CORRESPONDENCE.

Poverty Bay Standard, Volume XI, Issue 1300, 24 March 1883, Page 2

CORRESPONDENCE.

Wo do net hold ourselves rcsitonsiblo for the opinion-, expressed by our correspondents]. TO THE EDiron. Sir,-— Finding it impossible to obtain justice ■ at the hands of those whose position would induce peopte generally to suppose them to be guardian® and directors of it, 1 nm constrained by circumstance® to appeal to a more impartial, and usurial power in the public press of the Colony to thus obtain for me that justice which is otherwise denied and kept back from me. In writing the follow ing lines I am desirous of eliciting an expression of opinion from the | press, and, if they will favurme wi hit, from persons of discriminating intelligence who can advise me in the matter. In the middle of 1879, I placed in the hands of Mr C. D. Berry, properties and monies amounting to about £3OOO, under a Power of Attorney, but as time went on I became dissatisfied with the way in which these properties, and monies, were being handled, and sought to cancel the power, and obtain a statement of account® from the holder. Mr Berry refused cither to give up his position or to render any account of his stewardship. I asked the Manager of the , Bank of New Zealand to allow me to inspect rhe Trust Account, this he refused to do, st ding that he would only deal with the principal (Berry.) I then went to Mr H. i J Finn, who took proceedings to obtain, i and did obtain, a decree of the Supreme I Court, ordering Berry to produce before the Registrar an account of all dealings under the Power of Attorney referred to. While this action was being carried on Mr Finn induced me to part to him with certain properties, valued by me at considerably over £lOOO, alidimr as a reason for ho doing, that money was absolutely necessary, and that if , I did not do us he wished I should have Mr i Ward down upon me. In accordance with : his instructions I signed a sale deed of a ! property in Grey-street for £lOO, which pro- I perty Mr Finn immediately afterwards dis- ■ posed of for £l5O, and a sale deed of a pro- l perty in Carnarvon-street in which deed ’ neither the namf nor the A-aw ft ’lrd in i whm 1 si fined if t hi>t. left bi fink and at’/er- . wards filled in for the sum of £475. in the ■ name of Johnson. On this property there . was a mortgage of £275 which Mr Finn says I he paid off but I have never seen the release i Mr Finn then gave me a cheque for £lOO, ' and the following dav he drew the ' sum of £l9O out of the bank by my cheque, which proceeding be assured me was necessary to my purposes. 1 was dissatisfied with these proceedings, and began to pay more attention to Mr Finn's conduct of my affairs, and on my calling on him for an cxplanati n of certain matters, was told that ; my intemperate habits necessitated his throwing up the conduct of my business, I which he did without furnishing me with a cash account or bill of costs. I then applied to the then Editor of the Standard for press assistance, and he enlisted the services of Mr W. R Robinson in my cause. The time for hearing the case of Priestly v. Berry, in Napier, as ordered by the Supreme Cour*-, I was drawing nigh, and as Mr Robinson j could not, without being paid well for it, : find time to go <lown there to appear for mu, i went down myself and got Mr Lee, of Lee and Sheath, to appear for me. The case was called on and adjourned from time to time, ami w hen brought on finally Mr Berry had ‘

filed his schedule and the Registrar adourned the uas« xum <6>, forgetting, or not knowing perhaps, that a bankruptcy in no way affects a trust. However, the effect of all these proceedings has been to leave me absolutely penniless, with a wife and several ’ children, one of whom is sick and at the door of deatji, while the people who have ' benefited by my money and my property ; are prosperous, contented, and well to do. I ■ am unable to fee a lawyer any longer, while i those lawyers whom 1 have employed, finding they have sucked the orange, have thrown the rind away. Even Mr Robinson, who certainly has not received any money from mo, ami to whom my indebteduesa is very small, refuses to part with the bill of costs lately furnished by Mr Finn until he is paid. This bill of costs is absolutely necessary to me now, for, forced b> want of means to abani don the ordinary legal process I have no I alternative but to apply for justice in quartern where 1 may get it without the blood-

sucking process being applied. That I have related is but a slight sketch of the reality, in so far that 1 am unable to find words to express tho miserable state of poverty to which I have been reduced by those whom 1 trusted to as the guardians of my property. To the public press of the Colony 1 therefore appeal for advice, assistan c and protection, hoping and trusting that through its powerful agency 1 may obtain that to which every man living on British soil is somewhat erroneously supposed to be always able to obtain, viz. justice. In conclusion I would invoke the opinion of those bettor versed in law, and its intricacies than I am ; feeling sure that the more human of the population will extend a hand if possible to save a broken and ruined man from further misery. I cannot fee lawyers, and still I feci that justice is due to inc. The strings that have been pulled have been worked carefully by a powerful organization, who are protecting each other against the consequences of their misdoings, and are keeping guard over the property that I have been deprived of, while my butcher and baker arc unpaid, and my wife, my children and myself, arc without many of the absolute necessaries of life. Soliciting your powerful aid in the matter, I remain- - Your obedient servant, Charles Priestly. Gisborne, 23rd March, 1883.