To The Editor of the Nelson Evening Mail.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VI, Issue 181, 2 August 1871, Page 2

To The Editor of the Nelson Evening Mail.

Sir,~l see by your paper this evening that Mr. Acton Adams stated in; Cqurt today that I had, asked him to conduct the! prosecution against John and William Avery. I beg, to,state that this is notvthefact.j j I should not have plojued; , under, an obligation to that gentleman by asking' him to do what I could easily have

done myself, and had I been unable to do it, I should have oeked my partner, Mr. Pitt, to act for me; as I did on a previous occasion;' > My instructions from the General G-overnment are that prosecutors are to be allowed to employ their own counsel when they wish to do so, and as Mr. Acton Adams had appeared for the prosecutor be/ore the Magistrates, I thought it most likely that he would desire to conduct the prosecution in the Supreme Court, therefore, when I got the depositions about a fortnight ago, I asked him, as I had previously asked Mr. Kingdon on similar occasions, if he was going to conduct it, when he replied tbat he had not thought of doing so as he did not know that he could. I told him that he could if he liked, as prosecutors might employ their own counsel. After some little further conversation, chiefly about his getting paid for it, he said he would see Mr. Rout about it, and afterwards he told me that he would conduct the case. I am, &c, Henry Adams, Crown Solicitor. Nelson, Ist August.