SUPREME COURT.—Circuit (Civil)

New Zealand Herald, Volume XVIII, Issue 6210, 12 October 1881, Page 3

SUPREME COURT.—Circuit (Civil)

Sittings. Tuesday, 11th October. [Eefore ilr. Justice Gillies, and a Common Jurj-.j His Honor took his seat on the Bench at 10 o'clock. Campbell v. Hosie.— Mr. E. Hesketh and Mr. Theophilus Cooper appeared for the plaintiff, Air. E. K. Tyler for the defendant. This was an action to set aside a sale, and also specific relief for a wrong which the plaintiff alleged that he had sustained by reason of the false representations of the defendant. The declaration alleged that the plaintiff being the licensed holder of a piece of gold mining ground on the To Aroha gold field was induced through the defendant's representations to sell out his interest in the ground for £22 10s. The claim which was at present the subject of dispute was called the "Golden Hill," but the plaintiff also held a licensed holding called the "Radical," which he let on tribute. The names of the tributers were Joseph Woods, Michael May, and Blaine. The quantity of gold got ott'the"Radical"for six weeks before Christmas was 2900z5., or lOozs. to the ton, to be shared among five men. The following were tho issues for the jury : "1. Did tho defendant, by the false representations alleged in the declaration, induce the plaintiff to sell to the defendant his said licensed holding, known as the Golden Hill, for the sum of £22 10s ? 2. Was the said sum of £22 10s far below the real value of the said licensed holding ? 3. Were the said representations false in the knowledge of the defendant, and did the plaintiff rely on the said representations to transfer to the defendant the said licensed holding for the sum of £22 10s." The plaintiff deposed that he took up the Golden Hill upon the representation of the men Woods and May, the conditions being that he was to lind out the funds for taking out the license and the preliminary expenses. Sometime afterwards a man named Blaine called upon him at his house in Shortland, and asked whether hewas to be swindled out of his interest. The plaintiff said he did not know this man in connection with the Golden Hill. Blaine had been one of the tributers in the Radical claim. The man said that May had become sick, and had to go to Tauranga for the benefit of his health. The defendant on Deeember22 offered to buy theplaintifTs interest for £22 10s. This oiler was at first refused, because the plaintiff had already expended £27. Subsequently this price was accepted. —Joseph Woods and Michael May were called to prove the value of the ground occupied by the drive going up to the Golden Hill. They said that they worked in the drive until near the boundary. Woods worked in it until the work was knocked off' at the boundary. Mr. Bayldon, a licensed surveyor, produced a plan, showingau encroachment of several feet on the Golden Mill.—The defendant was examined, and said that he had ordered a survey, which was made by Mr. Thorpe, who reported at the time that the drive was 60 feet from Golden Hill boundary. He believed that report at the time. He subsequently received another report, to the effect that the distance was only 17 feet.—Mr. Hesketh : Did you not know your own boundary?— Witness : I took the surveyor's report. —His Honor : The question here is that he made false representations, that were false within his knowledge.—Mr. Hesketh : As an owner of land he must have known his own boundary, a duty was cast on the plaintiff to know it.—His Honor : These were mining works.—Mr. Hesketh : The boundary goes to the centre of the earth. I should like to have the benefit of your Honor's ruling. His Honor: I hold that the duty of an owner of land to know his own boundary is irrelevant to the question at issue in this case which is as to the defendant knowing that the representations made by him in regard to the distance of certain mine workings from an adjacent mine were false. If he said it was GO feet, believing that to be true according to the report of a qualified surveyor, the fact of the surveyor's report being erroneous will not support the plaintiffs claim.—The witness said he was offered £100 for the whole mine a short time after he bought.—Adam Porter deposed that he regarded the Golden Hill as very little value in August, that the outside value in December would be between £30 and £40. That would be a big price. — The surveyor (Thorpe) admitted the error in the first survey made by him. It was entirely his own fault.—A miner named Campbell and a miner named Fleetwood said the gold was got from 10 to 20 feet from the end of the drive, and the lead was getting poor, the shot of gold had run out.—His Honor having summed up the evidence, Mr. Hesketh asked Hia Honor to direct the jury, (1) That unless

there were a duty cast on the defendant to know his true boundary, a fraudulent intent would not be imputed to him; (2) That there was a duty cast on the defendant to know his true boundary; (3) That if there had been any encroachment on the Golden Hill ground, the defendant was bound to disclose it to the plaintiff.—His Honor directed the jury in accordance with the terms of the first proposition, but declined to direct the jury in accordance with the other two. He said, however, that the jury had a right to consider the fact of encroachment in considering their decision.—The jury, after a short deliberation, found a verdiot for tk? defeudant on all the issues .