Manawatu Herald TUESDAY, MARCH 1,1898. The Justification of Constable Gillespie.

Manawatu Herald, 1 March 1898, Page 2

Manawatu Herald TUESDAY, MARCH 1,1898. The Justification of Constable Gillespie.

Never do we suppoie has any man's conduct been bo completely upheld .-as was that of Constable GUleepie'e by His Honor Judge Kettle. ' The endorsement of the correctness of his judgment, and the acknowledgment thtothe had hut done the duty he owed to his position of trust, and to society, was emphatic, clear, con elusive, and convincing. The decision secured by Constable Gillespie in the case brought against him in the Palmeraton District Court for malicious prosecution waa an exceptional illustration of Ihe biter being bit, as in the defence most ugly facts, though not then first made known, were declared by the" Judge to be in his opinion true. We have no desire to go into the details of the ca*e again as the judgment delivered by Judge Kettle has tet the matter out po clearly that be who runs may read and understand upon whom, in the opinion of the Ju4g?, the falsehoods told in the cases rested. We are at pregpnt concerned as to the treatment Constable Gillespie has received at the hands of the Justice Department, as it is now clearly seen that he was punished untried, probably at the bidding of those who dare not declare themselves, for no wrong doing, but to please those who have suffered for wrong doing by the interposition of this constable. Thin hocomeß at once a pcandal to the Department and the colony, and we shall not rest Ratified until we find out the undercurrent which ha? evidently hpen working fo - the ruin of this officer. Judge K»ttle re marked that he wan not called upon to decide upon previous case.", but, which really proves otherwise, he Raid " the whole of the evidence in thin cane satisfied him that Codstable Gillespie, in lodging the charge of perjury had not acted without reasonable and proper cure.' In reyiewinsr the charge; of peijury Judge Kettle is reported to have said " He had read the whole of the evidence taken, but it was not for His Honor to pasa judgment upon what the Justices did. Tbey no donbt honestly performed their duties of their office. They may probably — and probably they did— have mistaken ibeir duty and thought it was for them to mike up their minds whether the girl was guilty or innocent, instead of leaving it to a jury of reasonable men." The facts thus are these — Constable Gillespin, a man welt known on this coast fo<twenty years, and who has been stationed in Foxton for the las-t seven years, and who has h Id the appointment of Clerk to the Court., and who has been declared by the Judge to be " a man of exceptionable ability as a constable -a man who knew his duty, and was prepared to do it regardless of all consfqueneies " is disrated from his position in the force, taken away from the station he wan in. charge of, put, on street. duty in Wellington, for why? Ap parently because the Justice D«*p*rt ment imagined wrong had been done because two inexperienced Justices* of the Peace failed to understand the duties they had to perform, and instead of committing the accused for trial, dismissed the case, forsooth '» because there was conflict of fcesti mony." though had the •• Justice of Ihe Peace " been studied by these Justices they would have seen that that was the very reason for acting contrarjly to what tbey did. The so-called inquiry held by Mr Haselden, S.M., was a travesty upon justice, it was held nominally upon th« c irnp'ainfc of one man who had deluged the Department with *htets of foolscap charging Constable Gillespie, and other?, with all Forts of crime and offences. When the inquiry was opened the complainant appeared wilh counsel who calmly «aid that no charges were going to be made, so the magistrate wan expected to auk questions to find out what he could, and the complainant and his counsel would be present. The absurdity of the position thu* becomes evident— Mr Haselden having been sent up to satisfy the complainant who, after all th : s being done refused to be held in anyway answerable for the con»« quencies. Mr Haselden inniead of retiring, most extraordinarily asked the con stable, the defendant, to go into the box — the man who had to dtfcnd himself! If any eimi ar case. U known it should be put on record r« its peculiarity resembles that ol Judge Lynch who hang') a man first and tries .him afterward*. An in quiry of this character can easily be

twisted into any shape that may be most convenient, but odd as it may a,ppear r 4h3 Magistrate led all who who were present in Court when he closed these precious proceedings, to believe that he did Dot think Constable Gillespie had done wrong. After ha got. homo bdwever he sent in a report the result of which was that Constable Gillespio was removed to Wellington ! Others, besides Constable Gillespie having been interested in this report made application for a copy, but the word " Confidential " is used to cover up the myitery attaching to these proceedings and the report is refused 1 Thii i* r. icanifo' which muss be clsßiTti ivp *V3U ihough ciroom* slauc-es hft'M ior«uaftbty Arisen by which ail charges against Cca^i&ble Gillespie have been clearly and impartially swept away, for th« maintainance of law and order is of the greatest moment to society, and such proceedings as we have mentioned do not conduce to the safety of the individual or the well being of the State. Wa again quote from the judgment of Judge Kettle "It was a matter of public notoriety that when an officer did his duty fearlessly and hofiestly, he Was liable to offend* cortain members of the community and might get into troub'^rrbX y?\* bound to tread on fch<.> toes of .certaiu people. If an o&cer did his duty in that way he ought to jftfieivii ih protection, not only of the public, but of the Government. , He was entitled to that as a matt** of right." Has Constable <3illespie b.^n so treated £ or anything n«?ar" Mlk i ? If not the law abiding public shu'.Ul insist that the Qovernracn shall treat him properly, and give hi ;>i r position of pqual value a? 'h- f.om which be was removed, u.;i com penmate him for the losses he has sustained by being illegally and improperly punished. We look to our representative in Parliament to be one of the first to move in the matter of justice biing dorr, nnd done quickly.