WORDS AND WORDS

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 410, 20 December 1932, Page 4

WORDS AND WORDS

SLANDER ACTION WHICH BREAKS ALL RECORDS. Thought to be the longest case ever heard by a magistrate in Taranaki, the Corkill — Stuart slander claim for £125 was virtually conlucded at Inglewood on Tuesday. The hearing of the evidence for the def ence was concluded and there now remains legal argument, for which fpurpose the case was adjourned. The claim was made by Alfred Corkill, ex-eounty cbairman, against Robert Stuart, the present chairman, the amount claimed being £125, £25 of which is set down as compensation for loss of chairmanship. So far the sitting has occupied seven days, three of which have been slightly broken into by other business. There were eleven witnesses for the plaintiff and nine for the defence. The defendant was in the box for about a day and a half and the plaintiff for a long period. Although the slanders were alleged to have been made by Stuart at the county election eampaign last May, the evidence placed before the court went back not only to the formation of the county but also to the days of the Moa Road Board and covered all phases of eountry affairs. An astounding volume of evidence was taken. Except for the first day it was typed and the typewritten matter totalled 112J foolscap pages, estimated to contain 40,800 words, which equals the length of some novels. On the first day, however, the evidence of the plaintiff was written by the magistrate, who probably w'rote the equivalent of 20 typed folscap pages. Thus, all told, the recorded evidence, apart from counsel's addresses, was about 48,000 words.