TOMLINSON'S TROUBLES.

NZ Truth, Issue 93, 30 March 1907, Page 4

TOMLINSON'S TROUBLES.

POUNCES ON ASSURANCE PELF.

The Last Refuge of the

Destitute.

Remanded for Sentence.

In various climes, at various times, and m various styles, lively pictures have been .painted of the generally vagarious individual; whb describes himself by the vaouous cognomen of agent. Mr T.- ' Wilford borrowed one of . the many ' pictures to delineate a Life Assurance agent named Henry Bernard Tomlioison, who stood m the dock, shivering, hopeless -anti practically friendless, at the S.M.s Court last Monday morning .charged ,. with, pouncing on the pelf ot the Temperance and General Mutual Life Assurance Society. ,"A « Life '"Assurance agent," .said counsel; "ivas'the last" refuge of th© destitute.'' Tomlinson's defalcations, according to, U3etecbive Brober^, totalled £80. They started sometime in ' October last and ware . continuecL right up^ to January, of ttfis ...year j when he out, and when recently arrested) at Wanganui. he was travelling about under' the name of Lintisav. '

There were a lot bf charges agavnsfc Tomljnson, some being for thefts of ss, others, for,. £2 and £3/, and one £QEjjgjt& *£fe jiejided' guilty, and Mr Wilfoitf, who 'afpeargrloj; hiihv;;saifl : he wished ,tb call evidence as to Tdmlinsbn's, tpast; igood " charadterj His age was- . si ' years,;! though he looked older. Having defined a life assurance agent as ' ' .

i THE IjAST, REBTJaE OF. THE DESTITUTE,

counsel said ,. anybody '.could get into that sort of billet as long as they had a good character. A company did not guarantee ; t© pay anything unless the agent brought some money along. It was arduous work, it required ah agent's energy from early morning till late at night. They sometimes effected a small insurance on a workineman's child at sixpence or one shilling a week after perhaps hours of persuasion. Tomlinson's area spread 1 ovei: Wellington, Newtown; Karori; Lower and Upper Hutfc and even to Wainui-o-mata. He tramped about on foot from place to place to 'where Ms clients lived to collect their small sums. Then there were what were' known as lapses, and many of Tomlirison's clients lapsed and he had very foolishly started to pay up himself ; because as long as payments. were kept up it seemed better for himself. He got behind arid took the money which he should have paid m and then disappeared. He was frightened to face the position. Had he been a younger and more robust man he would probably have sjtayed behind' and lopked his troubles m the face. He accordingly took another name, and took a similar position-— the same refuge of the destitute— at Wangjanui. He made enough to pay for poard and lodgings and had 'actually put away £1 15s towards making good his defalcations, when a man who knew him, put, him away to the police, and as there was a warrant out for his arrest, the police acted promptly. There were features m the old man's past life that ought to be placed before the Court. His position was a grave one,. and though not admitting probation, he (Mr Wilford) proposed to ask the Court to take a certain course.. Tomlinson was fcnown by a number of witnesses who had asked to be allowed to say something on his behalf, and if a remand was granted till April 8, Mr Wilford said he would have the witnesses ready.

Having pleaded guilty, Tomlinson was remanded for sentence till the date mentioned.