(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.) DUNEDIN. 4th December.

Evening Post, Volume XV, Issue 285, 5 December 1877, Page 2

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.) DUNEDIN. 4th December.

All the County Councils have re-elected their chairmen. The Bruce Council hp.s persisted in voting a salary of £150 to the clerk, though he declined taking it. A man named Robert Heckling has been sent to gaol for two months for brutally assaulting one of the Opera Troupe in a brothel. The Bruce Herald comes out with a strong leader on Proudfoot's case, saying :—": — " The case has not t :en fairly tried. We say with reluctance, and acknowledge with feelings of shame, that a special jury m Dunedin will not do justice when a man with a long purse is placed in the dock. The unscrupulous conduct of persons interested in the defeuce in this particular case is too palpable. It is a fact that between the first and second trials an offer of £3000 was made to Angus to stay proceedings, and that Inspector Mallard was tempted with a heavy bribe, which he indignantly rejected. We are not wide of the mark when we say that every one, excepting the Judge and Crown Prosecutor, has either been got at, or attempted to be got at. This public scandal should be considered in view of a nolle prosequi being granted. We say, with all deliberation, that if such instruction is given, it will be the most gross and most lamentable failure of justice that ever has disgraced the administration of law in a British colony. There has beeu no fair trial, and we do not expect it till the venue is changed. If the charge against Proudfoot is tried by a special jury, or common jury, in Christchurch, Wellington, Nelson, Napier, or Auckland, we will not find fault with its verdict, whatever it may be. If tried by common jury in Dunedin, there is the double danger of bribery on one side, and prejudice against the accused on the other. Public security demands that the case should be fairly heard. The matter demands the instant consideration of Parliament, and we hope some Otago member will ask a question which will prevent a grave legal scandal, and a deplorable failure of justice."