THE WANGANUI CHRONICLE AND RANGITIKEI MESSENGER. “Véritè sans peur.” Wanganui, April 23, 1863.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 7, Issue 340, 23 April 1863, Page 2

THE WANGANUI CHRONICLE AND RANGITIKEI MESSENGER. “Véritè sans peur.” Wanganui, April 23, 1863.

It is with pain that we again advert to the necessity for having in Wanganui sittings of the Supreme Court..- We thought that perhaps Ministers were so much, occupiedwith the; state of affairs at Targmaki-r—so anxious that the non-ad-ministration of justice there should no longer continue—as to have had no opportunity of considering the case of Wanganui, and iio time to remember their promise inade in . the last session of the General Assembly. - If, however, his Excellency the Governor, is the mouth-piece of the Ministry, justice th ere may .be well represented. as not ...only blind, but also disarmed.lf certain parties, supposed tobe; guilty, deliver themselves up 1 to be tried, Sir George Grey says it will be well, and..will go to prove their innocence. If they do not .deliver themselves up, what then'? No provision is ; made for this 'possible contingency. It’is'to be presumed.that the failure, to surrender, while, according to the same mode of reasoning, it proves their guilt, will insure their being treated as innocent. But at Taranaki there is some, excuse for this abnegation -of justice. The administration of la, wis tiiere suspended among the native, inhabitants, because they disapprove of it. They prefer their own laws and customs, and have authority vested in a king for their administration. So that, though refusing the Queen’s laws, they, are not therefore, lawless. Having laws of their own,, and rules for administering these .laws, there., may. be some excuse, for the. Governor , winking for awhile at the fact, that among the Queen’s native subjects at Taranaki, as in many places elsewhere, British law is despised arid rejected.

But here the case is different.' The subjects-of her. Majesty in this place have no means of administering justice, but in the way appointed by British-Jaw. They desire no other means, - They, have anxiously ..expressed a wish to have. law administered among them by a Judge, pf the Supreme Court. This wish has been allowed by the- Government to be'reasonable and right—-so much, so' .that they liaye promised to comply:»with - it.... But the promise has not , been .‘fulfilled. The trouble arid expence in - bringing- offenders to justice, implied iii’the cases being carried to Wellington, must still be undergone. .What-is the consequence 1 It is notorious that, crimes have been committed here of date at which. humanity

shudders, which; in a neighbouring colony would be : visited with the extreme penalty of the law, but no attempt has been made to bring the offenders to justice. Why 1 The natural repugnance of those interested to appear as principals in such ( cases may have some influence. But the principal reason is the expence. Although there..is. an.allowance.made for the expences of prosecutors, which must amount to a large sum yearly, it is quite inadequate to cover their most meagre outlay for the journey to Wellington, so that a poor man seeking for justice is, rpiqecHn process. Thus the action of criminal law!, is here in,abeyaxtc.e...,„AAiian.,will . suffer in silence the .basest injuries than Eihbject himself, in’'addition,' to beggary, l here is thus one law for the. rich a.nc1..... another for the poor. The latter must • suffer indignity and loss in silence, while the former are. protected from violence by their; ability to prosecute. The' impunity with -which crimes are thus committed increases their frequency and enormity ; and if a remedy is not speedily found there will be no safety for either ■ - person or property in this neighbourhood. We have no ‘ reason to suppose that'' Maories have anything to' do with the outrages referred to. There is therefore no excuse whatever for the virtual suspension of criminal law here. To hang well has been said to be one of the two duties of a government. ■ '1 here is no wish here that this duty should .be laid aside. A desire ,has been, .strongly expressed thi>t it;should Jbe f jfulfilled. But the Government w£hicb:is providing—and which is doing well in providing—means for the administration of justice t among those who are careless of; it, will take, no:, g step in behalf of those; who earnestly desire it. -■ " ; ? ; ■ . ... • • 7 This indifference is .the ;inore in.exc.us- , - able because the .remedy is so simple. > All that is needed is to ask Judge Johnston to take.'a trip by -steamer; or over- - r land from Wellington three or four times a year’.-. He has time for ; such jo.uvnoyf,..« and they might benefit his health. Were a new-J udge . necessary,at • a irlfiOO a-year, tlieii -if'niTglrte/b'e "a question whether lie should be appointed, or the expence of. criminal prosecutions at Wellington be borne by the Government. But there is no- difficulty, in the way The inhabitants, of 1 ihvercargill vyere tili-j lately in. the. same position as otirselves. They had ..to send their important cases to .Dunedin for trial. They applied for what we,.;are now asking, and their i v e- ■ quest .was at once granted. 'Mr. Justice'’ Richmond how gives liiverairgill the ..benefit ; of. his occasional presence 1 . "Why is Wangannf treated differently, and liow_ : long is it Jo wait until.the proniiseoftheGoverilmfentis to be' fulfilled -%/■ 'i ■- i

The only possible excuse—the insufficiency of the gaol accommodation- —will now-sdbh fererhcAted:i . : sdSwbiivust there will be delay no longer in having a Judge 6f the Supreme Court appointed to visit this place periodically, bi as;occasion.';ipay require. -

The Wellington Independent, in its issue of last Saturday, again. 1 returns to the charge in our little duel about the Wiri-' liana case. The writer has laid aside liis bowie knives this week, rind fights more like' mi honest man. But his lunges arb ill-directed, arid lie only gets himself again, into trouble. He fairly states our. assertions, arid their proves something else to show that we are wrong.' We said that the Independent’s correspondent was wrong* in'-stating’Jhat Wirihana

passed, in sight of the court-house here. The correspondent, it’appears, has shown,; to the Independent's satisfaction, “ thatia man travelling by the inland route from; Kaiwhike to the Wangaeliu, must have come within sight of the court house. ” Now, we don’t know .what the correspondent calls “ the inland route,” but there is no necessity whatever,for a,traveller from Kaiwhike to the Wangaeliu coming within sight of the court-house. If he does' so, he must go out of the direct road. The Independent 1 further .states, the Chn nicle says, ‘ he did not go south with the Waikato deputation ■ at all,’ and, .moreover, .‘that if he had done so' lie would have been captured by Mr. Buller’s police.’ ” Now, what- we did say is, - “ had he done so, lie would; most likely have been captured, as Mr. Buller had policemen ready to arrest him”—a totally different thing.'-'; To disprove our statement', that lie did not goi 'with the deputation, "a letter is quoted, the writer of which says, In -jtlie beginning of* February, I think about the 4th, at the time, the .Waikato deputation was going south, I happened to -be at the Wangaeliu bridge. I saw Wiriluma Mohaya there, at the public h0u5e,......A day or two afterwards I happened to be on the Native Reserve, at Turakiiia, looking for a horse, and L again saw Wirihana at the pah where the Waikato deputation were holding tlieii; meeting. . He was amongst them Whether lie went further south than Turakina ..with the deputation, I cannot 'sa

Now it will be observed that this writer does not state, though lie;wishes ,it to be inferred, that Wirihana was with the Waikato deputation at the .-Wangaeliu. Any one reading the words■ carefully would 6ome to the conclusion that he-was 'Hot. 1 He only proves, therefore, that Wiriliana was once in the company of the deputation oii their way south, which we have no wish to dispute. ; But such hair-splitting is very miserable.We have also letters in our possession, which avq shall publish if we obtain,the consent of the Avritefs, avlio are*certainly more accurate > in their statements than the correspondent of die Independent.

We learn‘tliat two natives ■ have come liei’e who lei't Taranaki on Friday last. They report that : all Was quiet wlierr they left.- They-paid -toll on entering and leaving the Maori-laud.