A REEGISTERED SLANDERER.

Manawatu Times, Volume III, Issue 52, 28 June 1879, Page 2

A REEGISTERED SLANDERER.

Tqos;* M?ho read the account -of the ' hearing of the charge a«;av»st Mr. ,| .SirjJvSOK 'for a 'breach of JLhe Anns Act, j ro.u.sfc have coma to the th/ifc I although the Jotter of the latvmay have been broken, there had not benn the ' 'sjiglitcst attemnfc to e»'ade it? spirit, and perhaps there is not a single measure §t4tute boo^ whi^is no $v\s-

gent in its provisions, and yet withal has been so frequently though, perhaps uii wittingly broken. It may not be geru'rally knowrn that by lending a gun or pistol to a friend, the lender becomes amenable .under the Act ; aye, even if a charge of powder changes hands in S friendly way, unless a license be procured, and the authorities approye of the lonq fides of the borrower, the person conferring the obligation places himself within ..the. ..clutches of the law, and becomes liable to .a penalty of £300, or a term of imprisonment. To our mind the wliele' tenor of- the. evidence produced in Mr. Snblson's case wont to show lliat the gun bad gone into the possession of Brandon as a loan, si ping that he was distinctly iufornaod at various times that the weapon did not become his property until the license •had been obtained. The case for the prosecution was not that the defendant had sold.a gun without having a license, because it was distinctly , shown that although the sale might be commenced, it could not beperfeeted until the buyer's name had been .approved of — but tljathe allowed it to leave his "possession before the necessary document hiad been obtained. Viewing thecharge from' that standpoint, and that the police wanted to make an example of some one, there can be no doubi that a,primafaoie case was made out, and that; the ipench had _ no other alternative than to commit the* defendant for trial.- : Although we confess the proceedings appear to us unwarrantable and vexatious, and we are at a loss to determine why Mr. i Snelson should be singled out. when I it was given in evidence by the police that the department had bt-en previously aware that whole bunches of shilling licenses had beeu taken after sales had been effected, and indeed that the custom had been loo'se, still we are bound to admit that the prose-, cution haj'ing-been once set in- motion was conducted iu no acrimonious or. vindictive' spirit. Sub-inspector Goodwill, who prosecuted, did his' duty in. a fair and impartial manner, as if he was aware .he had a disagreeable duty to perform, and wishtd to. execute it in the least objectionable form possible. Passing over the mysterious why Mr. Snelsox should be singled out for condo*mnation, we ilould not fairly take exception to the subsequent proceedings — .the e aminatiort and commitment — and were it not for one little incident we should have : pas>ed over the case without comment. ftt'Wever, as an up. holder of truth and an exposer of falsehood, we feel called upon to flatly oontradict the wilful and "malicious lie which appeared in that registered hotbed of slauder, the Rangitihei Advocate. Tn a paragraph announcing that an information, had been laid, the unscrupulous editor ch'urned up all his v«noai and spleen until it spat itse'r" fortbV in del i bera to u a trnthi. The whole paragraph was bristling with animus; and beside slating that the defendant was. the " Mayor of Palinerston." and that— incorrectly, of course— the offwrice did not admit of a- fine,, it published. ■ •, a wilful He, which was; citiijulat'ed to prejudice the minds of the public; It stated that Mr. ' SSi^ i^tso?r 'wlien bn ; the Bench, and .-'in: liis onHcM^lJokillo4 " twrtted him ;\yitn bein v a busli' lawyer, because ho had done his duty. 1 ' . This we unhesitatingly pronounce a manufactured, malicious lie, whose vindictive meanness will be best appreciated'wJ^eJi the position of the person against whom it is uttered is taken into account. The "writer of this article was' iii Court the whole of t'ie : morning upon which the taunt is alleged to -have '.been mad*, and ean m.rtko an afljrmatjoh that the circumstances did not '.take place, Before the Court was* open the Constable and Mr. Sjj 3L.SON had a conversation in. whicli the ktter twitted the Constable with his construction 'of -a certain section of the Act, when the, remark about bush lawyers was made, but it had reference to the Constable's opinions, not abus« for executing- his- duty ; and most certainly ifc was ndfc said by iV^r. Snkl'soij when the Court, was open; or in his judicial capacity. We have no fault to find with Constable Gillestie or Suk-iuspector Goodali. for doing their duty, even though the mayor of the ; ,town should be the victim selected; .on the contrary, we give them credit for it. Tli* Viper, true to its name, is like a Malay running, a-muek, the flanie of its viucHctiveness has broken forth, and in its murderous career it sacrifices truth, and justice, and men's' fair characters at the shrine of the venomous Ate/