Correspondence. THE LATE INQUEST AT ALEXANDRA.

Waikato Times, Volume VIII, Issue 458, 24 April 1875, Page 2

Correspondence. THE LATE INQUEST AT ALEXANDRA.

To the Editor of the Waikato Times. Sir, — I have just road, with surprise and indignation, your editorial on the late inquest ; and, I may > say, an article more thoroughly unjustifiable by the facts of the case I nevei read. It is evident, from the latter part, thatyDii have heard more than shewn in your report of the inquest, which, though not complete, is in the main correct; but you have not heard the truth — the whole tnith, and nothing but the truth ; and you have acted very unfairly in writing as you have done about a jury who had a disagreeable duty to perform, and who, after being put to unnecessary trouble and loss of time by the Coroner, honestly and concientiously didUnat duty. I think that they deserved thanks in place\f abuse, as it is my firm opinion that if it had not been for the jury gross injustice would have been perpetrated under the name of law ; and I venture to say, if you had been present at the inquest yoy woulfl be of the same opinion. Your report of the irfqupst commences by staling that Pohlen was acting the part of doctor and midwife. This is a gratuitous assumption. There was not the slightest evidence; to prove that he acted the part of either, except in so far as giving a little brandy and a few drops of pain-killer constitutes him a doctor ; and, though he was on his oath, I do not recollect that the Coroner asked him if he was attempting the part of midwife, nor yet why he did not send for a doctor. He asked him repeatedly why he did not send for his neighbours, and as he did send several times tothe nearest female neighbour who was available, I can hardly see what more he could have done. Your opinion of Mr Mooneys evidence is diametrically opposed to that of the jury who heard him. It did seem veiy remarkable to them that a stranger 1 * travelling on business through the district should* so far interest himself in a case which men of ordinary delicacy would have shunned as much ns k possible as to ride seven miles out of his way to see the body, and that to him and the Constabulary Sergeant evidence should be shewn which none of the jury had seen. It seemed to me like an attempt to get up a cas<\ The coroner in his address laid great stress on the discrepancy of time, though the jury did not see any more than might have been expected under the circumstances ; but he forgot that he was the only one who made a palpable mistake of time — by his own admission of one hour, by Pohlen's assertion of two. I forgot to mention that the coroner stated he had examined the body particularly, and on my asking him," Could the husband have been trying to deliver the woman without leaving some mark '] " he said it was possible, but there was no sign of outward violence whatever. I have no desire whatever to screen Pohlen. It is well known in the district that he has been my persistent enemy for years, perhaps the only one I have in the world ; but he is still entitled to justice, and so far as I am able to judge he got it. The jury knew a doctor ought to have been sent for ; but they also knew the strong excus » Pohlen had for trying to do without one if possible, especially when his wife \vished him not to get one. I confess to feeling shame at being conpelled to be a witness during part of the enquiry on so solemn an occasion. The coroner, in^pLiCe of acting the part of an impartial judge, appearing in the light of a malignant public prosecutor, and the enquiry degenerating into a species of attack and defence between him and Pohleu ; and I confidently assert that the same Coronor ought never to sit on the bench of justice again. I am perfectly well aware of the nature of what I have written, and I did not intend to say anything on the subject, satisfied with the conviction that in this case at any rate justice had be^n done as far as an honest intention ou the part of the jury could do it ; but after reading your article, which was calculated to give an impression contrary to the truth, I could not be silent any longer, and I rest content in the assurance. " Magna est veritas, et prse valibit." — I have, &c, Edward G. McMinn, Foreman of Jury. Harapepe, April 20.