RESIDENT MAGISTRATE'S COURT.

Inangahua Times, Issue 24, 27 November 1878, Page 2

RESIDENT MAGISTRATE'S COURT.

TUIMDAY, NoVKUBiM 20TU, 187 S. (Boforo M, B!mw, Esq., 1UI.) In the.Mntttr'of tho »lootion of Patrick Urbnnan and Louis Daviks. This was a polition fi!od n^ninst (ho r*» mm of Patrick Brannan for tho Hiding of Uoofton. Tho grounds of tho potiibu woro m follow* /— 1, Thfttlh«doftlnnitionof tlio polling by tho Roturuing Officer id not a (rue and correct declaration thoroof, 2, That tho Rtturning O.iloor did not prorido ia the booth on tho dnt« of (ho nnid olflction a oopy of (ho Eloclora Itoll for tho Riding of Koofton. U, That tho ltoturniag Odljor mitrkod iorno of the bnllot pa pom uicd in tho said eloctionsotliortviio tlnuns by'liur directed nnd required. 4, That some «I«rh>r» tvhon« % namos ap))onx on; tho mid K^otornl Koll in r«spoot ,of a prpporfjr qaalifisntion wor» not nlloivofl (o roto. 5. Th .t tho Koltmiing Officer tcjoctcd oorlain ballot pnporc as informal which woro n«t informal. 0. That sovoral alcolors v>hana nim«« appoarod npon tho Elootoral Holl fop the anid Kidinjj of Rcoftou in retpect of n minor'u right qualification woro not p*r« mifted to to(o at tho unid oleotion, 7. That tho Itolurninj; Offlcor did not %\vo to somo of tho olootors nil tho hnllat pnporn which tliey woro ontitlad toroooiyo at tho snidoloolion. 8. That persons woro permitted to voto an rioolorg wlio woro not ontitiod to 1 vote, 9. That tho Roturninj? Offioor did «ire to homo of tho votars at tho nnid clocti )na inoro voting papers (han ihoy vraro entitiodi , to rcooivo. 10. Tint sevornl oloofon wlioso numen appeared upon tho KiocLorAl Holl in rMs' prefc of ft property (\ in|ififl.itioii, and also in rcfipoot of h minor.*, ri^ht qualification woro improperly permiiied to roto in res-

pect of each suoh qualification. . ■•" ANGU^iCaMPBIILL It. K. 3ctUNR .Tonjtrn Wii<«ON Waltrr A.tkin TUOMA.B FIASKBTT Jambs Bebs. Mr Warner, instraotod by Mr Moss find Mr Daviot appeared in lupport of tho petition. Mr Pitt appeared Tor Mr Hrennan, to support the validity of tlio elootion. Mr Warner oponod tlio caso at somo I longth. and then called the following em deuoe. Henry Luoa« — I nm Clerk of tho Resi« dent Magistrates Court ; I have rooeivod and prodnc • a parcel of papers from tho Returning Ofllcor. I forwarded » list of minor'i rights to tho Clork of tho County Council. P. do La» Garrorns— l «m County Clcrlr. I produco tho cortifiod Electoral Roll for tho Riding of Iteofton. I also prod aoo tho ratopayors list and ratepayer* roll ii nlso tho list of miner't rightn for« worded to mo by the Clork of tlio Court. The <r>py of tho Electors Hull for tho Itooftoii Hiding used at tho polling booth win prepared in my office j I mudo no alteration in il; I know Beilby'H name. Ho wfl« down in tho original roll for fivo vot«t; and it was subsequently discoyored that ho did not own tho property for which he was nsscssod and consequently tho numbor of hia votes was ro» dueed. I chookod ovor the roll wilh tho ltoturning Officer. It wao prepared from tho valuation roll, and tho list of tnincr'M rights. It is not correct, there nr« several , nvtUkcs in it. ' Richard Spratt — I noted m Returning Officer at the election for tho lieofton Riding. I fonvardud tho piotcot pro* duoed to tho Clork of the Court. I en* olosod in it tho yotinj pipori and liloctors Kail mod nt tho olootion. I did not inoludo the GuznthJ notices in tho pnrcol, but. now produco thorn. Tho ndrortinornent setting forth tho result of tho olootion, as it appoura in (ho Tnaxoahux ' Timra wai orderod by mo, an 1 la in accordance with Section 35 of tho .Rr»«u« lation of L)oal Elooiions Act. I mnrlcod tho bnl'ot papers on the left-hand hack 00 nor with the number of tho rotcr appearing upon tba roll and also with my initials. Whore tho voter was entitled to two or taovo votes an-i only ono nura') cr nppsarad upon tho roll, I uln afllcod tho lottors, A..8. and 0. to tlw oxtra rttati, no m to enable a strioc norutin . Two bnllot papora wore doolarod inform il bj« cnuxo tho numbor on tho left-'hnid cor.icr of tho back had boon obliterated aftor the voting papers hud loft my hind*. To tho bout of my knowledge tho pipers ! woro No k 83. There wero Rva voting | papers in which tho attompt ha I boon made to tamper with the numbers upon j tho bnok, but throe of them wcro nd« milted bcoauso the numhars could bo ! distinguished, though very fointly. It | appeared that tho attempt to ohliterato the numbor had bceii mido with it dirty ■ <haml>. -Mr Mirflu, ono of tho loruine^rs , I lookod at tho papori. I markeJ all the ballot papers in tho same mui.ior. Mr Wuruor applied under Section 63 that tho packet of voting papers be : openod for tho purpose of inqiiiring into I tho truth of tho allegations of (he , petition. Mr Pitt objected, and the Court upbrl.) tho objection. Exnmiiintion oonlinui'd— -T refused to allow certain persons to vote whoso names appear ufontho lioll, I refused to nllow » person to voto on bohnlf of the Him of Allen mid Main. I al«o ro. ' fus»;d n voto on (he satno grouid io til brook of Tilbrook and Mirfin, nlso to Snviigo f)r tho firm of Savngo and JBrnj. : I refined to allow votes to porsons who oou'd not identify tbcn:*olvoa with tho i naino on the roll, Don't romembor whether Wilson or Shiolds applied ta vote. I think tho nnmo of Peter Blundull i appoars upon tho roll. Mr Warner asked that the roll be now produced. | Mr Pitt ohjoeted. Tho J3onch ordered the opening of tho paokot, nnd it wan accordingly oponod, and tho roll placed in tho witness' hands. Examination-continued— Peter Urown'n name appear on the roll, A person nnmed Peter Malhias Blundnll olniined to voto upon tho nhtno of Peter ]}rown. I rofunoit the veto. Tho name of I3rundall docs appear upon tho roll. Tho name of Mrs M 'Sorrow *B nppe«rs upon tho rill. I asked her if she was tha person mentioned on tho roll, and sho replied _ in tho nflirraative, and I allowed her to vote. John M'Gillicuddy's namo np» penrs upon tho roll and ho voted, tho fiumo man did not voto to my knowlodgo xiudn: tho nntno of M'Cullody. Do not recollect whethor" ho appeal oJ to voto. I rofusod to allow somo persons to voto w!ioso names nro onrollo I by virluo of a jomef's right, and Ilio reason was that* in sotno intnuoes they failed to produro their miner's rights for 1879. Canuot fliiy how many instnncos there woro of that class. Itefused a voto to IFonry Wilson %h6 pr^dtieod miner's right for 1878, but not marked renewed, llofusod. n voto to JLM'omiah Woontn upon the samo grounds. Ilooolleol a person named Archer S«brigbfc claiming to vote. J?e~ fused A voto to him n3 ho claimod to vrtto upon tho namo of Alexander Soa« ri«hc Colin Campbell exorcised moro than fivu rotos at tho election, I gave

him seve*n voting papers. Hih nima appears thvoo' limes upon the roll. Ho appears Jwicc as for tho Bank of N«w Zsnlnnd'nnd onco for his priva'o Uovuo. Person* mimes nr« on tha roll hotli foe minor's vi«ht nnd properly qualifications and tboy votod as such. No persons were pcrmittod to vote whoso namos did not, npponr upon tho r.ll. Cross»oXi»miuod— l Raro Mr Campboll sevon volinß papers — namely, four in # rospoot lo No 37, 13 ink of Now Zealand, nnd for No GO, Coliu Campbell, ltoss Town, threo votes. By tho Bench—ln tho first count over thcro wag n difloronco with ro«nrd to two candidates, which necessitated flonnliiiß tho p.ipora over again. Mirfin nnd M'Sherry agreed with regard to tho numbt'M of votes received by Bronnan nnd Buvicß, though Mirfin remarked that ho thought that ho had misled ono and thoro tho watter ended. Do not think that ony of tho ncrutineors objocted to tho returns ns declared by mo. I got tho copy of tho roll pro* duoed from tho County Clerk, beforo tho dato of nomination, I went ovor th<? roll with Iho original and believe it is n correct copy. Tho ltov. Mr I'otcrs votod At tho tlootion, as also did Dr Martin, Charles Mirfin — I nclod ns scrutineer ft/? L. !)«?!•■ «k l'«o ' nsi election. I recollect. 7. B. Allen claiming to vote for Allen ond Main nnd ho was refused, Wilson claimed to vote for Wilson nnd Shiclis and was also refusod. Henry Wilson oluimod to vote n«* nn enrolled elector anJ whs refused ; Arthur Daly, nn enrolled elector, was rofiwod a voto bocnuso lio could not produce his miucr'a )\>h\ ; Thomns I'iiz.jprald was rofusod for the sumo reason, John Harris, Name, refused, Miohnol Mucldon, samo.rofuso.l, Jrremioh Noonn, snmo, rofus y d. Thcro wore sixteen poisons yotod under tho two qualifications, their mm- s appenring iwico on tho roll. Ileoollcet rotor Brun•Inll claiming lo exercise two votes. He claimed to voto under property qu.ilifi* cnlion nlut under n nine's rixht. Whon | ho first camo in hti >tai«'d Hint ho was known as L'etor Brown i I stated that I know the man, but ho wns refused. Sonbright w»is also refusod. Ho produced hi* receipt for rates, ni.d upon btfirig asked who; her ho w** tho nun ho «;\id ho must bo tho person, lie evidently could not not Ofor tho fact that nn error hid been mndo in his n-uno. I'-ni'ly in tho day M'GUlicudy presented himself nnd roted m M'Cnullidy. There was n differencoin the manner in which his voto was dettlt; with ns compar d to Sonlright. Mrs M'lverrow Siiid her nnmc was Wil» jinmion, but she wns allowed to voto ns Mrs M'Kerrow. M'Giiffin polled 183 votes. 23 persons polled nnd recorded 403 votes ; I counted the votes ns given by the lluturninu Officer, I nia positive M'Giiflio pollcJ 183votos. With rog-ird to Brcpnan Rnd Duvics* numhors I nnde each of thorn 191 but that could not nffoct (ho fuirnoss of tho election : in tho first in» slnnoo thoro were six papers obj 'cted to ; ono was thoroughly invalid, nnd Ihe fire romn'ming papers had beoti rubbed ; ulti* mntc'y thrco of tho papers were admitted nnu tyro wore rcj<?otod, tut tlicy did not nffoct tho result. Tho voter had evidently tampered with tho papers nnd endeavored to obliterate the numbers. Archer S»abright— l claimed lo voto al tho lust Roefton election nnd wns roluseti ; I claimed to rolo, but by Mr Spratt's account I wuß not onlitlod to it ; I whs tho person nnmod on the roll n» a«right» and I ovid I must bo. Crosß.cnminofl— My nnmo is spoilrd Sc;»bright. Theßtfturnuv OOloor poi.ite.l tl»e namo to me on tho roll, and it nppcarocl ns " Aloxander Sccright " which wa« incor« reeL This closed tho cnno for tho potitionen, Mr Pir.t snid it wu« not his inUntion to call any witnesses. Ho contoiidod thftt the pefi* tioners hnd failed to support n single nllegntio i contained in ihfi petition ; ho then proooodud toftd^r«*« the Court upon tho v.irioui points of lav? involved, nnd tho Court adjourned at 6 o'clock.