SUPREME COURT.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXV, Issue 2192, 23 September 1907, Page 1

SUPREME COURT.

I (Before His Honor Justice Denniston. ALLEGED PER JUDY. William. Charles ’WliitJiokl was dunged with committing perjury. Mr J. W. Nolan conducted tho prosecu tion, and Mr. W. L. Rees appearei for the accused. 'llho following jury was empanelled : —Messrs Stephen Scragg, Henry Geo Taylor, Clias. F. Kernot, H. E. John ston, J elm .MacFarlaue, Fred Geo Rowley, C. S. Haines, Hugh Bruce Chas. C. Rubv. Matthew McCredio H. W. Bain, F. C. Bull, Jas. Chnisp. Mr. Ml McCredio was chosen foreman. Detective Maddern deposed that when cross-examining the accused in the lower Court lie had, .asked him whether he had gone to Mr. McLean at Common, Shelton, and Co.’s srtoro and admitted stealing a oaso of boor. . Tho accused denied having done so. Coustablo Wales gave corroborative evidonce. _ Wm,. McLean , deposed that he was manager of the goods department at Common, Shelton, and Co.’s. Tho .accused and Hepburn' oame to.hiis office on the 6th April last and -asked to jSpejtk; to him, ;.' (Eho accused said that they had come to tell the truth about the beer, and he offered to pay for it. Witness said he could no nothing for them, as the police had the matter in hand. After hearing the addresses of counsel and his Honor’s summing up, the jury retired,- and brought in a ver-. diet of “Not- guilty.” ALLEGED HORSE-STEALING. tOiL the 'application of Mr. Stock, agreed to by Mr. Nolan, the case against Eria Tutarakauika of alleged horse-stealing was adjourned until the next sitting of the Supreme Court. HORSE-STEALING SENTENCES. Oliver Goldsmith, ltangi Hotene, and Charles Single were put forward for sentence. Hiis Honor sentenced Single to 12 months’ imprisonment. Hotene was sentenced to 12mouths’ imprisonment on each of .two charges, sentences to be cumulative. In passing sentence on Goldsmith his Honor said that prisoner bore a .good character, but horse-stealing seemed to be a very common offence in this district, and accused must' •have a substantial sentence. He would undergo six months’ imprisonment.

SENTENCE FOR THEFT OF MONEYS. Edward C. Clark, who had pleaded guilty to theft of moneys, was brought forward for sentence. Mr. W. L. Rees appeared for accused. Mr. Rees stated that accused had never been very strong, and for some time had been ill in the hospital. To ease his pain ho got into the habit of injecting morphia, and when he left the hospital the injections wero continued. Accused was a married man, and was only in receipt of £2 10s per week, although he had control of large sums of money continuously. Accused had had his wages increaed since his marriage,, as half his. wages went in medical 'attendance. The amounts concerned in the.oharges totalled £156 4s Id. (Mr. Nolan interjected.that the .am-' onnt embezzled was in the vicinity of £9OO. ■Mr. Rees said the morphia habit tended to demoralise mental and bodily power and moral force. His Honor said it was questionable whether a habit acquired with a person’s consent could be urged in mitigation'. Mr. Rees asked that accused he ad■mitited to probation, as a term, ’ll gaol would practically be a death sentence. From the amounts dealt with and the dates it would appear that accused had misappropri at e d moneys as ho became pushed for..cash. Mr. Rees called ■ Dr. Morrison, who testified that he bad known .accused for the past four or five years. He had been addicted to. the morphia habit ever since ho first consulted witness, about four years ago. Knew accused to take very large doses of morphia. At present he was taking forty drops six. times a day. He had been doing so for the past four veins. It had ruined accused’s .physical system. It was a well-known fact, morally, that though a man were the most truthful in the world, after taking to tlie ; habit, he would become very untruthful. Thought accused was morally, irresponsible for the present offence.', Accused was in the.po- ■ sition of a ,man with delirium tremens, only in .a. chronic form. Accused was consumptive, and consumotives were, more: liable to take morphia than others. Accused had been given morphia in. the hospitul, and it could hardly be said that accused had himself acquired the. habit. Accused could carry on his ordinary business. His Honor said accused belonged to ,a dangerous class —n class whose; intellectual usefulness was not seriously impaired, but whose moral sense .was deficient. • Witness, continuing, said accused might not Jive if denied morphia, for 12 hours.

iDr. James C. Collins deposed that lie had attended accused for the past. eigl),t months, and knew him to be. addicted to morphia. Morphia and alcohol .both acted on. the system j in very much the same way. Alcohol was the more inflammatory, but in the end the effect was very much the aune. The effect on accused’s moral character would be the usual physiological one-7-he would be inclined to secrete his faults and to gamble. Aliy mail, whether a drunkard, a morphia maniac, or addicted to (any ibad habit, became a moral degenerate, and usually unfit for the battle of life. Accused was in the, habit of using six ounces of morphia ©very 18 days, or eight to ten grains a day. This would cost roughly a shilling a day. 1

Dr. C. Scmim-aciier deposed tliajt lie amended .accused on several occasions. The morphia habit could be started by the drug being given to relievo pain, and there was always trouble m breaking people of the habit—more in goipe than'in others. To Jus Honor : • To break people of the habit it was necessary that they should bo under some kind of control. William Maddorn, police detective, said'he had known accused for the past 16 months. Accused did a lot of horse-rucing. Ho was always among the bookmakers when there were any races in the colony. Looked upon accused as a heavy bettor. To his Honor: If a prisoner at Mount Eden Gaol was in very bad health he was sent to the Auckland Hospital. For others not so bad there was a gaol surgeon. In reply to Iris Honor Mr. Rods said as far as he knew accused had no monev and no friends. His Honor asked if it would be advisable to set accused free.

Mr. Rees said accused s wile was naturally anxious. His Honor said that was perhaps so, but a wife could not do much .rood in such a case. He had fret|iiontly to deal with such cases, and liis aim generally was to send oft endCIS to gaol for "their own good as much as anything. Accused would be 'imprisoned for 12 months. The period would have been longer but for the circumstances oF the case. Ibis Honor’s opinion as to treatment of the accused would be communicated to the proper authorities. IN CHAMBERS. An adjournment till next session was granted in the case of To Raima Hapi v. Watene Huka and another, claim and counter-claim regarding tlie occupation of a block of land in AVairoa. Re John Alex. Bradley, deceased. Motion on petition for direction.— Order made. Probate of the will of Alex, Robb,

docoasod, was granted to Robert Robb and .Win. King Robb.—Probate was granted to lVm. Harrington Mil- ) lor in tho will of Mary,-Miller, deceased.—Probato was grunted in tho will of CJias. Henry Tiot.ien. An adjournment .was refused in ,ilio - case of Alfred,.McGrath v. “Gisbonio . Times” Company. • ; INDLVORCE. i;" 1 In Jus....Knox v. . Erena Kuoxj a decree nisi w’ns granted, to be male, absolute in three months. •.1 Loavo lor. substituted sorvioo; of •writ was refused in the enso Annie ■> Howard v; ...Georgo Boswell Howml. IN BANKRUPTCY. An order of discharge was made to Charles Jas. Knojrp. Tho discharge in tho case of 'William Birch Markie was susponJjd for twelve months. ' IN BANCO. An. order was mado restraining Herbert Henry Fairlie.from carrying on liis, employment ns a storoman at Tokomaru, qn the ground that he had entered into a covenant with Walt u* Henry Connell not to do so for 1< n years, from May 22nd. 1905. 1 55 '■ ■ *—'" COUNTY FINANCE. A NEW-. SYSTEM PROPOSED. PROPOSAL TO BORROW £IOO,OOO. COMMITTEE TO REPORT.

CAPITAL FOR NEW 'WORK. RATES TO PAY MAINTENANCE AND INTEREST. At tho meeting of the Cook County Council on Friday last an important proposition with regard to finance was brought forward. The Chairman moved that the Council strike a general rate of one penny separately for each of the ridings. Ho estimated that a penny rate would about meet the expenditure, but if, in view of the growing requirements of the County, it was insufficient it would be necessary to supplement it later on.

The motion was carried unanimousW. D. Lysnar was pleased to see the rate levied “separately” in each riding. It was what he had asked for. Following up the rating question Cr. Lysnar moved: “That the whole financial position of the Council be referred to a special committee, comprising the Chairman, Crs. Matthews, White and the mover, to bring up a report upon the following heads, (a) To advise the Council on the best basis to follow in apportionment and expending the County funds in the future, (b) To consider and report upon the advisability of raising a general loan over the whole County with tho object of substantially improving the roads, so that the rates levied should be applied towards maintenance and interest only, and not for making roads, the report of the committee to specifically define jtlio apportionment of the loan moneys illrnn '’limit tho district.”

Iho mover argued that the system of levying a general rate for the year’s expenditure was inadequate for the heavy calls upon tho Council’s exchequer. The money, came in driblet's and was spent without much work of a permanent nature to show for it. His proposal was that the Council should carry out construction work with the loan moneys, and utilise the rates for the payment of interest and for maintenance.. A vigorous. policy was essential in a rising district, and to show what could bo done he instanced that the present rate of one penny would provide for the maintenance and interest on a loan of £200,000 for putting tho roads in order. He desired tho Council to set up a committee; to go into tho question ond show what could be done without adding a fraction to the rate at present levied. He would advocate that the Council grasp the occasion to embark on a loan of £IOO,OOO or £150,000 to meet the requirements of tho various ridings. It would be far cheaper, and decidedly more efficacious. At- 41 per cent, interest and 1 per cent sinking fund, a. loan of £IOO.OOO would cost £SOOO a year in interest. A rate of only one farthing over tho whole County—his figures were official—produced £4,600 per annum. AVould the Council prefer this £4,600 extracted i in driblets and expended as at' present, or to utilise it for paying interest', on a lam which would he a boon to ,th» district? The proposition he put forward was so'reasonable and business 7 like that he believed a poll in i its favor would bo carried all over the County. In one special rating district he was paying a special rate of one penny. Yet a penny rate over tho whole County would practically pay interest on a huge loan of £400,000. It was a. groat mistake for portions of the district to ho loading themselves in the way they had been; the whole system of financt was wrong. According to legal opin-. ion which he had obtained from Mr. H. D. Bell (now in the clerk’s possession) either the whole of the roads must be classed as County roads and come under general expenditure,; or cort'ain roads such as Tolaga, Motu, Tiiniroto and Morere must he called main roads and maintained out of the general fund, and the balance of .the money expended in the ridings according to a proportion arrived at. The speaker was not particular which course of the two was adopted, hut one of the two must, be recognised and adhered to. Ho would. ask ,the Council to consider his proposition in a fair spirit, his object and theirs being identical, lianrely, to got the roads into a good condition. With better financial handling, there was no need for the Motu people, for instance, to be locked up and deprived of access for months each year. Lot the Council provide for . present day needs, and make posterity pay some share of . tho privileges it inherited. Now was the right time to open, up the district with good roads instead of struggling along with inadequate provision for their needs year after year. It was not his intention to elaborate on his motion at tho present juncture. A report would bo forwarded by a committee, if the motion wore carried, and then would bo the time to discuss it more fully. |

The Chairman disagreed with a remark about apportionment between ridings. It did not arise wlion there was an overdraft. There could be no apportionment between ridings unless, after completing all works, there was a credit balance to be divided between them. “I entirely agree with Cr. Lysnar,” added: the Chairman with reference to the proposition, put forward. He thought both maintenance and new work should be done wit-li loan moneys. It would pay the Council handsomely to borrow suy £50,000 for the various works waiting attention

I in all parts of tho County. The Coun- ! cil might just as well get everything ! ill “npplo-pie order” and he done with it. Or. Sliorratt: With a loan wo could revert to a rate of three-farthings. Cr. Xjyßiiar,: Yes s loss till (ill, til at). Cr.' Matthews said lie quite endorsed tho Chairman’s view. Ho supported tho motion, and .undertook that tho , committee, if appointed, would go thoroughly into the 'matter and present a report that would greatly assist the Council in arriving at a decision. Ho .seconded the motion. Cr, MacDonald said that it seoniod all right on tho face of it. but £IOO,000 divided up would only bo £II,OOO for each riding. . This sum would not be anything like sufficient for some ridings; something more like £50,000 could ho expended on work in Waikohu riding alone. lie inclined to think tlio provision of such an amount each year would bo a great tie oi) tho Council. A special rate could not bo reduced, but under the presont system there was nothing; to hinder a reduction in the rate if a ; time of depression came. A big liability like that might only put the Council in a ..far. worse , condition ina lew years when the expenditure on maintainance increased v

The Chairman: ’U'c arc not going into the merits of borrowing just now. The question is do you agree to a committee being set up to present a report for the Council’s consideration ?

Cr. Lysnar said the motion was

non-committal. He pointed out that Cr. MacDonald was under an erronnjipression. A loan of say £IoO,OOO could be so apportioned that Waikohu would get £50,000 is required. It could nay interest on that amount, and have enough for maintenance, on exactly tho same ratei as at present. The back roads to Motn could be metalled without ei ra * e - and he favored £LiU,OOO hems raised. However the. committee’s report would show the exact position. i motion was carried unanimously.", J/ 16 Chairman, Crs. Matthews, White and Lysnar formnig the Committee.