THE Thames Guardian AND MINING RECORD. THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 1871.

Thames Guardian and Mining Record, Volume I, Issue 23, 2 November 1871, Page 2

THE Thames Guardian AND MINING RECORD. THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 1871.

A swindler successfully practises upon liis dupes, -pockets: tlieir cash, and absconds'. The criminal'law of the colony is appealed to, a warrant applied for apd issued, and placed in ’the hands of a detective to effect a capture. The criminal is* tracked, apprehended > and broifgh't before a Magistrate in Hobart Town. So far so good. The praiseworthy activity in the proceedings up to-. this f ,pqini, ip . copuiendablq, and shows to the ;'dril icloer we possess' in the colony the machinery necessary to proitect the honest/ ppt unwary, from the machinations of the unprincipled adventurer.."' But tjio sequel to this exposition of. legal authority is a sorry parody upon the perfection of the law. , The i 'signature to the warrant co.uld neither be deciphered dr gudssed by the functionary before whom the delinquent, Bray, was introduced;: the miserable scrawl was translated McLean, ’’p the/-detective to whose . charge the warrant was confided could neither interpret or identify it to tlie ! i satisfaction of the Magistrate, and the rascal was consequently discharged. ]

: .These are-facts which demand investigation and correction. The detective knew his man,i fcncU ifchejMature of tile crhne.be had committed.,, There wss no discretionary power 1 , exercised by remanding the culprit, and the untoward issue Was the' result of the illegible caligrapliy of the Resident Magistrate, Mr. Beckhaim.. 1 j ; i. /. • It is a circumstance which affects our social relations ; we do not question the right of Mr. to discharge the man upon an imperfect warrant, we do the principle involved : it shows a looseness in the administration of our criminal law, that a villain may escape the reWard - of 'his crimes .through. the absurd mannerism of a magistrate’s signature; that a detective is despatched upon an expensive errand with worthless credentials ; that j a magistrate’s discretion cannot be ejx- ’ ercised upon the detective’s knowledge of his ■'prisoner, anf jpf the crime for which” lie was" apprehended; and 'it saps the very foundation of that security to the' honest which it ever be the aim of the law to establish and maintain. We would suggest-that in future Mr. Beckham’s signature“ td''a warrant be , attested by an official in somewhat the following manner :—“ I do hereby s declare .the, signature to this warrant- to ! be the -name of Thomas Beckham, Esq., Resident Magistrate for the city; of Ancklaud, In : the Colony of r Zealand/, signpd' in -ffiy pt[esqnCe, and I make this declaration under the firm conviction that no stranger dan read it, and in order that the ends of, justice may , not be defeated by the itnpossibility to decipher a hieroglyphic or, if .it be easier, to. strike a. dje with the’worthy'gentleman’s name in the .shape.of a Resident Magistrate’s seal of. authority, instead of teaching him to write the alphabet of his mother tongue, let it be done, and push the matter to the length and breadth of absurdity rather' than allow a detective to be fooled and the law outwitted.