A MINISTERIAL SENSATION. THE WARD-HISLOP CORRESPONDENCE.

Te Aroha News, Volume VII, Issue 401, 11 September 1889, Page 5

A MINISTERIAL SENSATION. THE WARD-HISLOP CORRESPONDENCE.

JUDGE WARD EXONERATED. RESIGNATION OF MR HISLOP. j Wellington, September 5.

The outcome of the Ward-Hislop disput 6 ia that the Colonial Secretary resigns. For the last two or three weeks a select committee of the Upper House has been engaged upon an inquiry into the WardHislop correspondence, about which we have heard so much throughout the session. I anticipated what the report would be yesterday. The report, which reads ,as follows, was laid on the table yesterday together with the evidence, and will be printed : — The Committee to whom it was referred to inquire into and report upon the circumstances that have occasioned the correspondence between Ministers and Mr District Judge Ward have the honour to report that (1) Your Committee having made careful inquiry and taken evidence, report that evidenceandproceedingsfcotheCouucil. (2) This Committee is of opinion thac the correspondence of the Hon. Mr Hislop with District Judge Ward, merits the gravest disapproval. — J. N. Wilson, Chairman. September 3rd, 1889. There was no discussion upon the question at the time, though it is probable that some will be excited this afternoon, when the report will bo considered by the Council.

THE COLONIAL SECRETARY RESIGNS. The purport of the Committee's report was communicated to Mr Hislop on Monday evening, and he at once wrote out his resignation and tendered it to the Premier, who, however, lefused to accept it. The Colonial Secretary felt very deeply on the matter, and after consulting with a number of friends he again wrote to the Premier yesterday afternoon asking to be relieved from office, and hia rc&ignation wa', I understand, forwarded to His Excellency for acceptance. This soon became generally known, and created a mild sensation in the lobbies. Many hon. members expressed deep sympathy with Mr Hislop, and hoped that his resignation would not be accepted. In this connection I may mention that Mr Hislop is in receipt of a large number of letters from leading legal gentlemen in various parts of the colony approving of his action, and these, doubtless, will see the light of day when he addresses bis constituents and places the whole circumotances culminating in his resignation before them.

RESIGNATION ACCEPTED. I am informed that early last evening a telegram was received from His Excellency, who is ab present at Nelson, intimating his acceptance of Mr Hislop's resignation. The moot question now is, " Who will have the vacant portfolio?"' With almost common consent Sir J. Hall is named as the most likely successor, but I have also heard Mr Downie tStewarbmentionedasa candidate for the position. The latter has beenthesubject of many rumours during the last monfch or so. Ever since he turned from a "trimmer" to a staunch Government supporter ho has been legarded as a probable M.L.C. and a budding Cabinet Minister, so Dame Rumour says. It is not likely that the portfolio will be allotted ior a while yet.

THE "POST" ON THE REPORT The following leaderette from the columns of the "E\ening Post " appeared before the resignation of Mr Hislop had been received : " The report of the Committee of the Legislative Council on the WardHislop correspondence is the severest censure ever passed by a committee of any branch of the Legislature on a Minister of the Crown. It will be remembered that the Councilappointed thit- Committeein defiance of the strenuous opposition of members of the Government in that chamber. In the Lower House the appointment of a similar committee was successfully resisted, and the question was, then made a Ministerial one. The Council's Committee has done its duty thoroughly and impartially — unbiassed by party considerations, and the result is an unequivocal condemnation of the action of the Colonial Secretary in the Ministerial persecution of Judge Ward. The latter is triumphantly vindicated from the aspersions cast upon him, and the Minister who was his chief accuser is humiliated as no !New Zealand Minister was humiliated before. The justice of his condemnation is sustained by the fact of the Petitions Committee of the House of Representatives having, on. an indirect issue, reported that Judge' Ward was right in his action re Christie, which formed the ostensible' gtound of Mr Colonial Secretary Hislop's most improper interlorence. The latterY position in the Ministry is now, we should think, untenable, He can scarcely remain a Minister of the Ciown while resting practically under the strong censure of Committees of each branch of the Legislature."

EVIDENCE TAKEN BY .THE COMMITTEE. The evidence taken by the Committee is t of a very voluminous description, consisting as it does of that given by Mr Justice Ward, the Hon. Mi- Reynolds, M.L.C., Mr Filleul, Clerk of the Oamaru R.M. ■ Court, the Hon. Mr Larnach, Mr John Hcotb McDonald (gaoler ab Oamaru), the' Hon. Mr Hislop (Colonial Secretary), ] Colonel Hume (Inspector of Prisons). Seeing that the correspondence between the parties has been published almost verbatim, and that a condensation of the present; cvi- ; dence could not give it justice, I will merely content myself with giving a general idea of the evidence given. Judge Ward read a memo, in reply to Mr Hislop's of the 28th May, in which he declared that during the trial of Christie he frequently saw Mr Hislop in the Court, if not advising at least consulting with the counsel for the defence, so much so that he (Judge Ward) took it for granted that he was acting: as solicitor in the case. He reviewed the trial of Christie and brought up the evidence against him. He defended at length his acting as Judge, though a debtor to the prosecuting creditor in the case tried before him, and in the memorandum generally summed up all that had been said against and for him and the Colonial Secretary, and treated the latter in rather a caustic manner. The Hon. Mr Reynolds showed that the land mortgaged by .Judge Ward to the prosecuting creditor in Christie's case was well worth more than the money advanced 1 * upon it. Mr Filleul, the Clerk' of the District Court at Oamaru, detailed how the mistake had occurred in the warrant. Ib may be within memory of your readers that the Colonial Secretary forbade this official to alter the warrant as directed by Judge Ward. This is what Mi Filleul had to say about the matter when under examination : — I was walking in the street when Mr*Hislop met me. He said, " I hear from Inspector Thomson that Judge Ward has ordered you to amend that order by inserting a different prison." I paid, <l Yes, I have had tho order, bub I, have not been able to do anything, as the ordev i$ away," H9 said,

"I would like to see the telegram." I ,wenb bank to the office, and showed him the telegram. He said something to me to the effect that if I altered these orders in that; way 1 would get into trouble. I replied that I could hardly get into trouble by obeying my superior officer. He then said: "Oh, but there is someone here now above your superior officer." I took that to be a reference. to himself as one of the Ministry. 1 replied : "I do nob dispute your authority in the least, but I never had any instructions from you." He said : "I will give you some instructions." So he wrote on the back ot the telegram : " Mr Filieul, telegraph to Mr Ward stating that his telegram has been submitted to me, and that I have instructed you to do nothing pending instructions from Welling ton.", On cross-examination he said he thought Mr Hislop's action very curious. The Hon. Larnach gave similar evidence to that given by the Hon. Mr Reynolds as to the value of Judge Ward's land. Mr McDonald, cho Gaoler at Oamaru, gave evidence as to Christie's treatment when in prison, He deposed that owing to Christie being sick for awhile he was placed in the Hospital, and that afterwards his work consisted of light clerical work. A leg that had been broken and still gave trouble prevented him from being of any use for hard labour. As regards his food, Christie was treated as any ordinary prisoner. The Hon. Mr Hislop in his evidence said that he had nothing to do with Christie's treatment in prison. He declared that he refrained as far as possible from having anything to do with the matter. He only took upon himself to do the part which ihe thought necessary in order to expedite the petition for Christie's release, and the report thereon. With regard to the other matters which he voluntarily dealt with, he said they only came incidentally, and not in an official way. He gave a lengthy account of what he had done in the matter, merely recapitulating what has already been published. Colonel Hume, Inspector of Prisons, deposed to the prison regulations being adhered to as far as possible in the case of Christie. Mr Judge Ward, in his examination, after reading the statement I have before referred to, gave in an account of all that took place with respect to the alteving of tho name of the prison on the warrant for Christie's committal. He declared that he could not conceive such a state of things that the Judge of a District Court should be responsible to a Minister or anyone else for his action as a judge. In the case of misconduct he was removable, but in the discharge of his duties he was not responsible to anyone. He showed that though having a substantial interest in a company might debar him from acting as judge in any case in which the company was interested, his being a debtor to the company would not, and solemnly declared that he was unprejudiced in the matter.

WHAT WILL THE END BE ? It is very difficult to say what will be the outcome of this inquiry. The Opposition are sure to take some notice of Mr Hislop's resignation, and we may yet be treated to further long dL-cussions> upon the question. Many think that this will be the case, and that by this mqans the session will be further prolonged, but almost as many consider that the Colonial Secretary's resigna tion will not interfere with the even tenor of the Parliamentary way.