UNKNOWN

Taranaki Daily News, 12 April 1918, Page 6

UNKNOWN

fiMIM NF.W Pf;» "ivtfl* BJffiS li.-vXCIR. At (He N<-av I'lniKuit'li MaglSU'tttfi'S ' *»ur*. yest-war. huhih- :uwii a. iire»'j. 1054 ik it. UHl.ler. J.LVs. SaulHwl A= I numii 14 VaiciitiiiiVs 'Alhl'liH I worn uiifti'aefl M itii bi'tvvfieu Auliiiet '=') I aim ÜBiuuur aii jwjii att'Hinni MUtfl IWi'S | Ol Innu. TUIIIKU »s «•«. I Hl' tii'mini'f Y Ol I sub «b\v /.eamnu v.HVcriimem trwm llifi I lUMvn uuwn nut' I flUttßUi Wlltl prnpl'PUtfil. ttHKUU twit till? eiiarjje *lO ailiGliacUi IHftUiilSf Uie ruUIP Pf too irna w ue >t.). >» urner to liei'lMt t!i« UIUB wema Hi'iirii iw the JnsUf'M jqr- At ii' uminstßiip BpjicSfStl fm' Bi"

eitseu. wnu nieiiaeo tint irmii v unci j eu in n« mmit: witn mimiimril,v. aft"' stmii; argument as Ho whothev tliu pveflU" Siijl justlsft* hml jvirisillctien in dwtl wivU the ease liiasiinu'ii n» It would lmve to bn shewn that the thefts took t»laee within 12 month* of the tlato of il>o information' SulMiwpeeter ITutton smid the ex&efc date* emiM net bp given, tort there evidoneo to show thftfc load wftg removed from the rifle range in October. 101°, and it was decided to go on and hear the eneo, elms. W. Crutoli, lieutenant In tUe Now Zealand Forced, deposed to interviewing HaIRU In October U«t and naked liim if he know anything about ft ewe of loud in which a man named HaipH had boon concerned, T1 o did not exactly br> ho had no knowledge o! the occurrence, tmt ho did not admit Ileitis the person concerned, In January last ho had an* other Itcrvicw with Haigh in which lie Admitted having taken spent bullets, and that on t'ho previous occasion ho lmd misled witness. Tim ride range was the •property of the Government and waa kinder his supervision as local statf officer. The'ammunition flrcd by thA territorials was the property of the JMence Most of the snooting* on tho range was: done by territorials in the course of their musketry firing. To Mr, Johnstone: He bad been actively interested in volunteering and defence Snatters for about eight years. He said lie bad never bought cartridges from the ■Government in the volunteering days for the pnrpose of range-firing practice. It wai the custom for volunteers to pay loneYdiilling for ammunition, but that 'was regarded as nmrWs fees, and in no sense purchasing ammunition. To the Bench: Tn 1914 be put lip a notice against trespassers. If it was not there now it was because someone bad knocked it down or removed itAlfred H- Armitage, caretaker of the r i)le range said 'be knew Tlaigh. He had .never given him permission to go on to the range and ho had never seen him there.

To Mr .Tolmstone: Ho had been caretaker about seven year?. He did not remember anyone asking for permission to go on tlie butts to get bullets. He had shown people the old butts, just to show that the present was not the original butts. He thought the territorials in the last thrpe or four years fired more ammunition than rifle clubs. Bullets had been accumulating there for about, fou 'pen years. He had occasionally foui.il people oil the range, but ho had never turned ay one off the range. Tc the Sub-Tnspeetor: He was employed by the Defence Department. i To the Bench: Ho had seen men on the range on October , 1917. They were not the accusedErasmus Armitagc, brother of the previous witness, said he knew Haigli and Martin by sight. He had nevei> seen them on the range He had never known them speak to his brother on the range- He had seen two men on the range on October 14, 1917., They were not the accused. To Mr. Johnstone: He had been colorsergeant of the Taranaki Rifles. During his connection with the volunteers he had charge of ammunition Some ammunition was bought from the Department by. the company and the company sold to men for practice, but the.iifoncy so charged was for payment of the range-marker The rifle club members also bought ammunition from witness To the Sub-Inspector: Thp Government provided thp major portion of the ammunition fired on the range. Montague Garner, manager of Halley and Co . Wellington, deposed to receiving on August 20 last 3c\vt 101b of lead from Haigh He also received 2cwt 2qrs on October 31 Both lots consisted of spent nickel bullets To Mr. Johnstone: He had not been charged with receiving stolen property. His firm took care how they carried on their business. The goods were received by boat and there was no secrecy in the, matter-

Constable Tutzf;ihbon said he liad an interview with the accused on March 1. Martin ma/lo a statement in which he admitted bavins been on the rille range. He had asked the caretaker if there was ,any spent lead, and was shown the old butts. Xo bullets were found there and they went to the hank behind the new targets where thev sot some spent bullets. That was done in full view of the caretaker, who did n°t complain, and they did not believe they were doing anvthine wrop/j. Haiirh heard the statement, which lie corroborated. To Mr. Johnstone: The men were perfectly straightforward. Samuel A. Tlaiah, taxi-driver, said about October. lOlfi, be and Martin went across the rifle ranse. They saw some spent bullets, and Martin went and asked the caretaker if there was anv harm in them takine some of the bullets. He came hack and .cave witness to understand there was no harm in taking the bullets. TTe was there on several occas-

inns prior to December 1910 Since then lie liad been only once to the range to set bullets. That would be about October, 1017. The caretaker and his brother Raw him but did not make anv com* plaints at hisi lemovin? spent, bulletsTo Sub-Tnsnoctor [lutton: He sent the lead to Wellington in older to get a better price, and not for the purpose of concealment. He picked out all the bullets witii the aid of a. Docket kniP;. He had not sold them earlier because he had been in the hospital for a lons time. He did not think it necessary to jet the permission of anyone else as the caretaker had said he could take the lead. Re did not think it necessary to eet the caretaker's permission again in October. 1917, after bavins; been told before by Vim 'them was no harm in taking the lend. Geo. Valentine Martin, laborer, also "!ivp evidence on similar line 9. jf r Johnstone submitted the ease musthe dismissed as there was no proof that the amount alleged to 'been taken was the property of the Government. On the other hand it had been c-learly shown that members of rifle olubs anil private individuals purchased am;winiti"n W the ranje, The

proper course for the Defence Department to have taken -would have been to have instituted a civil action to recover the amount of the value of the lead and thereby establish the ownership of the property. Instead of that they had chosen the course of charging the licensed with the very serious criminal offence of theft, but which he contended they had wholly failed to prove Accused were convicted and ordered to come up for sentence if called upon within three months, and to pay the costs of the prosecution amounting to £5 !)s 4d.