No. ; s, : and Loo's No. 53. ..y. ~..■■ 'i'tp' 'r-Police-Inspector Hondrey said ..""that though neither of these defendants, had. previously been convicted they''-' had' both made a business for somoj-timc. past of selling pak-a-poo tiekets.,%. r.." Tho Magistrate: Each is liable, to a fine of £100 or imprisonment for three months. There have been a number of cases similar to these before the Court and the defendants should know-pci r , fectly well tho risk they nin"in" carry-4. ling on this sort of business. "'As neither of them has been before'the'Court, previously the masimum;; penalty ;. will

.\\ o t"»b mpo sp.dy/.I) ij (S^ncihiWill.Jie/ifiiul f "^!'C^f?"'sM'otej:(to^ ; iiil'P : f^]ii: : mSl^hhveiiVa^h :i 9«?yA'"' ,i '??'"' ; ' "?;. : iari'ostrd\;<>H.o«lKi^ ■.■ |:?tt?|;:j; ;i^; : r gj^gi; 'SSfK'- 1 ?-:■■'?.' *'^'^ t '.l? l 't-9S* : *Tllose^.ariioiiiit§^.-ratij j ;b(gcpnliaciito(r4iii;:(iJdiictioiitof|tlie*nino : v}; ;!inHftlipsalioriiat : iv'eftwillS!)n3Trwliicb ; j s .j, x *ST^^Sil.'H'f'l'onjiiViil^'j l ' ■■'.with.l-'linvinKS'iis'sistod tli'o:;fnihh;i-y-J >oiit/of a.f!pHoVy:;^rr;JTC^V~^apkE!)n" ; ■appeared'lor ? d of cn(laift-s ; ||raiid|-.pn--tored ■ ";11iaf>en tori31eiul ioy;^l'iiosg^fiiicnJyvero; : found ' < last ■'twoJv:'dolo>idaiifs; i -V;i'Tlioy-?cainc 4,in .while the"police ivern'lliero.''arid''handed the kepper .of,- tlic?'liqiiso.' a ■ pnk-a-poo ticket.ivThoyjiwerp arrested, and thirtyeiidit;tickets.*w,crb""foiind on one and fift.v-nvo.W'.the'fotiier.;-'' Tliat" indicates that' 'thorn' are nt'-lca'st' fifty-five "agents forgone, bank and thirty-eight for'another..- It-just goes;.tb'-show tlie.'enormous"growth.of. the :cvil.sf'■;■£»' ''P M ' '■' Jlr. 'Jackson' askedcfof'i'knienc.v/ifor. tho defendants""',™;they* were' first : offenders and' were, not/'principals, '.hut merely,., the servants» of.',tho ; .principals wlio'wpte just fined." %'•*'£ ■'■■.■■■„;&■. ■■.'.■ '"■ Tho;"MaKist,rato:'The... penalty .■''*' provided. by. : the.'statute"''is ■'exactly'"-- the same for-V'those- who assist?, as for tho .prmcipals.V"Each ■ defendant' will;-, bo fined'£2o, .int.dcfault'-.oijo;riiontli's-im-pnsonmentJ 'l :: " ; i*i. '••-" ?V- '■■■- ■' Charles Wli<?ku, Edward 'Jamos'-Asli-bv.'-and James' Wilkins, tho. Europeans n-ho were found in tlio. raided houses were pack fined £2,-- in default- seven days imprisonment.?j'%?X--V':-v '-V-'i-'-t : f QVi CASES;:|J;|;CIf f " .rArthur'.Short .was convicted of.. ; iiiso-' briety and breach of a prohibition 'ordciy :lh was'ifiiicd l £2.;w;:sr'-H', ,^-; l 'v'V : Graes Lenny was convicted of having importuned/in Tory .Street'-and was ordered .to,;, appear sfor-v Bontenco -.when ; ...- '■ -"v//rOvSj?-fi:iSv.-;?.Sv