MUNGANA CASE.

Kaikoura Star, Volume LI, Issue 69, 27 August 1931, Page 3

MUNGANA CASE.

VERDICT AGAINST CROWN. Cleared by a jury of having taken part in a conspiracy the Federal Trea_ sure) Mr E. G. Theodore and a former Premier of Queensland, Mr William M acCorniaek, left the Supreme Court triumphantly followed by a crowd of 5000 men and some women, who cheered wildly and threw their hats in the air, making a remarkable demonstration in the city’s most congested area. , , The jury found, in effect, that there was no conspiracy among the defendants for the purchase of the Mungana mines by the Queensland Government for £40.000, which the Crown claimed far exceeded their value.. There was no conspiracy by any of the defendants by which either Mr* Theodore or Mr Mac Cormack was to use his influence in the furtherance of a common design to defraud the Government. The jury’s answers to all the questions exonerated the four defendants. Judgment was entered accordingly, costs to oc taxed. Mr Theodore was greeted everywhere as “Good Old Ted!’’ Girls at windows were equally demonstrative. Mr Mac Cormack, always smiling, exchanged a few cheery words with newspapermen as he strode proudly from the Court precincts. An hour later Mr Theodore broke the silence and commented on the verdict.. He said: “It marks the end of a very unpleasant chapter in the history of Queensland. The Nationalists for a very long time have carried on a campaign of calumny against me. They have tried to humiliate and destroy me, but have succeeded only in dishonouring themselves.’’ Mr Mac Cormack contented himself with saying: “I am now out of public life and have no desire to make any statement.”

The case was a civil action for damages, the Queensland Government seeking to recover £30,000, representing the difference between £40,000 paid for the Mungana mines and £lO,OOO, which the Crown asserted was a fair and reasonable valuation. The defendants were Edward Granville Theodore (Federal Treasurer), William Mac Cormack (ex-Premier of Queensland), Peter Louis Goddard, and Frederick Reid. The case was tried before the Chief Justice of Queensland, the Hon. Sir James Blair, and a jury of four. It opened at Brisbane on July 22nd. and the statement of claim consisted of 1600 words. Legal costs were estimated at £450 a day. In a concluding address Mr A. D. McGill, counsel for the Crown, spoke for 104 hours, speaking 100,000 words. One of the counsel for the defendants, Mr Neil Macrossan, characterised the Crown’s case as “a

tale born of political expediency, full or sound and fury, but signifying no. * thing.” The Chief Justice, summing up, said: A singular feature of the case is that we have our Sovereign Lord the King presenting an indictment against two men who for many years were his sworn advisers in Queensland, and one of whom now is his sworn adviser in the Parliament of Australia. This is both singular and regrettable.