The New-Zealander.

New Zealander, Volume 4, Issue 314, 2 June 1849, Page 2

The New-Zealander.

Be just ami feiir not: Let all the ends tliou aiins't at, be thy Country*, Thy (ion's, aud Truth's.

SATURDAY, JUNE 2, 184 9.

We have copied into our columns of this morn" ing, a portion of a very able article on " Emigration to the British Colonies,'" taken from tice Companion to the British Almanac, for 1849. The subject will be resumed until the whole is placed before our readers. Until then, we shall withhold a comment or two, which we shall deem it our duty to make. The paper is one of much practical sagacity, and may suffice to convince colonists that their opinions and feelings are beginning to be understood and acted upon, as well as respected by the advocates of systematic colonization in England.-

Did the Colonial Journalist stand, at any time, In need of apology for maintaining a Vigilant eye, or for indulging in merited animadversion of the affairs of the neighbouring provinces, we think he would be more than fully excused for commenting, as we intend to do, upon a most extraordinary exhibition of Justice, as recently administered, in the Supreme Court of Van Diemen'a Land. It is not long since we alluded to the tampering with, or rather the attempted trampling upon, Tasmanian Justice at its fountain head, in the desire manifested to compel the Chief Justice, fcir John Pedder, to accept of leave of absence until certain gubernatorial schemes could be played off ;— and when these were defeated by the sturdy independence and fearless rectitude of that " upright Judge," we have seen the Chief Authority and his pliant Council reduced to the necessity of preferring charges against Sir John— all which charges serially ana disgracefully failed. We have

seen this and we now see and are called to comment upon the fruits of such manceuvrings. If the aphorism of the Times, which represents a Colonial governor as " a lucky accident," be correct, how deeply must the colonists of Van Diemen's Land deplore its converse as applicable to themselves — for, assuredly they have been, and are still, saddled with the most " unlucky accident" that ever afflicted a powerless and a prostrate people/ In the conduct and temper of the various witnesses at this trial, we regret to be compelled to perceive the effects of that evil communication the corrupter of good manners; and did we lack other or more cogent argument why the introduction of convicts into New Zealand should be resisted to the utmost, we should point conclusively to the degrading and insidious influences of such a population upon the gentlemen and Justices of Tasmania, as evidenced by their sentiments, upon oath, in the trial " 'Regma.versu sSmith" — a trial which has provoked the most indignant observations from the respective editors of the Courier, Colonial Times, and Britannia, the latter of whom goes the extreme length of saying, "if these are evidences of fitness to sit as a justice of the peace, on either free or bond, we think the sooner we go to Port Arthur for magistrates the better it will be for our consstency !" The case, thus prefaced, was one of assault committed by Mr. William Villeneuve Smith, of the district of Prossers Plains, upon Mr. Thomas Cruttenden, a settler of old standing, and a Magistrate. The parties had been at previous feud, Mr. Smith having spat in Mr. Cruttenden's face— and a pretext, it is evident, was sought by Mr. Smith to renew hostilities, since he travelled out of his way to address the prosecutor, who had declined to hold communication with him except through a third party. According to the evidence, Mr. Smith, Mho was on horseback, overtook Mr. Cruttenden, who was on foot, about a quarter of a mile from the iesidence of the latter. After a few words, relative to the repair of a boundary fence dividing their lands, a violent altercation ensued, which ended in Mr. Smith applying his horsewhip to the shoulders of Mr. Cruttenden who retaliated upon his assailant with a blow of a thistle spud with which he was walking. A scuffle then ensued and the combatants rolled together on the earth, Mr. Smith achieving the uppermost position, in consequence of the weakness of his adversary whose right arm had been previously injured by a fall. Mr. Cruttenden states that his mouth and nostrils were stopped with earth, and that he felt as if being gouged. At this juncture, the Rev. Charles Dobson caught a glance of the belligerents, the' defendant on the top of the prosecutor, and pressing his right hand on his nose and mouth. Mr. Dobson called upon them to separate, but this was resisted by Mr. Smith, who said, " Mr. Dobson you are a clergyman and have no right to interfere in such scenes as these." Eventually, Mr. Dobson seized the defendant by the hair and pulled him off. He, then, desired Mr. Cruttenden to get up, but received for answer, in a faint voice, that he could not. He then rode to Mr. Cruttenden's house bringing with him two of the prosecutor's servants who found the worrying had been resumed, and dragged Mr. Smith from their master. This was the prosecutor's case, and closed the first of the two day's proceedings ! The defence was conducted by Mr. Francis Smith, jun., the brother of the defendant, and Solicitor-General of the colony : — and such a defence ! The learned Counsel endeavoured to lay marvellous stress upon the aggravated retaliation of the prosecutor, giving a new reading to the laws of England, quite as laughable as its comic history by A'Beckett. Mr. Smith sets out by stating "he had to unravel a tissue of gross perjuries which had been falsely mixed with a great portion of truth." He then insists that by the law of England any party who may resent an assault, in a furious manner, becomes the assaulter, and is liable to a criminal prosecution : and, if death ensue, to be dealt with as a murderer or homicide ! ! The learned Counsel, with classic elegance, commented upon the evidence of Mr. Dobson, who had formerly been a practical chemist and engaged in chemical manures, — ex. gr. . That tbe Ret. Mr. D ibson's evidence did not agree wi Ii that of the pioiecuior's ; that therer. gentleman cams there under a strong bits, as he gave liis evidence with • sanctimonious appearance, as if he were pteaching a sermon, but evidently spoke from imprenions. Dr. Dohion was new ai a clergy mm, freih from manure ranking, but displayed a great portion of sanctity of manner. Mr. Stephen Grueber was a magistrate of the territory — would not believe Mr. Cruttenden on his oath. His conduct had been open and fair towards him. Admitted that he had been concerned in preparing a forged letter to the late Sir Eardlty Wilmot with respect to Mr. Cruttenden, and might have dined in his house the day that letter was prepared !! Mr. John Forster, was Assistant Police Magistrate at Sorell. This paid functionary also would not believe Mr. Cruttenden on his oath, but stated, that he requested him, through the district constable, to perform his magisterial duties f«.r him, about a fortnight since, and had previously written to him with the same object, since he had formed the above opinion. " I would not believe him upon hi* oath, but I'll send him to the Pollewoffice to discharge my duties t"

This, laid Mr. Mnrdo^ell, the counsel for the Prosecution, Mr. Forstcr stated wiih unbluihiug etfrontery— —"With face unmov'd, and forehead unabashed." And yet, some of the oldest merchants and bankers of Hobart Town, who had known Mr. Cruttenden for upwards of twenty years, gave a very different testimony as to his credibility. The jury returned a verdict guilty of a common assault, and the Court inflicted a fine of One Hundred Pounds, to find two sureties of £250 each, to keep the peace for two years, and to be imprisoned until the fine be paid, and the sureties c itered into. There were other and fearfully revolting circumstances connected with this disgusting caS e a case the most discreditable to any country or clime — but these we leave the Colonial journalists to deal with. The Courier of the sth ultimo treats the subject thus :— The Supreme Court has lapsed into a state of anarchical confusion, pregnant with danger to the peace and interests of society. Every one exclaims that it is better to shut it up altogether than witness the exhibition of such scenes and the recurrence of such outrages as have lately been permitted to take place within its walls. If such things are to go unchecked, Dante's inscription on the gates of hell, that he who enters must abandon all hope, would seem its fitting escutcheon. It kills to cure, and cures to kill. The protection that it may chance to afford (and it it a very bare chance) for the perpetration of personal wrong is but a feather in the scale against the cumulative injury that it allows to be inflicted upon the man who seeks for justice on account of that wrong. Nay, the wrong itself hii.ks into insignificance beside it The recent trial for assault is a cogent instance of this kind. The obnoxiom features in the conduct of this case we could not place before our readers ; but questions were proposed to the prosecutor which were wholly irrelevant— which had nothing whatever to do with the case, but of such a revolting character, that the blood curdles and the human heart boils with indigna'ion at the remembrance of such indignities ; yet they were unchecked by the Court and unobserved upon even in its judgment! Could such things happen in any other country in Christendom t We believe they could not. Then nhy are they tolerated in Van Diemen's Land ? We must, we fear, look for a solution cf this question in the maimed and mutilated condition of the Supreme Court— in the crusade of the Executive and the instigation of the Law Officers against it and the prostration and abatement of its constitutional authority. The Bench has been held up by the Executive as a mark for insult, and thus it is daily bearded. The petuknt insolence of the Attorney General hardly brooks dissent. We have ascribed the paisiveness of the Chief Justice to the awkward position in which the bench is at present placed ; but however he may be content to ov rlook such occurrences o>i his own account, he cannot do so on account of the public. The injury is a public one— it is a common wrong in which all men are concerned. Ths utmost indignation prevails up *n the subject ; nor should we be surprised to see advantage taken of the occurrence of luch scenes, even by the very parties who instigate them, in order to injure, the presiding Judge. We have every respect (says the Colonial Times) for ( the Chief Jui ice, but we take the liber y of telling him that be was not sufficiently careful in restricting the remarks of the counsel and the questions put to the witnesses to the case in pom'—o therwise he would not hare allowed the feelings of the proiecutor to hnve been wounded and lacerated by the qurstion put respecting hit family, and which wai quite irrelevant to the matter at iuue. It ma 'c onr rery blood curdle when we heard it. and the sensation throughout the Court House eridenced the feeling of horror which it created. The ltw if certainly a strange sort of a thing — passing strange —and the conduction put by it upon tomewhat similar proceedings, although in different circumstances, is still more ctrange- Thus, a lawyer may call a man everything that is bad. may even point at htm and call him a perjurer, and he is held harm less, if it i* done in puMic Court; whereas, if an unfortunate Editor were to adopt the «arne course in public print, the Judue would iooii convince him of hi* mistake* The Court ii public, and the Press is public, and it is expected the Press, which for that purpose is provided with accommodation in C«urt, sIihII publ sh the proceedings of the Court! Again, a witneis is uippoied to be brought into Court to testify the truth ; yet it it quite legitimate for a lawyer to torture the unfortunate witness until he it almost beMcle himself, and quite confused, and then to hold him up to public icorn for prevaricating, according to the lawyer's construction. It would be waste of words to comment upon such proceedings. Another strange fact of law has been revealed in the late case. It appears a gentlemau 'must be assailed twice before he retaliates, otherwise he be comes the aegressor 1 If you are assailed by another and struck until a whip, if you should happen to have a stick or other instrument in your hands somewhat thicker than the whip, and retaliate before you are struck a second time, you become the assailant, and may be prosecuted by the party who assaulted you first. I his it, truly, a rich specimen of law, and one wlrch few men will think of respecting. Our •' Bricks" may now fearlessly pursue their avocations, and when thry see a gentleman whom they wish to insult walking with a tolerably thick stick, they may with impunity, if they like, assault him with aya v twitch, taking care to give only one stroke ; for if be retaliates, they can prosecute him. So much for law I Club law in a small way will soon be fashionable !

Fire. —On Wednesday morning, about half past two, our townsfolk were alarmed by the apalling cry of fire. The bugle sounded, and the soldiery turned out on the instant; however, by the prompt exertions of the neighbours, and the picket guard, the fire, which had broken out in the stable of Mr. Makepace in Shortland Street, was instantly and effectually got under. Notwithstanding the numberless suggestions we have thrown out to guard against unexpected conflagrations, not the smallest precaution has hitherto been adopted, so that we shall be more indebted to good luck than to good sense if we continue long to escape without some dreadful casualty.

Sales of Cattle. —At Messrs. Connell and Ridings sale of cattle on Wednesday, 30th May, 53 head of stock imported about 12 months ago, and consisting of young heifers and cows, sold at £3 10 0 per head. And at their cattle sale

yesterday, 5 cows, either just calved, or expected to calve within a few days, were sold at from £10 to £13 each ; 4 cows well forward in calf £8 to £9 each ; 4 heifers £3 10 0 to £600; and steers £7 10 0, 1 do. £2 0 0. Several horses were offered but none weie sold.