TAIHAPE TRAPS.

NZ Truth, Issue 132, 28 December 1907, Page 6

TAIHAPE TRAPS.

i il^mM^E AGAINST TWEDY. ' tfiesDirty^actics oi^tfieWlice; ! ; Bennett,-the^Bigotea^iJayApax. ; NThey/#e gbfosome foiilliant: police-tip .Taihapeand Ohakune way, who don't seem to ibe alble to . open their collect tiv-e mouth without putting 'their united foot m it-Hand "fihey have .pretty sbig feety. too -!, : iTo arrest , for vag-r, rancy; a man ,who-has' a moderateamountof wea,l*n about Ms clqsEaes istf •as remarkable a fea<t as -to app.re^ hend a^ prohibitionist, on, a Charge of' .blithering drunkenness. >^35mth'? has ;seen prohibitaonists m a hopeless:* .state, of toeery .enfcmglemenjfe, but '-tits prohibitionist is here spoken of ,/in ,a* general sense and as tire person he; professes to he. The united exertions i of -the force oh tlie Main Trunk line .were concentrated to secure the" -con-*j ; viction of Jajn<es Twedy, charged -wifjtij being an idle: ■scad disorderly person and with haying no lawful visiMe .means of support. 'The fact tibsb he ,3ia'd'£l9 Ids on him- -when axrestedu ■gave the poiioeiyhe lie direct wtten!" theyi •tried rfco _p rove vine ■ • had no •• s ineans«\ A lot-of improper evidence is dragjgeqfH into oases by the police on the W&ain .i ?Trtmk . line, and as, the Bench • is^comprised of a couple of the G-reat ■ Un-i •paid, who know more ahjout sugar .arid* isoft goods than the -Court rforms, aevi -.cused' persons /have ■■-■■.■..' • m PRETTY TOUGH TIME) .when they are.inotldefended by a'Jawet] yer. Bobby Thompson, of Qhakune* said he hadn't known Twedy to do^ iahy work for two,, months, during i which time hp was travelling- up and "down the Main , Trunk . line, playing ; "two-up:" Now, this was a most dm- ; proper stia/temen<t,. as Twedy. waisn'tM charged with? '-'two-up," and It was. like the ; blasted cheek of a policeman who Is too lazy or too incapable ofA catching anyfljady playing "twcHrp"" to ntake a statement which he wasn'table to prove. , If he was able to prove it it was his duty to take proceedings under the silly Gamlrfg ' ; and v Lotteties Act. Arrcwismjitfr, Twedy's lawyer, objected to the ' evidence: Thompson : also had the linspeakable gall to say that it was a master of luck that £19 10s was found "on Twedy, who wouldn't have a penny' next day, as he was a born gambler: "This is a' large, loose, indefinite statement, that -no person is* allowed, '-'to heave;!. round promiscuously 'm Court, unless he" is^prepared ( to . , substantiate, the ch : arfieV v W'hibli/was' one -ot vagrancy and-not of gambling, .and Solicitor lAgrrowsmith^yery : properly 6b' r. |ected, that it .wasn't/ admissible,:whereupon Maori. half-caste' Bennett,., J.P.j remarked . haughtily that it, was for,.the Bench to, say, : if the. evidence, .of , the police was V -T^he <-.p"roV found stupidity of some, Justices of the. .Pea(se ■is: really. incalcufehle. i' Mr Arrowsjniith^,: J. gay thaj^ evidence canfib t* : b ? e taken. "If '" your ■ "Wor- ; ships decide to admit it, it is . . im?; v properly admitted, and I must ask you to make a note of my pb iectiqn. It was: dragged x unwillingly^ frtfni Thompson that he haid heard , cpnfplaint as to Twedy riot paying " his way. Bobby .Watie, who was prosecuting for the police; 1 *" here put these words into peeler Thtmipson's m^lrjjh: "The reason wliy th|^ '^arrant w,as 'is-' su ed/\\ras?aceused^i|iai^e^iof living . ' ' A ls6^ .^"because i^heV Wa&Toifl gambji^gpi; opeftsi^tes.'' I!^Tjnes'ei1 !^Tjnes'ei remarks wers arsoidbjefcliia^Q'by' fiTft Arrowsmdtht '' who iv^'as defending- Twsdy for vagran-r cy, not for vgamfoiiii'g. . j! If the '■*■ brutal' bobbySThompsdn ~ were'iarrested „ ffjwp\ cqnspifacy, raifcoNild object to. ' evL-° d^nc^ to me ( effect^th^t-;he:- was^in the habifctof murdering s^mebody^ev^ery,, inprning befo^^rea^a^ye^nC^f^ HIS; lEAGEI#ESS' TO OBTAIl? lAI \'j % n -q^NiyreTiON,: &&& s -^ - He persisted ail dragging j (in 1 , evidenced about an offence with, which Twedy : Wasn't charged; v ■ V . '' i 5 • The| others-mail on dht^Bencti ; i>was-' the -Mayor of Taihape, who did have some isensej'of the fitness*' of' things, "t; anyrate, when cowardly <DorisVi- ? blei- Carey, bf . Qhalame i(who has been sliaken vp =. bef d|e«in "TfJuth' ' ) , stated that he had ' se^rf Twedy 'in the compj^iiy, of;c6nvicted persons, . his> WJor-" ship agireed with.Lawyer! *Arrowsini i tti r tKat a., considerable; porinoh oi the' evidence \#as ' irfelevant. Carey also,, sa^d that ; ")Twedy had wandere^ ..from' Makatpte'to Hiropito, knoclnnß '■'*-• round sly^og aifedps, wMch is the^ mdst ;4^mning reflection on. C.arey's-5 own c^4 vc * as' a. bobby, for if there are , sly-grpg shanties m the vicinity] it -is fiis,4uty ;to lobtain a conviction. against -the. proprietprs,;; and if he isn't able to do Tiis bblviotts duty he oujpht to. i 'be'kicked out of the force.' •Carey .also remarked that .he had received' 'complaints about ■ Twedy playing "two-up," but the incapable peeler'^ acknowledged .that he tod seen, men . playing , ' Hwo-up' • on the road, bult Had riot abstained' a conviction. ' \ Policeman Sweeney also 'gave 'cvii dericenJder'ogatory to Twedy, but the Benct Very sensibly , said j>hey wbuld not Want'evidence'for /the''d'efenC(Er. -Itwas a charge 1 which the police-had not proved, and the matter should, -. never have come to Court. The ' inform^ • tio'n was accortiingly dismissed. ... „ Had the numerous witnesses called by Twedy been permitted to give evidence, it would be shown that he was tlie victim , ', -. .';", OFi X TYRANNOUS POLICE , . FORCE.- *■•*' ■"■-'•■■ Tweclycame. over from Queerislarid m May with £38.in his "kick," the result of shearing 10,600 sheep on various stations, including Charlotte Plains. ■ Ten Tvceks *prior to the prose-* cution he earned a £20 cheque work-* ing with T. Kennedy, under Inspector Manson, about two miles ;. from Hiropito, and, he had more means than a gopd many persons who' knock . about town wearing a high collar that looks like a white fence roubd v an animated lunatic asylum and who pose as moneyed persons. If he hadn?t worked for a m.onth or two, -,what the blazes had that to do with Carey and Thompson ? I| tliose .'precious peelers arrested everybody who didn't wprk, half .the population would be m gaol. There is plenty of work for the coppers m the sly-grog shops and "two-up schools" on the Main Trunk line without arresting men with plenty of money m their possession, r.n'cc the "vaa- "