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New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 4442, 15 June 1875, Page 2

By means of this telegraphic brevities of the day the people of the colony have been informed of a case in which Mr. Mainwaring-Johnston, a land broker of Christchurch, has been committed for trial for a breach of the Land Transfer Act. The case was fully reported in a late issue'of the Lytteltcm Times, and from the evidence given for the prosecution it seems that Mr. Johnston misjudged the penal powers of the Act, which he would seem to have altogether lost sight of in the apparent simplicity of the system itself. The case is alluded to here not because it is one of any great importance, nor because tho offence is likely to become one of frequent occurrence, but rather to show that the Act possesses within itself a power adequate to the detection of fraud—a power the mere mention of which will exercise a beneficial influence in the caso of that class of persons with whom judicial awe is more effective than moral suasion. The charge consisted in an alleged attempt on the part of Mr. Johnston to register, under the Land Transfer Act, a section belonging to a man named- Campbell which had been previously made over to a man named Whale under the old conveyancing system. How Campbell and Johnston were brought into conjunction does not appear Very clearly. Johnston's declaration, on his application for the transfer, stated that there was no encumbrance or claim affecting the land except an agreement between Campbell and a person named Jessop, which had not been carried out. Mr. Davys, the Registrar-General, evidently had had his suspicions aroused, and upon looking into tho matter he found that Johnston's declaration was wrong, the land having been conveyed to Whale as far back as July, 1866. Counsel for tho defence could, had he chosen, have denied Johnston'b acquaintance with this

fact, but the denial would have been of no avail, for Mrs. Campbell, who laid the cause of all her husband's trouble at Johnston's door, stated in court that the whole thing was planned in her house ; that Campbell was to get a title which he could not otherwise get by passing the Bection through the Land Transfer Department ; that the land was then to be sold or mortgaged, and Johnston was to receive half the proceeds. Campbell averted the awkward consequences by getting clear away from the province, Johnston it is alleged having advised this course, thinking himself safe. The law, however, takes full cognisance of Mr. Johnston in the matter, and he now stands committed to answer the charge at the next sitting of the Supreme Court.

Not the least interesting amongst the colonial items brought by the steamer Macgregor, is that informing us of the commencement of a prosecution against the fraudulent bankrupt James Peters. Perhaps in the history of colonial commerce no insolvency had created more astonishment than this, or had been worked more adroitly. The firm of Peters, Barnard, and Co. commenced business in Launceston, about ten years ago, with a capital of £IOOO, but in a very short time Peters by his peculiar aptitude for business developed it into one of the largest and to all outward appearance one of the most profitable concerns in the colony. During the whole period of its existence never a breath of suspicion as to the soundness of the house gained currency ; its payments were ever promptly made, and its bills duly honored ; therefore, when on - one fine morning its failure for the respectable sum of £200,000, or little less, was announced, the information came as a thunderclap, and brought ruin to a large number of small traders, farmers, millers, &c. The secrets then came out, and it appeared that the whole business had been carried on for years by means of a huge system of accommodation. Valueless paper had been floated year after year, and accommodation obtained from one man to take up that of another, till at last the bubble burst, and of the £200,000 liability, above £IOO,OOO represented bills accepted by men of straw, and not worth the paper on which the promises to pay were written. The stock in store was valued at not more than £20,000, and where the balance had gone the bankrupts would not tell and their books did not show. The creditors, therefore, combined, and at the risk of losing everything determined to expose this palpable and immense fraud, and, if possible, to punish the actors. Six months have been occupied in sifting the matter in the Bankruptcy Court, and presumably sufficient evidence has been obtained to warrant proceedings under the criminal code with a prospect of a conviction. Barnard had but little to do with buying and arranging financial matters, and,, therefore, though perhaps so far as strict law goes he is responsible for the deeds of his partner, yet morally he is less culpable. The creditors, probably having taken this view, have not ineluded him in the bill of indictment.

A communicated article appeared in the last number of the New Zealand Mail, putting forth at some length the claims of the early settlers. This subject lias now been for sometime before the public, mainly through the advocacy of Mr. J. H. Wallace, and a meeting in reference to it will be held in the Odd Fellows' Hall.on the 17th instant. The early settlers, as it at present appears, consider that having, as they allege, borne the burden and heat of the day in the work of colonisation, having settled here when, through want of roads and population, land was of little or no value, and having helped by colonisation to make that land of value, they are now entitled to some compensation in the way of aland grant. That is the case, apparently, of the old settlers. It remains to be seen whether that case can be made good.

The usual fortnightly meeting of the Education Board will be held to-morrow. A month's arrears of business will probably afford convincing proof of the necessity for expedition and the discouragement of useless and unprofitable discussion. There is, however, one matter tipon which the Board might well express itself fully and decidedly. Mr. Mowbray, the head master of the Sydney-street school, will, of course, make an official report of the circumstances connected with the Johns case, and upon that report the Board will have to express an opinion one way or the other. Theoutsidepublichavehadampleopportunityto form an opinion, and we have already indicated, in a paragraph published yesterday, what that opinion is. With the Board rests the ultimate decision whether Mr. Pilkhigton was or was not justified in the measures he adopted to suppress the riotous tendencies of Master Johns, and upon that subject the members should express themselves in no half-hearted or vague manner.

The Wairarapa Standard, in its last issue, republishes Sir George Grey's letter which no person could understand, and gives an explanation of it, in which it is extolled as a model of clear reasoning, and its critics are told that their minds are unsound. It seems queer that the difficulty in making out Sir George's letter should have extended to every paper in the colony, and that our Wairarapa contemporaryshould stand alone in its perspicacity. It may be that all other papers, including ourselves, are wrong and the Standard right, but nevertheless, we cannot help thinking that Sir George's letter has achieved for him the end of which Bentley said, "It is a maxim with me that no man was ever written out of reputation but by himself."