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Waikato Times, Volume XIII, Issue 1168, 20 December 1879, Page 2

TO THE EDITOR. Sir, — With your permission I wish to bring under the notice of the department concerned a want that has often before been referred to by the Press, and, that m my opinion needs amendment ; and that is the necessity that exists for a properly qualified officer to be Bet apart for the conduct of criminal business m Waikato. The matter has again been forcibly brought to my mind from a case of cruelty to animals disposed of at Hamilton recently. A farmer was*charged with being «ndifcy of cruelty to some homed stock by ovorcrowding while being conveyed by rail. well, as a matter of course, there was great flourish of trumpets. Several witnesses were examined, yet when the matter came to be looked into by tho practised eye of a lawyor, the whole fabric of the prosecution tumbled to pieces JNow, this should not bo. In the tost place, if cruelty has occurred, tho mutt** i"Hh so han dfe<l that a conviction should follow. On the other hand, if it cannot be sustained, it is undoubted cruelty to drag the culprit to justice. In either case it does not say much for the guidance of such cases m Waikato. I submit that the Government is put to more expense through, suuk liko embryo cases than it would be by a qualified officer for such work. Besides 1 perhaps, it might save many heartburnings by preventing abortive cases eomin~ to the front A return of all miscarried cases m Waikato during the last couple of years showing the consent exposes attending the same would, I t eHeT J be * starting document ; to many if published Hoping that, m the interests of economy and good government, this matter ™ll not be lost sight of till the present system £ "9*°?* on » ™a a remedy dS? that for the future such mistakes asThose -I am!lCr y UOt **** P er P etrat^ •NT , . 3VIANCUMKG-. ffgaruawahia, December 15, 1879.