NEW MUNSTER EXTRACTS. Judge Stephen versus Robinson and McKenzie. [From the "Wellington Independent," August 28]

New Zealander, Volume 8, Issue 671, 18 September 1852, Page 2

NEW MUNSTER EXT RACTS. Judge Stephen versus Robinson and McKenzie. [From the " Wellington Independent," August 28]

AI. the Supremo Court yesterday Mr. Samuel X >binson, Draper, and Mr. T. Mackenzie, one of the Proprietor and Publishers of the Fiulcppmlrnt newspaper, appeared to leeeivc judgment, llio fir-.! i!ir having writ/en, and (do second iov h:ivin» published, n rerlain loiter refl.'clmtf on the decision o( the Jud;;o, the pjirtioiil.iis of which j'r>, we hiiould imagine, by this time perfectly wo I known to the public. Mr .Justice Stephen occupied two hours jn deliveiing lih judgment, and answering the n inner oi;s objections which the C^oimeil Tor the defendants — Dr.FiV.ns and Mr. iCinjjf — \y,u\ urged n^ainbt. tin 1 inoilc of pioc.vdio^s. in the prcicnl ca^c, ni,iinl.iiniu<r fioin nuinerons tiulliorilius, which ho ((■Kited, (luiL tlio coni'su he had adopted was perIv'elly legal, and v.asof the mobt lenient ehaiaeler. AVc hive nyillicr (iino nor spaec to give a full report of Uu-su proceeding this weelc^ but we can assuie the jjublio that the subject .shall not be lost si^ht of. It is one which concerns (hem even more than it concerns iih, und let {rood or ill betide, we arc determined to do our dut.y; we enn r (hciefoie, with the mure confidence ask them to do theirs. The sentence of (he Court was that in the caseof Mr. Robinson he should pay a find of £20, and find bail himself in XI OO, and two sureties of X'.">o, riieh; to be of »ood behaviour for twelve calendar months, and to be imprisoned until such bail be jrivcu, and Mich fine p;iid. In the case of Mr. Mackenzie, that he should find bail himself in £100, and two sureties of X'->0 each, to be of good behaviour for twelve months, und (o be imprisoned null such bnil lias been tendered and accepted. Both defendants have been sent to gaol. On one occasion dunnrj the proceedings an expression of feeling in favour of the defendants was widely manifested by the persons present in Court, when Mr. Justice Stephen ordered the Sheriff to Isdce them all into custody, and obsetved that the inhabitants off Australia, convictsas they were, or were said to be, knew how to behave themselves with more decency than the people of this colony, at least as far so he had seen of (hem.

IKioin \ho Wellington Independent, Sept. 1.1 We have little space for editorial remarks today, siml still loss of inclination logivo lliem ; for, whatever inny be suspected lo the contrary, we, feel ;is much repugnance against tlic tn.sk of animadverting on the conduct of a Judge, as we should at being compelled lo expose either the infirmities or the errors of a once honoured and indulgent parent. The worst of the comparison, however, is thai, tlic Judge has not given us lime to honour him, before he breaks out upon us with the flames of his indignation ; and the only indulgence ho has yet granted to us ia that we arc merely incarcerated in gaol for a'season, and not subjected to all the weight of fine and imprisonnienl, which the implacable vengeance of someJudges might have led them to inflict. It wo i. ld not be necessary — even if we were a» vindictive as we aic sorrowful at the spectacle wo have lately witnessed — to say anything to increase the alarm, or to aggravate the displeasure, which pervade the community in consequence of llio proceedings which have recently taken place in the Supreme Court. Never was there an occasion, since the settlement wsis founded, on which tnens 1 minds were so painfully agitated, — nor with* so oppressive a sense of undefined and yet most palpable danger. Whatever inconvenience or degradation we felt, from the absence of Representative Government and Constitutional privileges, we always consoled ourselves with the reflection that at least, we had the laws of England to fall back upon ; that the Supreme Court would bo our ]af»f and safe refuge against the terrors of irresponsible power, should they at any time be displayed, and that then we should feel the reality of thai, empire of liberty which extends through both hemispheres, and whose '• morning drum," to use t lie words ol an enthusiastic foreigner, " welcome* (he first beams of the rising sun, in c\cry degree of longitude, in its progress round the globe." Wo flallered otnsclves that there was some meaning in the memorable words of Ilardwicko and Carndcn, spoken by them when law officers of the Crown, in answer lo an impiry, made to them from the Throne, as to " what was the legal condition of the people- in the colonies, that had been founded by emigration from the mother country, 1 ' when they replied, with a something of anlique simplicity and grandeur, not unlike the language of inspiration— Your Majestt's simmers carry with them run Laws' or England wiiKUEVEit •riiicy go. JSlost grave and pregnant words, indeed, and worthy of the profound lawyers and statesmen who uttered them ! Worthy, likewise, of that raee — inagnu vtnnn mater — whose destiny, and whose glory it has been to go and plant themselves and their laws wherever the earth could afford them a vacant space ; but most delusive and most cruel iv their mockery if they are to evaporate with a mere change of climate, and leave us to the undisguised dominion of an arbitrary power, which becomes " a law unlo itself," and sets nil rules, as well as all decency and moderation, at defiance. " > We do not say or insinunto that things have reached this pass yet, or arc even approaching to it; but, ne\erthelubs, the feeling of absolute security is gone, nnd a kind of uneasiness and anxie,ly has been produced, in which all classes and all parties in the colony appear equally to participate We will say nothing, therefore, to deepen, this impression ; and certainly we cannot iook for a more substantial triumph than that which wo have already achieved, in the sympathy and tlic co-operation of the public. We have another reason, likewise, for nbsli" nonce to-day from detailed observations ;— wo arc wailing for the official or quiiM-oflieial report of the judgment delivered on Friday, or so much of it, at least, as may be vouchsafed lo us from UiQ writ len notes ; for we doubt considerably whether anybody will dare lo give us all those extempo^ r.uieoiifl /li"!)!*, garnished with so many flowers ol' rhetoric, with which the audience were regaled, though not all of them persuaded or captivated, during the delivery. The table is prepared, an<l the dissecting kni£« is ready, and. wo are only waiting for the subject, in order to begin that demonstration which the public arc expecting, not meiely in the interest of science, but likewise with a view to tlio .indulgence of u liberal and cnlighti ened (astc in this department of anatomy. Wo trust, therefore, that when our contemporary publishes this, which ought to be added as a supplementary chapter ti> that portion of tlic works of Rnbeluis, where he immortalises the Judges of his own time, he will not forget any of the sneers which were thrown out against the Counsel employed by the defendants ; nor especially that little episode in which one of them thought it ne- ' ccssnry to vindicate himself from a charge of

" discourtesy," by an appeal, ad vcrecumham, to the previous conduct and declarations of the Judge himself. We look for all this, and a great deal more, to be faithfully and impartially reported ; and, when we have got it, we trust that Aye shall be able to deal with it in a manner that shall be entirely satisfactory, not merely to the parties concerned, but likewise to the most impartial spectators in other colonies, and even in that "mother country," cf which we generally hear so much, Avhen the most atrocious injustice is about to be inflicted on her children. Of course we shall have the one solitary ca&e (that of Martin before Lord Chancellor Brougham), which is the only one pretended to be produced, in answer to the challenge of Counsel, ostentatiously paraded ; though common sense (if we must adopt the vituperative style for which we have now such authority) would teach any man, " who was not blinded by prejudice to a preconceived opinion," that it is only one of a hundred cases corroborative of our Counsel's argument, and that it had no more to do with His Honor's conclusion than had those passages of his autobiography, with which he favoured us, and the substance of which was that all his successive migrations had been undertaken by him " solely with a view to a change of air!" It might, at the same time, save a great deal of trouble, if we could be told, upon authority, who was intended by the "needy adventurer," whom the Judge described so graphically, when he fixed hiarfjesso steadfastly upon one learned gentle- j man, whom the majority of the persons present supposed to be alluded to. It is very proper that this inquiry should be satisfied ; though we do not imagine that Dr. Evans will think it at all neces--siry to parade his autobiography, in order to recommend himself, for the iirst. time, to the good opinion of the people of Fort Nicholson. We cannot dwell, however, upon things so perfectly disagreeable as those which we have been compelled to ad\ crt to. If a grave lawyer should think fit to stand upon his head, or to dance upon the tight rope at the Britannia Saloon, we should not feel more painful emotions than we did on a recent occasion. But we forbear, and we willingly avert our eyes, when we spread the garment of oblivion over the weaknesses of a parent, and we ask the public to deal kindly and compassionately towards a Judge, for the sake, not of the man, but of the sanctity of the office which he sustains.

(From the " Spectator," Septemliei l.) We publish in our present number a report of Mr. Justice Stephen's judgment in the case of Mess. Robinson and M'Kenzie. Although it extends to a considerable length we have been obliged to content ourselves, from want of space, with an impei feet outline of the elaborate and conclusive legal arguments and authorities adduced by his Honor against the objections raised by the defendants' Counsel. This defect will, however, we understand be shortly remedie I by the publication, in nn extended authentic shape, of his Honor's judgment. We have refrained from expressing our opinion at any length on this case, lest it might be said, however unfairly, that we were influenced by personal motives; a sense of justice, however, cnmpels us to observe that throughout this case his Honor appears to have been actuated by a sense of public duty, and from a desire to uphold the dignity of the Court in which he presides. No attempts have been made by the defendants' Counsel to argue the case on its merit?; they have urged technical objections which were shown to be without any "n eight or authority. If, however, this event shall have the effect of banishing, for the future, from the discussion of public questions, all gross and scurrilous personalities, the community at large will greatly benefit by the change.

[From the " Independent," September A.\ The adjourned Public Meeting, at the Britannia Saloon, which, notwithstanding the unfavourable state of the wenjlier, was iuqsl numerously and respectably attended, received the report of the Committee, appointed at the meeting held at Barrett's Hotel, on Saturday last, of the recent proceedings in the Supreme Court, relative to the case of Messrs. Robinson and M'Kenzie. The Chairman, R. J. Duncan, Esq., opened the meeting, which was ably addressed by Messrs. Allen, Clifford, Carter, and Edwards. The report of the Committee, which we shall publish at length in our next, Avas read to the meeting by Mr. Allen, and adopted without a dissentient voice. We believe Mr. Robinson and Mr. M'Kenzie will be liberated from custody to-day.

[Fiom the "Wellington Spectator," Si ptcinbcr 4.] As public journalists professing to give an account of current events, it would be impossible for us to pass over without any reference or allusion the present strong excitement, which the return of some colonists who have been successful in their visit to the "diggings" at Melbourne has caused in the New Zealand settlements. Numbers have left the Canterbury settlement, and numbers are preparing to leave Wellington for a time, to try their fortune in this new lottery. Several respectable tradesmen and mechanics are about to leave their wives and families, and property, with the view of embarking in this new pursuit, and after engaging in its prosecution for some months, of returning again to New Zealand with the fruits of their labours. It would be as useless for us to attempt to argue the point with •those who have thus suddenly adopted this resolution, as it would be idle to hope by any dissuasives that can be offered, to induce them to forego their purpose. Each man who is going persuades himself that he must infallibly be .successful ; the only question on which he seems to have any doubt is as to the amount of his success ; how much, in the general scramble for gold, is likely to fall to his individual share. It is difficult to form any correct conclusions as to the effect of the present movement, and the changes which it is likely to produce : for a season it must inevitably create a good deal of inconvenience and contusion. We are now going through the same ordeal to which some of the neighbouring colonies have already been subjected ; we are beginning in some degree to suffer some of the social inconveniences to which they have been long exposed. The want of labour will be sensibly fett in the different New Zealand settlements ; cultivation by Europeans will for a time be generally neglected throughout all the Australian colonies, while at the same time, from 'the increased and extensive European emigration that is certain to take place to them, the congumption of food will be greater than ever. In this respect New Zealand is more fortunate than her neighbours in having a numerous and industrious native population, who cultivate to a considerable extent themselves, and avlio will be of great assistance to those country .settlers that may stand in need of labour. With this prospect in view, we believe they have in the present year considerably increased their cultivations ; and the Government, by their influence and advice, has done all in its power to stimulate them in the different districts to grow as- much wheat and other produce as possible, as they were assured they would be certain to meet with a remunerating market ; and a circular to this effect, drawn up in the native language, was lately extensively circulated among the natives by the Government. And this allusion to the natives leads us to notice ths fact that the excitement about gold, and the desire to visit the diggings (stimulated by the reports which they have received from some natives who have visited the diggings and prospered) has also reached them; ami we understand that several natives are going tp Melbourne by the present opportunity. These, of course, arc sure to return with their gains to their country, — while their can be little doubt that the majority of those settlers who feel disposed to leave New Zealand for a time will eventually return to it, and add to the wealth of the colpny by th 3 fruits of their success :

there is every reason aho to suppose that many others of the fortunate gold diggers, especially those -who have suffered in their health while in pursuit of the golden harvest, will he induced, from the many advantages, both natural and social, which this colony possesses, to make it their home ; &o that ultimately it is very probable u c shall be gaineis by the movement which is now taking place. However attractive Port Phillip may be from the powerful inducement it holds out to those who are in haste to get rich, a gold producing country cannot be de&irablc as a home ; and those who, after a season of hard toil, realibc a certain amount of money, will look out for some other place more desirable, as a permanent residence, and every effoit should be made to direct the course of such persons to New Zealand on the part of the colonists.