CHARGES AGAINST RUA.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 16253, 12 June 1916, Page 3

CHARGES AGAINST RUA.

SECOND DAY OF TRIAL. PROSECUTION CONTINUED. ALLEGED MISSING PROPERTY. WORDS USED IN" AFFRAY. i ' SUGGESTED INTERPRETATION. " The trial of Rua Hepetipa, or Rua Kenana, the self-styled Maori "prophet," ■ was continued at the Supreme Court on Saturday, before His Honor Mr. Justice Chapman. Rua -was charged with using seditious language and -with counselling and procuring his followers to murder thel police by discharging loaded firearms at J them, with counselling to do actual bodily harm, and to resist the police in ; the execution of their duty. There is every indication that the proceedings will be very protracted. Saturday was only the second day of the trial, and the third witness of 28 likely to be called by the Crown had not finished bis evidence when ■ the Court rose for the day. The case 1 for the Crown was conducted by the Crown Prosecutor, the Hon. J. A. Tole, K.C., and tha, accused was defended by Mr. J. R. Lundon. Mr- G. A. Hansard acted as interpreter. Constable Cummings Cross-examined. The cross-examination' of Constable T. J. Cummings, of Whakatane, was continued by Mr. Lundon. Witness said that from the time Rua endeavoured to get away to the time he was handcuffed and frog-marched" to the terrace witness did not bear him use the words " Patua," "Patua," meaning "Kill," Kill." . Mr. London : " Then you say Rua did 1 not use the words? , Mr. Tole : The witness says that he. did ( not hear the words used; he does not say . that they were not used. i Witness said he heard the first shot ; fired whilst Rua was lying on the ground | being handcuffed. He admitted saying at ; the hearing in the Magistrate's Court at r Rotorua that he heard the first shot fired when Rua disappeared over the embankment, chased by constables. He could ( reconcile the two statements, because the l whole affair occurred in a few seconds. > There was an interval of about five minutes between the first and, second shots. Witness admitted that in his de- | positions taken at the hearing of the case ( in the Lower Court it was stated that he , heard the sounds of guns firing when Rua " went over the embankment. , The Search for Firearms. • To Mr. Lundon: He did not know that , ? y four empty cartridge-cases were found . in the enclosure, neither was he aware [ that only one gun was found in the en- ) closure where Toko Rua's body was found. lie did not' know that the gun contained an undischarged cartridge. After he saw Toko Rua's dead body the accused said , to him, Mr. Cummings, shoot me." Wit--5 ness made no answer, but walked away. r He did not hear the accused calling out to , any of his women-folk. About half-a-dozen [ guns of all descriptions were found, some ' without hammers and others encrusted with rust. They did not bear the appearance of having been fired recently. He had heard that a quantity of greenstone and other household treasures had been stolen. Mr. Lundon: Have they been returned > Witness: I could not say. His Honor: He does not even know that the articles existed. Money Alleged to Have Been Lost. Mr. Tole: Do you wish to convey that the police stole the articles? Be plain. Mr. Lundon: I want to convey that the things were there when the police went there and they,were missing when the police left. His Honor: That is & suggestion that the police took them. Mr. Lundon, to witness: Who broke into Rua's big house?—l do not know. Do you mean that you know nothing about the side-door being smashed in?l know nothing about it. Now, look here, constable, I want you to be careful. Are you quite sure that you yourself did not find money in any of the houses — only money I found was 4s on the stump of a tree, which I handed to an old woman who claimed it. I _ His Honor: This is a personal imputa- • tion against yourself, constable. Did you see any other money found?— Your ■ Honor. a Mr. Lundon: Do you know she lost £2 ? [ His Honor: Confine yourself to the ' allegations against this man, please. | Mr. Lundon, to witness: Do you know anything of a sum of 14s being found?— No. Did you search for liquor about the place?— but I found plenty of empty whisky bottles, some bearing the name of the Whakatane Hotel. To Mf. Tole: He heard at Maungapohatu, from a native constable, that some • greenstone and some money had been lost by the Maoris. He had been instructed by headquarters to make inquiries respecting the lost money, which allegedly consisted of a cheque for £8 and three £1 notes. As a result of his investigations he found that no such cheque had ever been issued. [ Witness, to His Honor: I should like to say this, Your Honor. On the Monday , the day after the shooting, I and other constables I noticed several natives going in and out of Rua's store-house and his living-house. We were some distance off and could not ' see who they were. Medical Evidence as to Wounds. The evidence of Dr. Brewster, who r accompanied the police party, and who is now absent from the Dominion, was read. He described the nature of the injuries received by the police and also those sustained by those Maoris who were killed. In regard to Toko Rua, both bones in one forearm were fractured and both arteries severed. He had a bullet-wound in the left side of the chest, just below the heart, and another wound on the right side of the chest. Maita had a wound on the right side of the head, extending from the back of the ear to the eye. His skull was fractured and the brain injured. The injuries done to both Maoris were sufficient to cause death. He thought that Toko Rua had lived for about two minutes after receiving the fatal wounds. Toko Rua had been facing the bullet which caused the wound below the heart, as the bullet did not go right through. In regard to the wound in his arm, the doctor considered that i Toko Rua had his hand pointing in the direction from which the bullet had come, as if he had been holding a pointed gun. i Conduct of the Pa. District-Constable A. McG. Grant, of Te Wai-iti, said that when Rua set himself up as a "prophet," about six years ago, he visited the settlement at regular intervals. At first it contained about 1000 inhabitants and was well conducted, ' no liquor or smoking being allowed. The Maoris at first were friendly to the police, > but soon after liquor was introduced into the place their attitude changed. i Then Rua's following began to dwindle, i and the settlement was badly conducted. Constable Grant gave an account of a > visit he paid, with two other members of ■ the police force, to Rua when the latter was ■ at Te Wai-iti in the early part of the ; present year. The. purpose of the visit . was to serve a notice upon Rita to coma ■ up for sentence on charges of- sly grogi gelling. Whilsti.witness was reading the ! warrants Rua said : " This is the same ■ thing I have already served time for. i I don't want to hear any more read." , He then uttered the seditious .language mentioned in the first charge.. ,JIo said » i

he would pay any sum for a license to sell liquoreven £100, £200, or £1000. Witness said he would arrest Rua, and the latter replied : " That is what I want you to do." When asked if he would go quietly, Rua pulled off his coat, rolled up his sleeves, and said : "You put your hands on me you start a fight. Just fancy a dog like you talking .about arresting me." Rua said to Sergeant Cummings in English "You touch me I put you down and kill." He then called to his followers to get the horses, and he and his party left. Later, witness called out to Rua : " Aren't you going to say good-bye." The accused came back. In answer to Sergeant Cummings, he said he had nine wives and 19 children. He said he was going to Maungapohatu ...and that he was not going to let common people like policemen arrest him. They should send the Governor or the " SecondGovernor" or.the Minister. To His Honor : There were several natives in Rua's hearing when he used the seditious language, and they could hear what was said. Rua's Words Taken Seriously. Witness, continuing, said that on the occasion of Rua's arrest he distinctly heard him say "patua," "patua" (kill, kill). After Rua had been handcuffed the commissioner told witness to tell Rua to call out to his people to come back. Witness told Rua what the commissioner said, adding that then the firing would cease. Rua said You sing out; do it yourself." Witness replied: " No, he (referring to Toko Rua) lcno\va your voice." Then they both called ouw to Toko Rua, but the latter was too. far away to hear. Witness did not see any natives firing, but he heard the sound of the shots. He would" say that the number of guns the natives were firing would be anything from eight to twenty. Witness said he always regarded Rua as a " fraud." He had never done any good among his own people as far as witness could say. When the search was made for guns after the shooting affray about thirty weapons were found in various parts of the settlement. Mr. Lundon : Do you think Rua had 1400 ■ followers in his settlement? — do not know. Do you know that Rua has relatives at the front? the Maoris are his relatives. Do you know that Rua and his followers have contributed to the Patriotic Fund?—l did not know that that was the case. Is it' not a fact that Maoris are inclined to "pull the legs" of people just by way of fun?— Yes. Did you really think Rua was serious and meant it when he said he would give his money to help the Germans? Yes. Question of Interpretation. Continuing, the witness said to Mr. Lundon that Rua was speaking in Maori when he used the seditious language. He afterwards covered_ the same ground in English. He, witness, joined the main police party about forty miles "-Cfom Maungapohatu. The force received instructions to load their firearms about three-quarters of an hour before they got to Maungapohutu. The track to Rua's settlement was flanked by dense hush; it was rough country. It would have , been possible for the police party to-have been destroyed altogether had the, Maoris been wishful to put up an armed resistance. No attempt was made to molest the police before they got to Rua's settle- ' ment. He did not take that as a sign " that it was never intended by Rua to 1 resist arrest. When the shooing commenced he did not take cover, It was , 11 ot because he thought there was no L danger. ' Witness was asked by Mr. Lundon what 1 his construction was on the phrase: "He pu era; ka kino," witness replied : " The? > " gUnS ' why should "we not have guns i Commenting on Rua's alleged use of the 3 words patua," " patua," Mr. Lundon suggested (> that the actual ejaculation was J?j tU u the Maori verb "to kill." He s saadtaat the proper and literal translator J ol He pu era; ka kino" was "The\ i have guns;- 'tis bad." He suggested thai , when Rua used the words he meant then ■ to be translated literally. A second 0 ] two after saying them he added, in ar ' voice: "Patu, pat-u" (to kill tc kill), meaning that the police had guns U kill. It was bad. i Mr. Lundon: Did you see any Maori . besides Toko Rua with a shot gun?— No. At this stage the Court adjourned untij , this morning.