MAGISTRATE'S COURT.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume V, Issue 218, 15 September 1870, Page 2

MAGISTRATE'S COURT.

(Before Captain Hough, C. Hunter Brown, Esq., and W. Wells, Esq., J.P.'s. Frcmcis Harris was this afternoon brought up afc the gaol charged with having been guilty of altering a certain receipt for money and putting off the same, knowing it to have been altered, to wit, a receipt; signed by one George Besley for £4 10s., with intent to defraud. Mr. H. Adams appeared for tho prosecution, and Mr. W.'Pitt for the prisoner. The Crown Prosecutor stated that the vouchers had been altered so that duplicates for the same amount had been sent in as receipts for two separate payments. H. D. Jackson, Provincial Auditor : Harris was Provincial Sub-Treasurer and Accountant. Ifc was his business to make up monthly statements of the accounts. I reived these regularly up to February last. Tt was his duty to send in all the vouchers to the Treasurer. Owing to the illness of the Treasurer the vouchers produced were sent in to me. He also sent the list I now produce as a list of payments made by him. In the June account he has charged £4' 10s. under the head " Conveyance of Prisoners," aud in the July account under the same head. The lists are in the prisoner's hand writing, and wero presented to me as payments made by him. I have applied to him for regular debtor and creditor accounts but have been unable to obtain them. Cross-examined : I first received these vouchers in the latter part of August. That of June came first. It is in Besley's hand-writing. That of July came subsequently. The bills were frequently sent from Westport with the vouchers, but there was no rule to this eifect. I have seen no bill for this particular amount. This overcharge was discovered four or five days ago. Ido not think this was one of the items, I spoke to Harris about ifc before the first information was laid. I had told him previously that there appeared to be about a dozen duplicates, to which he replied, " The devil there are ! " This occured the day before he was arrested. George Besley : I am purser of the Murray. I remember conveying two prisoners and a constable from Cobden to Westport. I was paid £4 10s. for their passages by Harris, on the 7th June, on which date I signed the voucher. I copied the voucher from one given me by him. That produced is the one I copied from. Since then the date has been altered from 7th June to 7th July. For the two vouchers I received £i 10s. I was in Nelson on 7th July, aud could not have signed at that time. The Murray was then on the slip repairing. Cross examined : — I should not like to swear that the voucher was not in its present state at the time I signed it, I do not believe it was. I do not remember ever signing blank vouchers. One of them was written by Harris, and the other by me at the same time. By the Bench ; I received no money from Harris in July, I do not thick if the voucher had been in its present state at the time I signed it, the date would have escaped my notice. I received £9 altogether, £4 10s on these two vouchers, and £4 10s for conveying witnesses on the same trip. Prisoner was committed for trial. Another charge of a similar nature was brought against him and was proceeding when we went to press.