THE BALLARAT BANK ROBBERY.

Southland Times, Issue 1653, 25 October 1872, Page 3

THE BALLARAT BANK ROBBERY.

♦■ • , (From the fiullarat Star, September 27). It was perhaps no great harm that the i city police court was densely crowded on Thursday morning, when II ugh Alexander Scott stepped out of a position which it had taken him th« best 20 years of hia life to achieve, to become the associate of felons during the next eight months, at least, and then, i f " he be released so eoou, to recommence life under circumstances as inauspicious a3 his worst enemy could well de?ire. The lessoa afforded by his unfeigned remorse was more valuable — as being 'mare deterrent from crime — than anything which could be learnt fr< m the cat. As waa generally ariticipiti-d on We-lueeday, the late accountant of the B;iolt of Australasia pleaded guilty yesterday to a charge of larceny as a servant, namely, to converting to hie own use a sum of £LLO with which he had debited the Talbot branch of the bank. This was proved by the manager of the Ballarat branch (svho burst into tears and sobbed audibly whilst giving his evidence), by the paying teller at B.illarat, and by the agent at Talbot. Indeed, there needed but little proof in addition to that afforded by the appearance of Scott, which was such as to move the most hardened to pity. From the first he seemed anxious only for an opportunity of confessing his guilt, and hiding himself from those whom he had long known under such widely different conditions ; and it was rather fortunate for him that the necessary evidence was 80 speedily fiiven, otherwise he would most certainly have fainted ; and even as it was it was not without difficulty he contrived to stand. When being sentenced to 12 months' imprisonment, without hard labor, he staggered back against the dock and gasped in a manner most painful to behold. AH this is rather easily understood when it is remembered that Scott (who has as yet scarcely reached the meridiau of life) had during some time past been receiving a salary of £450, and that, had it not been for his crime, he would within tbe next few days have been appointed to the managership of the Geelong or Belfast branch. Scott should have thought of all this before, but a mining craze set in upon him, and Tookeys are said to have more than all else contributed to his ruin. Some there are who think that hia predecessor's great good luck in New Zealand stock incited him to try his fortune in that line ; but one thing appears certain, his social demise is attributable to a greed for gold. Perhaps the most extraordinary thing about the affair is the fact that he was anything rather than a" fast" man, and was rarely, if ever, to be found in those places where Ballarat bank clerks were wont to congregate. On the contrary, he is said to have been of a rather domestic turn of mind, and to have been most attentive to hia wife, as well as to other relatives who, we grieve to learn, were almost entirely dependent upon him,