I.W.W. CASE.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXVII, Issue 17882, 30 August 1918, Page 5

I.W.W. CASE.

COMMISSION RESUMES. By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright. (Received Angust 29, 9.35 p.m.) SYDNEY, August 29. The I.W.W. Commission has resumed. It was mainly occupied to-day with the cross-examination of Goldstein respecting tlie '' fire dopo'' and his connection with the I.W.W. case. THE CASE OPENED.

SCULLY COMES BACK. [FBOiI OUB COBEESPONDENT.] SYDNEY, August 21. The Commission of Inquiry appointed bv the Government .to investigate the allegations of dishonesty levelled against the polico by certain members of Parliament and others, upon tho strength of statements eaid to have been made privately by Henry Christopher Scully, tho principal witness tor tho Crown at the trial of tho I.W.W. "firo bugs," commenced its sittings on Monday. The Commissioner is Mr Justice Street, of the Probate and Admiralty Division of tho State Supreme Court. A strong bar is engaged, Mr Shand, K.C., leading for the Crown, and Mr Windeyer, K.C., for tho makers of the charges. Readers of the Lyfctelton Times" having already been furnished with a general outline of this matter, it is only necessary to add that the miblic interest, taken in the proceedings is intense. Not for many years lias there been an inquiry in which the community generally watched more critically. Thero are, ot course, political reasons for this; and there is the further consideration that the issues involved are of the very gravest character. Tho suggestion is that tho administration of justice has been shaken to its foundations. Tho return of Scully from San Francisco, whore he had been intercepted on his way to England, was by many people awaited with extraordinary curiosity. Hn was known to be a passenger by the Ventura, due to arrive on Tuesday morning. Hours before the steamer berthed at Circular Quay hundreds of men and women were waiting, apparently to catch sight of him. By the time tho steamer moved up to the wharf the crowd had swelled to thousands. They waited in vain. Scully had landed with an "officer of the United •States Immigrate i Department _ tit Watson's Bay, and came quietly into the citv bv car. This officer has been referred to at the inquiry as " a gentleman from America." One suspects him of being a secret service man. But the matter "is of no importance. Scully is not under arrest. Ho returned voluntarily. Of course, ho is under protec-tion-wind one of his protectors is the gentleman from America." Scully was put into the witness box before the Commissioner a few hours after landing. ~ , , Meanwhile the proceedings had opened on the previous day in a rather dramatic manner. It should first be explained, perhaps, that among tho per-' sons connected with the I.W.W. trials were Davis and Louis Goldstein.. A chnrre against Davis Goldstein was withdrawn, and lie eave evidence against the men now in gaol. He had also figured in the famous noto forgery cases "with which members of the I.W.W. were identified. Called as a witness on Monday Police Sergeant Pauling, formerly a detective, who had been connected with tho arrests of the men now in gaol and in preparing the case for the Crown, said that during the week tho Goldsteins had told him they were sorry they had made untrue statements regardiuc the conduct of the police. Cross-examined by Mr Windeyer, Pauling said ho got a suit of clothes from a tailor in Castlereagh Street named Pura just after the charge against Goldstein was withdrawn. He denied, however, ihat Goldstein paid for the suit, and asserted that he gave £o 5s to Davis Goldstein to give to Pura. Louis Goldstein having arranged with the tailor to make it for him at! a wholesale rate.

His Honor: Do you think it wise for a member of the polico force to accept concessions liko that from anyone?

Pauling: No. His Honor: Well, I can say that I do not .also.

The next witness was Pura, the tailor. His evidence was that the Goldftcins came to him and asked him to make, suits for certain police officers who would call and get measured 'on the understanding that they (the Goldsteins) would pay. Ho made suits for t-ix detectives—Surridge, Pauling, Turbet, Hooper, Mitchell and Miller. The suits averaged between £6 and £7The Goldsteins paid him with three cheques, two for £l9 and one foT! £l2 12s, the latter including a personal account. These cheques he passed through his bank account. tA the request of the polico they had each been given a receipt for 'their account, but not one of them paid him a shilling. Whether they paid anything to the Goldsteins ho could not sav. Goldsteins were not friends of his merely customers, and could not make arrangements with him for suits at wholesale rates, because he was; not a wholesale maker. The witness produced his measurement book to verify'tho names of his customers.

The inquiry thus became interesting from the start. At this stage an ad'journment was mado until next day. _ On Tuesday Scully was available—a little, small-faced and rather sharpfeatured man of about middle ago. He took the oath in a most solemn manner. He answered questions very carefully. Ho insisted that there was no arrangement, with the Crown about him leaving the country on being paid certain money. Confronted with documents from tho Crown Solicitor's office, nnd cross-examined on them by Mr Windeyer, ho still said ho know of no arrangement. Much of this evidence, however, would be unintelligible to people at a distance. The real point of interest in the man's evidence on the first day was in the reading of tho statement he made to Mr Judd about the police connection with the trial of his I.W.W. 'friends. He made this statement during the time he was negotiating with the police for a further share of the'reward, and after hi; legal suit against tho Crown had been filed. It is a most amazing document. In effect it is this—that there was a great deal of crooked evidence given at the trial; that half of the men convicted were absolutely innocent; that some of tho police lied deliberately and caused some of tho witnesses to he; that somo of the detectives had commented to him on tho rascality of others; that Goldstein lied; that M'Allister (a witness since dead) had lied. It is a long statement. In it persons and places and incidents arc specified. It is also a very interesting statement in a peculiar way, this being that while Scully traverses tho evidence given by nearly every other witness at the trial, and indicts the police of the grossest duplicity, ho says nothing to cast doubt on any part of his own evidence. There is this further rather remarkable circumstance bearing upon his denial that there was an arrangement between him and the police to leave Australia: on the day beforo he sailed he wrote one of the men he made the statement regarding the trial to. stating that he had beeti hurriedly colled away '" up north to Toowoomba " for a week or two, and arranged that the letter should be delivered after the steamer's departure for America. Cross-examined upon these allegations of his Scully takes a rather astonishing attitude. His general explanation is that the statements he made to Judd and others were mere suggestions—not accusations. Ho knew that Judd was working to get a rehearing of the case, and therefore supplied him with material for "purposes of investigation," it being for Judd and the others to " show that such was the case." He based some of his allegations on " the accusations of iho defence at the trial.'* The reason he Ousted with. JJ» octioa the

Crown was that Judd would not fight on his behalf, and it was for that reason he went from Judd to the Crown Solicitor's office and tried to settle his claim amicably. All this is fearfully confusing, but will probably be cleared up as tho hearing proceeds. Pressed in detail about his statement, Scully has so far either discounted every ono of his allegations or sought to put another meaning upon words which seem to have only one moaning. For instance:

Mr Windeyer: Take this passage: " I met Goldstoin at the races. He told mc thero was a lot of crook work in the case." Is that true?—l must havo been mistaken.

You gave Judd this statement to work up a case on?—Yes_. My idea was to get them to fight my case, but their idea was that that would not get innocent men out of_ gaol, and they wanted n I?oval Commission. Mr Windeyer: If your Honor thinks I should ask further questions about this, I will ask them. His Honor: I will givo the witness a chance to explain later. Mr Windeyer: Having written theso serious charges, what has happened to alter your views?—Only that 1 am on oath, and I know what is 'Written is untrue.

But these statements make most serious reflections on tho detectives P They were not made as definite statements, but simply for investigation to get evidence on.

Were theso accounts of conversations not intended to be true?—l am not a literary man. / You wrote, " Pauling told Goldstein that Detective Hooper put the fire dopo in tho pocket of the prisoner Teen." What did you mean?—l was only assuming that it might bo tho truth if the truth came out. You wroto, "Detective Leary was at the police station when Detective Hooper put a bottle of firo done into Teen's pocket." Is that true P—That is not a statement. It is only a suggestion.

Thus it has gono on, Scully repudiating at every point tho statement he admits having made to Mr Judd and others for the purpose of getting them to assist him in his claimi afcainst tho Crown. What ground he had for supposing that a statement of ihe character ho himself attributed to this ono could strengthen that claim will presumably transpire later on. Up to tho present tho main result of the inquiry is to create doubt about what might bo the result of a re-trial of the twelve men at, present in gaol with Mr Scully as the principal witness for tho prosecution. Momentarily it looks as if the inquiry opened by Mr Justice Street will go very much further than was contemplated by tho Government. His Honor is armed with unusual powers.