Manawatu Herald. TUESDAY, MAY 7, 1889. IMPETUOUSNESS.

Manawatu Herald, Volume VII, Issue 265, 7 May 1889, Page 2

Manawatu Herald. TUESDAY, MAY 7, 1889. IMPETUOUSNESS.

Yesterday morning a case ; was heard at the Eesident Magistrates Court" whioh should act as. a warnin« to the. indiscriminate u»e of one's friends or neighbours goods without n deliberate permission having first been obtained. The whole of the evidence pointed to a. sort of free and easy manner of living together, which should have stopped the prosecutor from making any serious charge, before trying other meaus It would appear that four young men boarded together, and lived for sometime in close, companionship, actually sharing beds, and now and then wearing one another's clothes. The prosecutor for some purpose left for Wellington, without being decided as to whether he would return or not, but had not settled a portion of his shared rent, and left his things at th 3 rooms loose and uncaredfoi-. The young man charged with larceny, saw the prosecutor in Wellington, and asse-ted, which however the proseautor denied, tha he had informed him that alterations were about to be made to th* dweflingthey rented, and some would hayft Ijo turn out, and that he iroulil give an eye to the proseoutor'i pro > petfy. On returning to town the. accused informed another of. the party that he would use a blanket and take a coat and rest belonging to the prosecutor, and did so openly, j and wore to this young man's knowledge the coat and vest, one evening at any rate, if not oftener. This was all plain sailing, but the part that ' is shrouded ia mystery is the actiou of the prosecutor on his return last Saturday night. At the old rooms he found many alterations, but his property he could not find, and mentioning the matter to the third person we i have referred to, was informed by him, that he believed: the accused had some of it. Instead of the prosecutor going to see the :ajo-: cused and enquiring about them, he informed the constable that his things had been stolen, and asked for bis assistance. The constable not knowing anything of the persons, applied, to a magistrate for a search warrant, and found the property where <jhey were sure.. to be,, if the statements n>ade by the|UsOU»«d.wWe correct, that is, in the place the accused was tben ocoupyin^ Toe young man wns then 4vMM4 wilti stealing the g.,ods and fpfttd lip. We have detailed this cats* to point

ou£ how easily -the most serious charges oan be made against the most innocent of us, not necessarily arising out of malice of any party, but from impetuousness. Intbisoase we have at first the very grave impetuous action, of the prosecutor, who simply because he oouW not find his things were they wert or elessly left, chose rather that thu constable should hunt them up i#r him, than take that trouble himself. We have nest..the..sJighJily_impetaioui action of the magistrate in granting a search warrant, on the application of tL constable without inquiry *nto the probabilities of the cate. We. ihaye next the very grave example of impetuosness of the constable, in apprehending and imprisoning a respectable youth, the son of a, very old settler, on a charge, which could, have been met in some other way, as there was no fear of the accused* running away, as it was sp admitted by the constable in 66urt, so ' the "daae could as easily have been held over to the morning of the Court sitting, as^going through the degredasionyof imprisonment and bailing; #TM^i)irect.y the prosecutor' got his property, he #fts willing to withdraw his oharge, jbut the constable, in which we agree wirh him, refused to accept this course. The prosecutor had no real ground for putting the law into motion, arid his only exouae must lie in temper and ignorance. What has occurred will we trust make all parties more careful, for it must be remembered that the making of a criminal charge against any one is of most serious consequence, and if foolish people make such applications; those who have the adntiniitration of the law aie reasonably ; looked to^ to exercise caution in putting into force the powers theyhave been given. It is no reason to say.- for an excuse for impetuousness that the aggrieved party has a right to recover damages against the person putting tha law* into motion, the faot that a person acts so, is almost sufficient evidence that he has nothing to lose. We very much regret that this case ever oame before the public, as nothing could beprodu< ed of the past beat* ing of the accused to lead any 1 one to suppose tkat he would Qommit" such a deed, and we regtet that the constable had not been better acquainted with the partJes^' when we feel sure, he would have acted 4&* ferently. Let this however be •> warning that wHat are'^rotr goods, are your o^wm, but whit are other people's, are theirs, and not to be «JCnp4r©<l with, notwithstanding the personal friendly feelings yon stay jmagin* •» fett ft>r y6u by the possessor. ' '