LIBEL CASE.

Manawatu Standard, Volume IV, Issue 265, 6 October 1884, Page 2

LIBEL CASE.

SUPREME COURT WANGANUI.

(Before His Honor Mr Justice Richmond.) Russell t. McKelvie anp McMjnn [continued.] G. W. Ruessell's examination m cbiei continued : I did not put my j hand on her Him, whilst M'ss Howard. ' was fetching the key. The key was not lost, nor was the door locked, and T swear I did not make any. pro ■pbsals about" sleeping' iif her room. It is perfectly preposterous for people to make .-uch jstUteaient«. Mrs£ Wilkinson was close to Mi.^s Ciawford all the time. This is all that took place between us. I have seen Miss Crawford since on two occasions but she has never referred to the incident. Not a syllable. . Her behaviour itoward.s me the last time . I saw* fiW was the sac&e as ever it had been. With regard to the dressing-room, etc., I was round m the evening looking if everything was >afe. I dou'c recollect opening the dressing-room where the ladies were. It is po-sible however that I might have done so befo c the performance to see if everything was rightly arranged, but certainly* not afterwards, I went to the Clarendon Hotel one "day at Miss Crawford's invitation.'** 'We were lookiug over some photographs of herself m character at the supper table on the previous evening and asked my opinion of them and . she said if I would call on the following day she would shew me a lot more. 1 called, but did not see her, Mr Carroll saying that she was upstairs m her room, and not to be seen. , I did not go upstair*. In the evening she said I had not kept, my,appointment with her, 1 explained that 1 had called as I was going home to ; lesi, but Mr Carroll wouldn't admit me to her. I told her 1 thought from Carroll's manner he, had : some reason for not sbewiug me : m. At this she became angry and said " that's notgood enough tor me." I never informed Carroll that he didn't know how much encouragement I received. I never, saw any encouragement, because 1 never .fa w anything improper about the woman. All I saw of her was very proper. The first time- 1 saw the paragraphs m the Standard was when I gob home one evening; I never had any disturbance with a Maori woman. I don'c recollect seeing a woman with John Murphy. I think I t>aw Murphy alone, but 1 don't kuow if this was on the same evening that Murphy meant, I saw him one evening standing m front of the Commercial Hotel, and then, saw a Maori woman walk by afterwards from a back entrance of the hotel and sit down on the corner of the footpath, and she grunted at me as I walked past, m the way peculiar to natives. That ' was all. I never heard a word of either of these reports being m existence until I saw them m the paper. 1 have known the constable some" tithe, and remember writing' to Inspector James about him. My Veason'for Writing is clearly shewn by the letter itself, which has been read. There had been a great deal of drunkenness m i*almerston especially on Sundays,- and ; T wrote to Mr James with a view to having it put au end to, aud because I thought Gillespie had no right to go Mfourid amongst : Che. pub'Ticarisy using my name as a shield to himself whilst performing his 'professional duties. 1 have always~found him an excellent'fiiaii and oib'cerj, I published a com-^---plainit,abo,ut ,l^iis < drunkenness, whichannoyed the constable, and he told Ane >l was the only one; ' thivt found any fault. I ' didn^t; argue with him but wrote to, lnspector James signing myself J.P., so "that the constableshould have the opportunity of hearing my statements, r He told nit» afterwards that my letter was a tissue of lies. . l By Mr Shaft V I am quite sure T -got into no trouble m New Plymouth, •and if such a -report has Been spread, it was false. I knew a Mr Jackson at. Hokitika, but didn't know there was^ a. Miss Jackson.. Mr Jackson did certainly riot- coniplain to.ttie of my ; behavjioni, nor did T ever get-in-to any trouble at Hokitika. \ Mr James w»s there and will tell you •the same .thing 1 . I severed, niy^conneclion >vith, (lie church of my. own freewill, and the authorities wished me to continue, m the position I held. I was never, hooted f out , of the town. d)ri rtne occasion When there was no church aecomodation I addressed a, 'very large crowd : from. a barrel m; their centre. They were rather noisy at one time and one man threw/ a rotten egg which hit me, This was the. only approach to bping pelted that 1 received. Regarding Sunday-trad-ing. Mr Fontou told me .someone had been complaining to him about the matter, and mentioned my name as being the cause of the complaints. He would not tell me. who it was. but I had no difficulty m forming my own conclusion I did tell the constable that if I had known the amount of trouble it. would have brought about I would not have had anything to do with the affair, but [ was not apologising. I did him no injnryivfor he has now got a better situation than he had before. I was passing the hotel when the native woman made agVhhting noi.>e. Mr Shaw : What was the noise ( or l i . ; : = .!■.■::.•::.•!■. ■ • . Witness : Ido not know. Mr Shaw : Was it not an expression oi utter disgust do you thiuk? i Witness: I could not say, that : might have been what she meant to express. I think she did mean it for that, but. mistook me tor someone else .who , had annoy ed he r. - • • •;. I tV^ith regard to Mr McNeil's case I used to go $o his house sometimes of an evenin». ' ". Mr Shaw :. What used you to do [after supper? ,; , Witness : Oh, I have had a glass of l>eer with him. Mr Shaw : Is it true then that you went to that gentleman's house and partook of. his hospitality -on e evening, and then went to tho police l and informed of what you had seen whilst ' a guest m Mr McNeil's heuse ? ' Witness: This is liow it came about.. The constable challenged me to prove a single case m which he had not discharged his duty. T then men* tioned Mr McNeil's name, and said.

he. should have had a prohibition cutler nmdo out against him.. Regarding Miss Crawford, she was on most fiiendly lonns' with rae ; and expressed disappointment at my not being able to keep my appointment with h«'r ; she left me m this friendly 'state when last I saw her. Mr Shaw : Would you ask the jury to believe then that she has suddenly turned round against you, and come 300 miles to swear to statements injuring your character? - '-Witness r I "hefcTtf~tH«t*Bhe was to receive £200 for coming. Mr Shaw "(warmly) : Very well, and that tnwaed-«mfe<4<**be*felse ! Witness : I heard Miss Crawford say today that she had complained to Carroll about the case, but when 1 asked Carroll he told me he had received no complaint. Mr Shaw : Well, then we are to believe, that every liody else that has been speaking here to-day has been speaking: falsely ex.ceptjutfcy.au 1 Witness : £ suppose that must be the case. I cannot for Miss ,Cia#ford.'s action, uhil can only suppose the Maori woman mistook me for some one else. This concluded -the oasa~ for the plaintiff. s - ■•■*-?■ %- Mr Izard then addressed the jury, saying that itf now became his duty to sum up the case. Tltey had seen that ceitaih defamatory' were published by the; defendants, who admitted the*e to be of and concerning the plaintiff, Mr Russell;) Thac is to say they bad admitted certain charges ; and had undertaken to prove them to be true. Nttw; during the is^uej witnesses- had been called by defendants to make -the required proofs, and it would shortly' devolve upon the jury to Kay whether those charges had bee.tt; proved or not. The evidence hid* failed ' absolutely ia proving 'th& very- serious charges which theses paragraphs brought against Ihe. plaintiff, 5 faking the evidence they . would .recollect Mr Russell 'had written to Mi* ' James because a great deal of drunkenness had been going on m Ihe place aud becaxi.se the constable had told the publicans the. cause of his } becoming I stricter m "tne'enfofcenienjb of the Act. I'Xt^wasplain^iiai'JiJr'RusseH was simly doing his duty m i rying to 5 repress what had 'been going on m the past, and preveub it from occurring again m the future. But iVwas Sfoid he was actuated by .direct malice m what he did. The only bit that he could vfind m theNevidenee was that something appeared m Russell's paper about the drunkenness, and that was the whole pidce of evidence from first to ilasb,\ upon *hich his (Mr Izsird's) learned Mend asked them to believe that Mr Russell was actuateil by any pet&onsil feelings at all. Mr Russell's characteivhad noc I liecn shaken m .the slightest degree. He had told them he had no-grudge against Constable Grilles pie, and that his simple rea^pn^ for yrriting that letter was oh public "grounds. But m that alleged lijbel. }}\ny Wjas^accused of bearing malice;. When they came to consider the charge they must remember that no.priVuteimalice: exist-" cd. But this wa's not the moat serious of Sthe^ilibeJSi-- They would see the two charges weie connected together. Out of the' one' sprung the other. What the defendants undertook was to prove 1 th'at'ltfl "the statements expressed werelrue,l(l) with regard to Miss CrriwTdrd j (3/ the native woman.; (3) regarding' the general looseness of plain tiff J ii charater, which latter charge they had n6t even attiem'pted to 'substantiate. The evi:dehce.witli regard to Miss Crawford was 5 certainly very conflicting. No doubt f Miss CiiiwforU' Had iaid one thing and' Mr Russell an«>thei\ v Miss OrUwfedi iiihirUale, had Baid she was' atrgupper at the Clarendon : Hotel one Saturday evening. ;Mi* ( Russell, uninvited by any' of them, had come too. (Mr' fzard here repeated the cv deuce,) ! Slife had then seemed to indicate thiit witness 1 ' Had 1 taken the opportunity of att'em'ptiug to commit aa assault iipoh h;er; "W-.is .thik likely? Re luid no he»itation m liclitoving th>it the jury would "come 'to a different conclusion. ihfen : 'ttiejr we're told to believe 'what he would call the " dres- ■ sing-room episode," allhougb: this [ took place long. afte?,the date, when [ tKese libels were j^iblished. it then have" had any effect on their publicatiqii'lheh ? No, of course not. In fact, What; it was, was tins. It was an attempt; to lead the. jury astray by .shewing* theix something that occurred afterwards. . Something might have occui'ied. I That he knew not. Bub it',waß siilisequenb to the publication of the, HbeK ; . , .. [ Then, regarding' "Miss" Crawford, he I had nothing to say: against her personally whatever. But he must reuiaik one thing. i: If Ithereihad been an attempt at an indecent assault, why had she not, laid: ah information q at, the .time? t Mr Russell; jwould have been severely punished had he been convicted for that offence, and yet, .■sh&had,- takjßn.ntj. steps. -£g clear her character. They would also have : noticed her way of giving evidence, and WQuldi,prQ,l}ably /come to the conclusion that the lady could act her part well) and had got it uj^ previously. She tad a nice little pieqe.of poetry tliey would not forget, and m other ways she had acted ;ber part well, which had been all ready igojb up for the occasion, and her demeanour was light, and self-satisfied. She had told them that Mrs. jWjilkin^on and some others we£e_standitig by when the assftiilt took place,. and ; were going to bed. Was ; this.a likely time: for a thing of the sorb to have .taken. pla«e % [To be continued.] . ,v r