A RANGIORA RAMP.

NZ Truth, 4 January 1908, Page 5

A RANGIORA RAMP.

A SCANDALOUS AND STENCHFUL DEAL OF JUSTICE, Brutal BiU Mcßride's Powerful Pull. WAS THE JAY PAY BENCH PACKED? A Mattet for Farther Investigation.

Owing to the intervention of the 'Xmas holidays, "Truth" last week Was forced, . reluctantly, to hold over the few remarks it proposes to make on a recent,., scandalous and stenehlul deal of Justice at Rangiof ato a man named Mcßride, by what looks to be a packed, Bench of Justices of the Peace. This latest miscarriage of the Law, contrived and connived at" by an accused-*i an' s relative sitting m judgment on him, has been so disgraceful arid wretphc-d that the daily, press have even had the temerity ' to suggest that something stinks somewhere. Stink;, why it cries . 'aloud ! It is a gross and deliberately connived at jhoQd.winkirig .'of the Law!, and if the Minister .p£ Justice, fails'. tp; 4 tako cognisance 01 recent , events at . Rah- . jriora and doesn't order the J's.P. to be wiped 6'iEf. the Commission of the, Peace, he is only aiding and j/Jb^tijkfi' In the; most glaring , travesty '_, ever playett m the name and cause of Justice. -Indeed,' so strong is the case that "Truth" verity f believes that, mostv people.. , are acquainted with sorn-c of the facts, the 1 others "and the 1 worst naturally ; are left untouched fey; the daily press, and consequently " ••Truth" finds it imperative to go Into the*, whole, of the. curious and criicl 'circumstanpes surrounding William Mcßrirte's brutal assault, on his own daughter. It was an, assault which! marks. Mcßride ,as a cowardly cur, and who, had he. received .his just deserts, would ' have been , tied, to the! back of a. cart and \ ? V . FLOGGED TO INSENSIBILITY, . which would only be a taste of the same sauce thait> he gave his '- cMl'd. William Mcßride' is: a farmer, ,^o,& Sefton, and a couple of weeks ago^> he was due to appear -before Mt Day, iS.M., at Raniriora, charged,' with. as-; aault. When Magistrate Day was . ■ m that town, Mcßride was not prepared with his defence. He washed, to ;Qonn s>ult a lawyer and. as the summons had only been served a few days prior, the Magistrate considered the applicatidnv reasonable and reminded M' Bride till the following Friday (3 tiayp later), when- the Bench was ,com r pried of Messrs Good, Jennings, , and W. Gv Whiteside, J's.P. i.Strange. to. relate, when Mcßride was then called on to plrad, there was no question of defence. He said, "Guilty," and, as the circumstances showed, .there could be ho defence to his brutal con-r duct. Th'prp was no getting away from ihe evidence of Dr. Voljckroan. He had examined the girl and found marks of a. wliip on Her shoulder an-'l a bruise on the buttock, due to a kic'< from Mcßride, the beast. ' The whip was produced m ■ Court, and arf 1 u^lyweauon improved to he, and m the hands pf an individual like Me-. Bride, it could do incalculable ' damage .to anyone unfortunate enough to be under ,the laslh. Both ends oithat wMn were used ON THE UNFORTUNATE GIRL. He is a foul-mouthed brute is ' the same Mcßride,- and he can swear beautifully, can 'the beast. But the fact of a man having a foul tongue arid 1 using- it is nothing compared to. a. brutal assault to which Mcßride pleaded guilty and to which he cpul-dr raise no defence. Having no defence,-. Mcßride did the next besj thing, and that was to throw himself on , the mercy of the Court, and it is generally the most cowardly and craven natures that sue for leniency and mercy when they bave never shown auy to their victims. Now we will view the quality of mercy as- shown by a Ramgiora Bench of packed Justices. Notwithstanding the very, seri- j cus statement of the girl that .+'his was not the first tinfe that her brutal father had- horse-whipped and otherwise /maltreated her, ' which should lvave caused any sensibleminded and truly impartial^ Bench to reflect whether a taste <of gaol iife would not cure this brute McBride' of his horse-whipping propensities, this truly mock merciful Bench inflicted a fine of £s, and further ordered the accused to put up a surety of £25 to keep the peace; towards a neighfooi who had gone to the girl's assistance what tircte her unnatural parent was belaboring her. Shortly .after that paltry fine was inflicted, Mcßride was m great glre and actually had the impertinence to laugh gaily, treat the whole affair as a huge jpk6, and further, considered, himself lu.cky. m getting off so eas- 1 ily. TWs, if anything, is sheer blutfl ami bravado. Mcßride, at anyrate, was certain- as certain could be, that there would be no gaol for him,; and "Truth'.' ;W^ll now endeavor to , sho W . ■the ■ reasjipi fwhy.- ■ Hjan accused^ 'per-. son -hasp a -relative., on the '.tribunal" which is fto, adjudge him of any offence, if'. ".7 f ■'...-. , _ ; ;-,- ( .V .., •THAT RELATIVE IS FRIENDLY •'DISPOSED to him, \tffiat is that, accused person to expect; 7,. If the relative on the Bench, the .friend at Court, was evilly disposed,,,, the • accused would ' very ' quickly have him pulled off the rostrum,. Now, who -Was the . friend at Court ? It was : no other than, W. G. Whiteside, J.P. He is related by marriage to Mpß ride. A Mrs ß. Lewis,, of Sefton, is, a sister to Mcßride, and Whiteside's son is married to > Miss Lewis, daughter of the said Mrs Lewis. It is not much of a relationship,, of course ;. nevertheless, the fact is that Mcßride, : the accused, and Whiteside, "the Judge, are relatives., Relatives by marriage sometimes stick to each other when one or other is m trouble. Everybody, who is. anybody,^ and knew anything, about the case, were sure Mcßride would get gaol, but they reckoned- -. without a Jay Pay- Bpnch, part of "Which, was Whiteside, J.P. , a. relative to the accused. Now that .Mcßride has been treated with such extraordinary leniency, the stocks \ of the three' Us.P. have not risen m Rangiora,

if anything-, theyi are the subjects of 1 universal execration, and Jay Pay Justice .is, held m. greater contempt than ever it was before, ' and the contempt then held was pretty considerable. Now, "Truth" does not propose to wish anybody concerned m this case the compliments of the season. McBRIDKHAS ESCAPED GAOL, and it niiight be interesting to know it this same Mcßride has . ever been m gaol before, because "Truth" reckons it is not very tar off the mark When it imagines that he is identical with a Bill Mcßride who some years ago was m trouble ove,r some girl at ..Ashley, and it was tb particularly dirty case,.vtooJ / Mcßride' is apparently one of those individuals who ought to be scientifically, treated. He- is always m trouble one way or the other, and it is always females that he is m hot water over. } Mcßride has- been twice married, and it is a notorious fact that his second wife had toleave him repeatedly and seek shelter m a neighbor's house because of Bill's bad behavior. A splendid specimen of /humanity this fellow is to be treated with leniency by a Jay Pay Bench ! Fortunately for Mc- : Bride, unfortunately for the pujb-lic interests, Mr Day, S.M., did not hear the case. That experienced Law-giv-er, with his knowledge of men and their " manners, would have taught Mcßride a lesson. Fancy- a brutal bully of the Mcßride breed • being let loose on the world on a £25 bail and a fine of a fiver for horse-whipping and Jacking his offispring, the unnatural cur. ' V , Now, if anything, the names of the ,three Justices concerned, all, of course, cheerfully suppressed by the -press, stink m the .Rangiora district. Of Mr Good SOME QUEER TALES ARE TOLD, and it m;ight be' useful and m the interests of Justice and the public generally; if the Minister for Justice instituted; some enquiries and endeavored t;6 ascertain the reason why the, Rangiora fire-bell rang out on a certain occasion as far hack as two years agp. '", M* % G. v Whit^side used,' it might be ; mentioned, tq preachy on the. Sabbath , ■day, and m, his v ' time some strong things have been said of him. Indeed, so strong were some of the things said . „*nd puijlisbed, that . "Truth" would not like ■ to reppat thwm for fear of hurMng' his fieeMngs, Anyhow, certain statements .seem to have been : made about Mm, statements which, if true, staiap Wbiteside as a hypocrite arid wiorse, if that is posr sible. Yet the fact remains that Wliateside was content to ignore theso^ assertions. Wlhy ? . Of the other individual on the Benchj (Jennings, J.P.) , "Truth" does not know one thing good, bad or indifferent, which is lucky for Jennings. . Anyhow, he seems to have been m pretty bad company on the Bench, and should be called upon to give some account of himself. This Ranigiora Judicial ramp calls for further en-quiries by« the responsible Minister. J.P. Justice m New .Zealand has m past year's been • responsible for some high old pranks and •-insitcad of mending matters it seems to he -coming to a worse pitoh. The infliction of a paltry £5 fine on ' A BRUTAL HORSE-WHIPPING %. ■ FATHER is a spa/ndal and , a satire on the name of" Justice. Mcßride, indeed, is lucky to have friends at Court, and those friends seem to have stuck to him. Jn fining/.. Mcßride £5, Messrs Good, Jennings and Whiteside have certainly, if .nothing . else, shown how utterly unfit they are to administer the Law. Mercy is a fine quality m a Law-giver, but when we find "mercy", shown under such significant and suspicious circumstances, as "Truth" has pointed out, something else must be said and done. This, is a matter which . the Department, of Justice nuist further and fully investigate. ? 'Truth" .is satisfied that there is something crooked ' connected with this deal of Justice at Rangiora, ami it accordingiy gives it the publicity it deserves, and which the daily press apparently are afraid to do.. - . . '■"■.'■■