NO DISTINCTION

Hokitika Guardian, 15 September 1932, Page 6

NO DISTINCTION

MAORI CHIEF GISTS PRISON TERM. EMBEZZLEMENT OF FUNDS. WELLINGTON, September 14. ■ In pleading for the mercy of the Court on behalf of Waratana 1 . Renata Ngahana, aged thirty-seven years, who pleaded guilty to the theft of £1463 from the. Native Trust Department, his counsel in. the Supreme Court referred to the high birth of accused and his t prominence among the members of the Maori race. Counsel said that Ngahana was a member of one of the most famous Maori families and. was closely related to> the present paramount chief of his tribe. They might condone the offence, hut his peo.ole ’would never forget it andi he would nevti' be reinstated in his position, notwithstanding that be was of high rank. . - Addressing the prisoner the Chief Justice said, “it is unfortunate to find .in your present position a man of your previous character and your education because S I gather from t!ie material before riie that you are a man who had a good education. The fact is. however, that, for a period of not less than seven years, you have been in a position of trust and you have systematically and cunningly broken that trust by a series of thefts and forgeries ■ whereby . you benefited yourself to the extent of like £I4OO. The other piVipV of your race, whose money it was, have lost it, unless they are entitled to recover from the Government, whose servant you were. Gunsel has referred to the fact that you are a paramount chief among the natives, but Maori and Palceba alike must understand that the Court knows no distinction between chief and menial. There can lie no difference here between high and low or between rich and poor. The sentence of the Court is that, von be kept in prison for reformative purposes ; for a period of three years.”