About Law.

Maori Messenger : Te Karere Maori, Volume I, Issue 9, 15 July 1861, Page 1

About Law.

"LET THE PAKEHA AND THE MAORI BE UNITED."

I.—THE ENGLISH SYSTEM.

Chapter ii. 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 sha'l be given of one of these cases that all may understand. One morning Mr. Nathan, a Merchant of Auckland, on coming to his store, found it had been broken into and entered by some persons, and that two guns had been stolen and carried away. He considered for a time who could have committed this robbery. At last his suspicion fell upon the pakehas named Pulu and Whakana, and he went to the Police Magistrate, Mr. Matthew, and told of the taking of his two guns, and his suspi.c4on that Putu and Whakana were the thieves.

Mr. Matthew then ordered these men Putu and Whakana to be apprehended. Then all came together before him, Mr. Nathan and those persons who had anything to say about the theft, with the men also who were charged with having committed it. When all the statements were completed, Mr. Matthew thought, "Yes, it is probable that these two men are the thieves," ihey 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 him to be forfeited should any one of them neglect to appear. When the appointed day arrived, the judge and thirty six men of mature age assembled. Whence are these thirty-six elders? I will tell you. At the beginning of the year the Judge selected certain men of good thoughts and good deeds and fit and proper persons to hear and give judgment 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 duly it is to see that the sentence of the Court is carried into effect. Then, on one of the davs appointed for the Court the Sheriff summonses of those thirty-six men. Before the sitting of the Court or the " twelve," another Court sits, that of the twenty three, who must listen to the evidence and say whether there is a sufficient reason for sending the case for a 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 wlio writes down what is done by the Court arose, (this is the persen who sits below the Judge) to read the words of the charge made against i them: saying, " You two persons, Putu and Whakana, are charged with having broken into the house of David Nathan in Auckland, on the night of the 20ih 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 bv you, or not?" 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 be ok.

The Registrar then took thirty six pieces of paper and wrote upon them the names of those thirty-six elders, and threw the names into a box ; they were then shaken, and taken out singly, the Registrar prononncing audibly the name laken 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 the oath to every man of the twelve. This is the oath " I will say truly, whether the robbery was committed by these two prisoners, or was not by them. As I speak truth, so may Ibe blessed by God." And when these words are repealed 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 by God. He regards only inonewayGehazi, 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 afraiJ 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 he may object to hi in and require that he shall not be one of the twelve. Pulu and Whakana did not object 10 any one, as they believed those twelve to be just men. When the twelve had been all sworn the Registrar read again the charge which hehad previously read to the prisoners. He then told the twelve to listen to the evidence of the witnesses. Then a person acquainted wiih 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, "lama merchant of Auckland. 1 left my store on the 20th of May at 3 o'clock in the afternoon; there are two doors to the store, onesceuredbyalock, one by a bolt. At 7 o'clock next morning [ returned to that building; the door had been ! broken open; an entrance had also been forced

at the end of the building and the window had been removed. 1 went to Smith, the constable, and the building was examined by myseif and David Cooper; and it was found that two guns were gone. Two weeks afterwards, I and Smith went to the bouse 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 some delay, the door was unlocked by him. There was but one room within, a small one, and two beds 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. 1 looked at them, J knew them to be mice." Then those guns were laid down before Nathan, and he said, "These are the guns which were stolen out of my house; they are also those which I saw in the bed." Then the Judge asked Whakana and Pulu if they had anything to say; and tbev 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. I remember the 21 st of May. I remember going to Mr. Nathan's warehouse when I got up in the morning. No person was with me when I went there. I found the door open. I fetched Mr. Nathan : we both went in together; so:r.e of the goods were found lyingon the floor as if thrown about by some person. W? saw thai an entrance had been made under the window ; the boards had also been displaced. My box had been broken open, a»<3 shm again. Some caps had been taken : at of the boxes; and two loaded guns bad Jiycu taken from the lop of the cupboard. I should know the guns." The two guns were then shown to him, and he said, " This gun belongs lo my master: this r;un also is his." Thsn owe of the Twelve asked Cooper whether Nathan had not at some lime before sold a gun like that to any person. And he si'id •' We hove sold guns like these rand we have in the store other guns like these." The Jut?e.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, "lam the chief-constable of Auckland. I remember going to the store of Nathan on the 21st of May, in the morning. I saw that theentrance had been made through the side of the building, also that the boards had been cut. The opening was 2 feet two inches in length, and i 8 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 piisoners, Putu and Whakana, in the evening; I knew that house, and knew that those me \ were living there. I told one of the constables to fetch Whakana. When Whakana came I asked him to let me go in : lie did not consentat once. After some time, he unlocked the door: then, I began to search. Two beds were in the house.* One was large, ihc other was small. I saw two guns under the small bed, they were concealed under the bed clothes. The house 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." Smith was then cross-examined by the prisoners but none of his words were changed. Then the Judge said, " James Smith, how do you know that house to belong to the prisoners?" And he said, "My house is near there. lam quite sure that is the house in which these prisoners lived; I have seen them j going in and out there. There has been no ' •week during which 1 have not being walking i about near that house." I This was all the evidence of the witnesses j 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. " J have a person, George who will speak in my behalf." Then George Newman stood up, and, being sworn, said, "I am a labourer of Auckland. 1 lived three weeks with Putu and Whakana in their house. There 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 Naihan lo the twelve then stood up. This was his speech. " Friends, my words to yon will be few ; because yon see here the men who stole these guns. You have just heard the evidence upon oath of Naihan and his storekeeper; that these are the guns which were stolen from the house ; the guns have been looked at by theai, and they are certain that these are the very same guns. Now, where did these guns come from ? You have heard what James Smith said upon oath, that they were found by him in the house of these prisoners; and Naihan says he was there when they were found. And where were the guns found ? under the bedclothes. Why were they concealed there? lest any one should see them. Is this what men do with their guns? When have we seen a man hiding his gun under the bed ? In my thought, it may be seen by this that the theft was by these men: if the theft was not by both of them, it was by one of them." Then the Judge said to Pulu, "Have you anything to say to the Twelve?" And Pulu 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 noi 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 lo the Twelve, " Gentlemen of the jury, David Nathan and James Smilh have sworn ihat these guns were found in the house of these prisoners ; and David Naihan and David Cooper have sworn that these arc the guns which were stolen from the house of David Naihan. 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 * found carmol give a satisfactory account of it, he slull be held lo beguilly 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 wasstolen by that person. Because it is a thing which is constantly passing from hand to hand, it does not remain long with one person. But there are oiher kinds of property which are not treated in that way; but remain long in possession,

because such properly when stolen cannot be offered for sale, lest men's suspicion should awake, and they should discover the theft. Now in the stealing of these guns, it was the second week after that they were fonnd in the house of these prisoners." "This is also another thing for vou to consider, the behaviour of the pei son who is accused. What account did he give of the stolen properly ? was itshewn openly by him, in the same manner as the goods of a man which are known not to be stolen ? Was his conduct like that of a man who knew that he had stolen the property and hidden it lest his theft should be discovered ?" •' If you are agreed that this is the thieves' bouse; then yon must consider, whether the theft was commuted 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 Pakeha, to write all that is said at a trial. When any witness stands up in the Court House his words are written by the Judge, that they may be remembered exactly by both the Judge and the Twelve; and if afterwards it is found that he has made any false statement, thst 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 ftp the Twelve. ** Gentlemen of the j«ry, consider you verdict." Then the Twelve went into a room by themselves, to consult together and turn over in their minds the words which tbeyhad 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 Puiu guilty of this theft, or is he not guilty?" And the spokesman said, " He is guilty." Then the Registrar wrote 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 the spokesman said, "He is not guilty." And the Registrar wrote down the verdict S the Twelve.

Then the Judge directed that Whakana should be discharged ; and lhat Pulu should be detained ; and lhat he should be brought when the Court sat on the following day. Next day, the Judge ordered Putu to be brought before him. Then the Registrar said, "What have you to say, Putu, why the punishment appointed by the Judge should not be inflicted upon you V And he had nothing to say. Then the Judge said, " That he should be 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.— Ghief Justice Martin.