The Globe. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 7, 1875.

Globe, Volume III, Issue 256, 7 April 1875, Page 2

The Globe. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 7, 1875.

Me. Justice Gtllies, who on Monday took his seat on the judicial bench at Auckland, seems to be much of the same mind as his Honor Mr Justice Williams. Both the new judges in their charges to the Grand Jury called the attention of these gentlemen to the common occurrence of the crimes of forgery and uttering. The crime, no doubt, is comparatively speaking, common in these colonies, and we think that we have not far to go to find the reasons for this being the case. In the colonies, more especially in the country districts, every account, no matter how small, provided only that it exceed one pound sterling, is, as a general rule, paid by cheque. These cheques are handled in the most careless manner, and are cashed by country publicans, many of whom are deficient in education, almost without question. Many of these publicans know the signatures of almost every one possessing a banking account, who may happen to reside in their neighbourhood, but at the same time, they could not distinguish between the genuine signature, and one which had been forged in imitation of it, by any person possessing a fair share of imitative powers. His Honor Mr Justice Gresson called attention to the carelessness exhibited by storekeepers and publicans in cashing cheques for comparative strangers more than once, but still cases arising out of this practice crop up at every session, and there are many more which the public do not hear of, and in which the man who has cashed a valueless cheque, prefers to keep his lot to himself and not to hand the case over to the police. It is excessively difficult to suggest any other mode of paying accounts due, up the country, except by cheque, as it would obviously beimpossiblafor every one to keep sufficient money in the house to pay wages, etc, which if any one should be foolish enough to do so, and such a fact to be known in the district, it would be a direct temptation to crimes of violence in the shape of burglary or “ sticking up.” The towns people, however, are equally culpable with their up country fellow colonists, and it is an easy enough matter for any one to get a cheque cashed in Christchurch. Now there is no reason for this. The banks are open for a certain number of hours in the day, and there can be no earthly occasion for a publican to risk having a fraudulent document passed upon him, even if the would-be passer should make his appearance after the banks are closed for the evening. The necessary board and lodging that may be required by the passer, until the opening of the bank, would not bo nearly so great

a loss to the publican, as the loss of his money, which he gives in change for a worthless scrap of paper, and if he is fool enough to advance sums of money, large or small, on signatures with which he is not acquainted, we have no pity for his case, when he comes to give evidence of it in Court. The best thing that can happen in such a case is, that the casher of the cheque shall find out that he is not intended to act as private banker to any impecunious gentlemen who may be wandering about with no ready money in their pockets, and that if he chooses to advance money to them he does so at his own risk.