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Dominion, Volume 22, Issue 261, 31 July 1929, Page 9

How a simple mistake eould result in an innocent person being suspected of theft, was shown at the meeting of the Tuapeka County Council the other day, when a letter was received from a carrier stating that he had placed a fee , consisting of a £5 note and a 2s. piece., l in an envelope, intending to send it to the county clerk. To his surprise, a short time afterwards, the money was returned to him by a friend in Christchurch. He then discovered that he had written the wrong address on the envelope. It was pointed out by councillors that if the carrier’s friend in- Christchurch had been dishonest and had not returned the money, the council might have sued the carrier for the fee. The carrier would have been prepared to swear in court that he had forwarded the money to the clerk, who -might have been suspected of theft. Such a circumstance would have been particularly unfortunate in view of the fact that the clerk (Mr. J. J. Woods) has an unblemished record of over 50 years’ service in his uresent capacity.