THE LAWS AND CUSTOMS OF THE PAKEHA.

Maori Messenger : Te Karere Maori, Volume II, Issue 4, 30 April 1856, Page 4

THE LAWS AND CUSTOMS OF THE PAKEHA.

(Continued From our last number)

Some of the Maori people have perhaps seen the Pakeha's mode of administering justice in the courts of law, and the satisfactory way in which such proceedings are conducted. An account shall be of one of these cases tbat all may understand. One morning Mr. Nathan, a Merchant of Auckland, on coming to bis store, found it bad been broken into and entered by some persons, and that two guns bad been stolen and carried away, lie considered for a time who could have commited this robbery. At last his suspicion fell upon the pakehas named Putu and Wbakana, and be went to the Police Magistrate, Mr. Matjiew, and told of the taking of his two guns, and his suspicion that Putu and Wlnkana wefce tbe thieves. Mr. Mathew then ordered tlfese men Putu and Whnkana to be apprehended. Then all came together before him, Mr. Naihan and those persons who had anytbiug to say about the theft, with the men also who were charged with having committed it. When all the statements were completed, Mr. Mathew thought, "Yes, it is probable that these two men are the thieves" They must be detained, that they may be tried when the Supreme Court sits. Then he said to Mr. Nathan and to those persons who gave evidence about the robbery " you must return when the Supreme Court sits"; and money was appointed by bim to be forfeited should any one of them neglect to appear. Wen tbe appointed day arrived, the judge and thirty six men of mature age assembled. Whence are those thirty-six elders? I will tell you. At the begining of tbe year the Judge selected certain men ofgood thoughts and pood deeds and Stand proper persons to bear and give judgement in matters of dispute ; and their names were written in a book: Then this book was given by him to the Sheriff. This is the man whose duty it is to see that the sentence of the Court is carried into effect. Then, on one of the days appointed for the Court the Sheriff summonses of those thirty-six men. Before the silling of ibe Court of the twelve, another Couri sits, that of the

twenty three, who mast listen to the evidence and say whether there is a sufficient reason for sending the case for trial or not. If they say, there is a sufficient reason, then the prisoner is sent to be tried by the Court of the Twelve. The case of Putu and his companion was dealt with in this manner, and the Court of the twenty-three said, "Let them be tried." Then these two were taken into the Court House, and the person who writes down what is done by the Court arose, (this is the person who sits below the Judge) to read the words of the charge made against them: saying, "You two persons, Putu and Whakana, are charged with having broken into the bonse of David Nathan in Auckland, on the night of the 20th of May last, and stolen from thence two guns, the property of David Nathan." " How say you, Putu? is it true that this was done by you, or nor ?" And Putu said, ««It is false." Then the Registrar said, " How say you, Whakana? have you committed this robbery, or not?" And Whakana said, "It is false." Then the Registrar wrote down the words of Putu and his companion in his book. The Registrar then took thirty six pieces o" paper and wrote upon them the names of t':ose thirty six elders, and threw the names into a box; they were then shaken, and taken out singly, the Registrar pronouncing audibly the name taken by him, and calling the person bearing that name to come forth from the thirty-six, and to sit in a place apart from the others. He continued calling them until the number of twelve was completed. After the twelve had been caused to sit, the Registrar arose and administered theoath to every man of the twelve. This is the oath "I will say truly, whether the robbery was com mi lied by these two prisoners, or was not by them. As 1 speak truth, so may Ibe blessed by God." And when these word? are repeated by any person, the New Testament is kissed by him, as a token of his fear of God, and of His anger, if he should swear falsely. (The oath is a very great word. Lying generally, is not forgotten bj God. He regards only in one way Gehazi, Ananias, Sapphira and any other person who practices lying. But the oath -the wickedness is enormously great of the person who swears falsely, and kisses the book upon a lie. To do so is to show contempt for God. Hence the Pakehas are afraid and shrink from speaking falsely, when they swear in the presence of the Judge.) Every man of

the twelve comes and kisses the Testament, and the prisoner looks, and if he sees one whom he thinks will not perhaps speak truly be may object to him and require that he shall not be one or the twelve, Putu and Whakana did not object to any one, as they believed those twelve to be jnst men. When the twelve bad been all sworn the Registrar read again the charge which he had previously read to the prisioners. He then told the twelve to listen to the evidence of the witnesses. Then a person acquainted with the mode of proceeding, got up to set forth the charge of the prosecutor Nathan, in order that the twelve might obtain a knowledge of the nature of his charge against the prisoners.. David Nathan then stood up and took oath that he would speak the whole truth and the truth only. He then said, **l am a merchant of Auckland. I left my store on the 20lhof May at 5 o'clock in the afternoon; there are two doors to the store, one secured by a lock, one by a bolt. At 7 o'clock next morning I returned to that building; the door bad been broken open; an entrance had also been forced at the end of the building and the window had been removed. I then went to Smith, the constable, and the building was examined by myself and David Cooper; and it was found that two guns were gone. Two weeks afterwards, I and Smith went to the house of these prisoners. We found the door locked — Whakana came and said " What are you two doing here?" We said, «• We wish to go into the house." After somedelay, the door was unlocked by him. There was but one room within, a small one, and two beib in it, we then looked in one of the beds, and two guns were found thrust under the covering of the bed. Whakana then said he did not know where they came from. I looked at them. I knew them to be mine." Then those guns were laid down before Nathan, and he said, "These are the gnns which were stolen out of my house; they are also those which I saw in the bed. Then the Judge asked Whakana and Pulu iflbey had anything to say; and they crossexamined Nathan, but his word continued firm. David Cooper then stood up and took the same oath as David Nathan, and said, " I am the keeper of Mr. Nathan's store. Iremember the 21st of May. I remember going to Mr. Nathan's warehouse when I got up in

the morning. No person was with me when 1 went there. I found the door open. I fetched Mr.- Nathan : we both went in together ; some of the goods were found lying on the floor as if thrown about by some person. We saw that an entrance had been nude under the window ; the boards had also been displaced- My box had been broken open, and shut again. Some caps had been taken out of the boxes; and two loaded guns had been taken from the top of the cupboard. I should know the guns." The two guns were then shewn to him, and be said, " This gun belongs to my master : this gun also is his." Then one of the Twelve asked Cooper whether Nathan had not at some tims before sold a gun like that to any person." And he said "We have sold guns like these: and we have in the store other guns like these." The Judge then asked, " Was the opening under the window a large one? could a man pass through it?" And Cooper said, "It was, I got in through it." Then James Smith stood up and being sworn said, "I am the chief constable of Auckland. I remember going to the store of Nathan on the 21st of May, in the morning. I saw that an entrance bad been made through the side o( the building, also that the boards had been cut. The opening Was 2 feet 2 inches in length,and 18 inches wide; the window was small, containing 4 panes of glass; the window was taken quite out. Two weeks after, Nathan and I went to the house of these prisoners, Putu and Whakana, in the evening; I knew that house, and knew that those men were living there. I told one of the constables to fetch Whakana. When Whakana came I asked him to let me go in: He did not consent at once. After some time, lie unlocked the door: then, I began to search. Two beds were in the house. One was large, the other was small. I saw two guns under ihe small bed, they were concealed under the bed clothes. The bouse contained but one room; it was fourteen feet long and eight feet wide." The guns were then shown to him and he said, "These are the guns which I saw in the bed. Whakana said he did not know anything about these guns. I then apprehended him. Afterwards I caused Putu to be apprehended." K < Smith was then cross-exemined by the prisoners but none of his words were changed.

Then ibe Judge said, " James Smith, bow do you know that house to belong to the prisoners?" And be said, "My house is near tbere. lam quite sure that is the bouse in which these prisoners lived; I have seen them going in and out there. Tbere has been no week during which I have not been walking about near that house." This was all the evidence of the witnesses against the prisoners. The Judge then said to Putu, "Is there no person who can speak a word in your behalf?" And he said, " No," The Judge put a similar question to Whakana. And Whakana said. " I have a person, George Newman, who will speak in my behalf. Then George Newman stood up, and, being sworn, said, " 1 am a labourer of Auckland. I lived three weeks with Putu and Whakana in their house. Tbere were two beds in the room; Whakana and I slept together in the large bed, until I left." The person who spoke the words of David Nathan to the Twelve then stood up. This was his speech. " Friends, my words to you will be few; because you see here the men who stole these guns. You have just heard the evidence upon oath of Nathan and bis storekeeper; that these are the guns wbicb were stolen from the house; the guns have been looked at by them, and they are certain that these are the very same guns. Now, Where did these guns come from ? You have beard what James Smith said upon oath, that they were found by him in the house of these prisoners; and Nathan says be was there When they were found. And where were the guns found? under the bedclothes. Why were they conceited there ? lest any one should see them. Is this what men do with their guns? Wiien have we s -en a man hiding his gun under the bed? In my thought, il may be seen by this that the tbeflt was by these men: if the theft was not by both of them, it was by one of them." Then the Judge said to Putu, "Have you anything to say to the Twelve?" And Putu said, "My guns were my own, they were bought with my money." When he had finished, Whakana said, "I know nothing about those guns, and they were not found in my bed. George Newman bad sworn that the bed in which the guns were found was not mine, - the large bed was mine, the small one was Putu's." Then the Judge said to the Twelve, " Gentlemen of the jury, David Nathan and James Smith have sworn that these guns were found in the house of these prisouers; and David Nathan and David Cooper have sworn that

these are the guns which were stolen from the house of David Nathan. The point which you have to consider is this: whether it has been clearly shewn that the theft was committed by these prisoners. The law is this: If any property is stolen, and not long afterwards it is found in the possession of any person, and that person in whose possession it is found cannot give a satisfactory account of it, he shall beheld to be guilty of the theft. But you must consider the kind of property stolen. All property is not alike, as regards continuance in possession. If a silver coin is lost and ten days afterwards it is found in the possession of some person it would not be right to say that it was stolen by that person. Because it isatbingwhich is constantly passing from hand to band, it does not remain long with one person. But there are other kinds of property which are not treated In that way; but remain long in possession, because such property when stolen cannot be offered for sale, lest men's suspicion should should awake, and they should discover the theft. Now in the stealing of these guns, it was the second week after that they were found in the house of these prisoners." "This is also another thing for you to consider, the behaviour of the person who is accused. What account did he give of the stolen property ? was it shewn openly by him, In the same manner as the goods of a man which are known not to be stolen ? Was bis conduct like that of a man who knew that he had stolen the property and hidden it lest bis theft should be discovered ?" "If you are agreed that this is the thieves' house; then you must consider, whether the theft was committed by both of these two, or by only one of them." Then the Judge read the evidence of the witnesses, of David Nathan and of David Cooper, James Smith and George Newman. Their evidence was also all written in a book. For this also is a practice of the Pakeba, to write all that is said at a trial. When any witness stands up in the Court House bis words are written by the Judge, that they may be remembered exactly by both the Judge and the Twelve; and if afterwards itisfound that he has made any false statement, that false witness will be punished. This is the reason why the evidence is carefully written down by us. When the Judge finished his address to the Twelve, the Registrar stood up and said to the Twelve. " Gentlemen of the jury, consider your verdict."

Then the Twelve went into a room by themselves, to consult together and turn over in their minds the words which they had heard. A constable was placed at the door to prevent any person from speaking to them. In a short time the Twelve returned into Court and the Registrar asked them, "Are you agreed in opinion?" And the one who had been appointed by them as their spokesman, said: "Yes." Then the Registrar said "In your belief is ulu guilty of this theft, or is he not guilty ?" And the spokesman said "He is guilty." Then the Registrarwrote down the verdict of the Twelve. . Then the Registrar said again, "In your belief, is Whakana guilty of this theft, or is be not guilty?" And tbespokesman said "He is not guilty." And the Registrar wrote down the verdict of the Twelve. Then the Judge directed that Whakana should be discharged; and that Puti should be detained; and that he should be brought when the Court sat on the following day. Next day, the Judge ordered Pulu to be brought before him. Then the Registrar said, *' What have you to say, Pulu, why the punishment appointed by the Judge should not be inflicted upon you?" And he had nothing losay. Then the Jndgesaid, "That he should bo taken to another country, where the Governor should appoint; and that he should be kept there seven years." This is the custom of the Pakeha, when a •man commits an offence. He is apprehended and punished and no further satisfaction is sought afterwards. (To be continued.