CHRISTCHURCH. January 6.

North Otago Times, Volume XXVIII, Issue 2084, 7 January 1879, Page 2

CHRISTCHURCH. January 6.

The criminal sessions of the Supreme Courfc began to-day. Judge Johnston, in the course of his address to the jury, said :—ln: — In this part of the colony he saw no reason to believe that there had been any considerable increase of criminal population. This calendar showed very much the usual character of crime. The characteristic crime of the colony — the passing of forged cheques — being Very prominent. He would aeain and again urge upon the public his opinion that persons who changed cheques for strangers on the strength of assurances that they had money, were really participators in the crime. Thus fostered it was difficult to draw the line perhaps between what was culpable and what was only stupid. In such cases, of course, none of the gentlemen whom he was addressing would be so foolish as to act in the manner he was censuring ; but he alluded lo shopkeepers and small store- , keepers, and above all to publicans. He said it deliberately that these men allowed themselves to be cheated in the most ridiculous fashion, and thus held out tempt itious to crimes which were not found to exist in any other part of the world. He must say that tho gullible must expect to be gulled. Whenever such cases were brought before him, he should take the opportunity to mark the sense of the Court in their regard. There were to a certain extent in this Colony abuses which would be no excuse in countries which were more thickly populated. He was aware that wages were paid by small cheques. Still, those who changed such cheques were bound to endeavor, as far as possible, to protect society against fraud. Referring to the manslaughter case, in which M'Clatchie was charged, his Honor explained the law to be that, if death was accelerated in the slightest degree, it amounted to manslaughter. There was the question he pointed out to consider whether the act of violence wns ono for which the accused could be held responsible, because the damage which it was suggested had been suffered by the deceased appeared to have occurred in a struggle, in which deceased himself had taken an active part. If theaccused, who was, he believed, barman in the hotel where the scuffle took place, was trying to put an end to the struggle, it would be for the jury to say whether the violence was voluntarily on the part of the accused or the natural consequence of a struggle in which the deceased had taken the -initiative. Of libel, his Honor said that publishing a libel which tended to bring a man into disrepute, was a punishable offence, on account of the tendency to cause a breach of the pence, and not on account of any loss it might bring upon tho individual libelled. The law therefore was that if you wrote something defamatory of a man and directed it in a letter to that man that would not 'be good ground for a civil action, as he would lose nothing by it. If that something waa published to another, that would be an injury to his character, far which he could briny a civil action, but the law said that though a man in such a case could bring a civil action he might also indict his libeller on account of tho provocation to a breach of the peace. Such indictments were extremely rare. He had not known one in his experience. In relation to cases of indecent assault, of which two were on the calendar, he censured the habit which appeared to be too prevalent of leaving young girls alone in the society of men. George Muff, pleaded guilty to a charge of burglary at Selwyn, sentence was postponed at the request of Mr Harper. George Brind pleaded guilty to a charge of housebreaking, and was sentenced to one year's imprisonment, with hard labor. Edward M'Kenna pleaded guilty to forging and uttering a cheque for L 7 10s at Kaiapoi. There being previous convictions, followed by a sentence of three years, just completed, he was sentenced to six years' penal servitude. J. M'Namara, the hotel proprietor, who changed the cheque, was severely reprimanded by the Judge, and prosecutor's costs were disallowed. Messrs Cuff and Graham telegraphed to Mr Mitohelson, of' Kaipara, this morning, accepting the challenge of the Torea to sail the Alert for LlOO, on the conditions that the course should be the same as that Bailed over on the regatta day, and the race sailed under tho same rules and regulations. Captain Grundy, who has got rid of the ballast from the vessel, and has the majority of the cargo for .Auckland on board, says he is anxious to try conclusions with the Alert at any future time to be fixed, the race to be sailed outside the Heads.