THE SPIDER AND THE FLY.

NZ Truth, Issue 159, 4 July 1908, Page 5

THE SPIDER AND THE FLY.

THE VAGARIES OF VANDA WHITB. \ A Specious Swindler and Roguq. ' MORE ABOUT HIS GIGANTIC SCHEME. ! Dr. McArthur's Scathing Denunciation.

It is a true assertion that'! the individual who describes himself as an agent is generally that spunkless sort of person who has failed m every branch of life. An agent may > ine'an anything or nothing at all but it----ia'';.'Rbiierally"'-a-..,term that fits a scoundrellana a swindler, who^ un- , fortunately, isi^faird to bo cot at by "the. Law. He is gienerally a low-down ruffian.^'a cowardly and skulking skunk without one spark of manhood m hiiw, arid itxis only inevitable that at some -time or other he falls; in, and then -is exhS»jSted to the world his cruel and remoiseless and criminal nature. Such an is Vanda White, who,' of late, hr. ••ibeen prominently figuring m these coj_".s\:, as a defendant to a peculiar civil suit instituted by a' young tailoress named Rosina Wright, whose statement of claim was thus set out :— . (LyTh^l-;bri ; ; April 13th; 1908, the defendant induced'Hhe'' ? plainti£E to -enter into par triershin with him m the: business carried out by hup m Wellington under the style of "The Commercial Arbitration ARency," and to pay him the sura of £30 for; a- third m the Profits of the said business, by fraudulently represerith\- to 1 her— - ! ' ' .a; That he bona, fide cai'ried on a genuine .and substantial debt-collecting business m, Wellington, with branches m Christchurch and Dunedin under the style of , "The Commercial Arbitration Agency," whereas the business carried on by .him was' insignificant and illusory, as tbe 'defendant knew. b. That . between : £300 and £400 a week wris received at the office of the ; said business, at ' Wellington for the collcctin« of debts by the said Commercial Arbitration Agency, . whereas, iri laej;, scarcery any moneys at all were ■received at the office, as the. defendant ' knew. -, / ■• ' ■ v ': . • c. That tlie said Commercial Arbitration. Agency had branches in' Christchurch and Dunedin,: whereas, m fact; it had ,no such branches, as the deferi- ' dant kne^y. '-■■/ .-._"■, d. That the defendant had been th"-? oi- four months m Wpllington, whereas he had been only one month, as the defendant knew. V (2.) The plaintiff had suffered damage to the extent of £30. Wherefore tho pteiritiif claims irom the defendant as ainages the amount, of £30. The hearine: bf the case, which was Lcfore^ Dr. McArthur, S.M., unfortunately extended oyer a couple of weeks. "Truth" says unfortunately, advisedly, inasriiuch as it was practically impossible to expedite matters, considering the stress of- business that has presented itself for adjudication. , Nevertheless, the. eviicnj„ (riven was fairly lengthy,' the charge if fraud was fully investigated and on Thursday last the. worthy Magistrate, Dr. McArthur gave a judgment- which branded Vanda White, or Searl ' AS: AN IMPUDENT IMPOSTOR, a shark, a thief, and a down-right swindler, who, : ifjhe gets his deserts,, ; will, soon see the iriside of our penal! establishments. Unhappily, the fact of jj this case being sub judice, precluded this law-abiding, journal irom stepping into the legal, breach and exposing White for the dastard, the . skunk and, tne swindler that he .is,- an,4 -n.o^y..; psirhaps';- wheu it is. too 'late,' it Urges on the police' to foririulate a series of charges of fraud and theft, or false, pretences, against this j shark. a because we have every reason to | believe that White has been advised to leave the country, arid . possibly !ere this sees the light bf, day, the cunning schemer has 'vanished. "Trutti,"; haying '.m riiind the daily press; habit of distorting .or suppressing .evidence, -very rightly m the circumstances published the very voluminous evidence, given from time to time, with the very happy results that the nublic haye been able, as Dr. McArthur Was, after • hearing the evidence, to forrii one, opinion of White, viz., that he was a swindling impostor, a brutal and cowardly maligner ' of.'' his victim, and that his dirty and scoundrelly attempt to blacken- the ; character for chastity of ; his victim failed iKnominiously. Evidence has been given that Vanda White- had carried on a bogus ■ agency. andi per medium of that, boeus agency. he robbed an- unworldly and too trusting arid -. confiding young -woman, a practical starahger' in the community, of £30. He certainly .'attempted to. swindle others, but they were too wary as to be led into any wretched partnership deals.' but as Vanda the vagrant agent has operated m Dunedin arid .Christchurch, and proposed extending,; his Commercial and Arbitration Agency to Auckland, it is not at all improbable, ' indeed it is hi^hlv possible that he has, bilked N others, who would be! rendering a useful service 'to the community by coming forward and helping to s GAOL THE GHASTLY, HOLLOW- ■'. JAWED. i : bald-headed, clean shaven thief and bilker, whb.is travelling under an alias, and who, by Dr. ; McArthUr's judgment, is held to have .committed wilful and. corrupt perjufyV Now, why is this ghastly' individual, -this Woman welshcr, traveliing undet'the name of Vanda Wmte ? Is his nahie Searl? Why has: he changed it? '^Haß he done anything crooked m Australia ? - These duesl4ons naturally follow when we find an adventurer, travelling, undfer : false colors and living by Paeans of false and fraudulent reptesen-. tatioris., Now, "Truth" knows, arid so; last week, that the police had cognizrihee '-of Whfte's watched and likewise wicked 'welshing of v the young woman Wright,; and it is said 'that, her evidence; was' riot strong enbuah to warrant a -conviction. It was. strong .^-enough anyway to warrant -Dr. McArthur to : praqtically. flay- White alive, and. if m the faibe of that Magistrate's unusually • outsp'okbn arid truly scathipg remarks, the j police are hot moved to action, then indeed will the police have signally fail-,' cd. m, their duty. „W hite's Commercial ;and Arbitration Agency was a gigantic swindle. By, St' he defrauded the youne woman Wright. He bilked her by false representations, lf> r ~i. false, hopeft' and, wbd.t is inoie to, the nbint. false »and faked, documents. lie, it seems."tried; to induce the young woman to become his tool m an attempt to rob and victimise other would-be partners. Nor is this . all. The dirty , dog attempted liberties; with Miss Wright, ; which every decent-minded woihan -would be rirompt to resent. White swore that' he is, and no doubt he is, a married man. arid his wife.! if she is not a /blind fool, must take iWbite for '-;;', '■''„;.' : WOULD-BE FORNICATOR tJiat-he is. He deliberately ."i nstructed his counsel, Mr Levvey, to sling , mud; at Ih'is .'Victim' aricht tho ; Otaki incident, but pr/TdcArthur formed one opinion on .the plotter and that was that White was a -ctes'table creature, and "so say aU of us^l''' ' '".' ' ;■ - ; - Now, however, we; turn to White's opii orations putside his female ->irtner swinj dline schemes. His Commercial.and Arbitration Affency Avas e;oing tbj soreiid Tike a hug;e octupus over the Dbrninibn. , .He was to co-operate withi'otlicr branch's- which he had sold at a proiit. arid ?|GofU knows how his partners pre fariji't ■ixoisfi-'. He was to become Ihe "hum-, iyjrtiest" and rummicst of buinrbalUiffß. As

a door-step dun, a debt-collector, he wt ii to out-Wright Henry Wright. In a Word. Vanda White, romantic name as it sounds, was to effect a revolution m the art of getting blood from a stone. His blue paper . was to ,be a sort of magic wand that, like Mose,s' rod, was. but to tap a rock and the rest was easy. Ho exploited Petone and the Hutt. where he has "victims" innumerable. His /victims, veritable "mugs" they are. listened with staring eyes and open mouths at his ■ proposals. White magged. well. He. talked Uke a phonograph: he was unsdrupulous : he was an "agent." and his impudent bluff carried' him through. His scheme was that business people should become subscribers to his Commercial and Arbitration Agency. They were to plank down £1 per. annum : he was to collect their debts and to receive so much . commission. Plenty of Petone and- . putt "mugs" parted with their "Quids" arid these, so far as they and their debts Were concerned, did the matter . eh$ v White is an 'impudent, insolent impostor.' He is a thief arid a swindler, arid it vis just aa well that he has come a cropper. ' . , ■ ' IF HE ESCAPES GAOL he will be' fortunate,, but somehow "Truth" fancies he is an old hand and has 'already sloped. If he has left the Dominion he can well be spared.. Such immigrants as he are undesirable. If,, however, he is lurking m the country ,he must ' be rooted -out and brought to justice. "He is the truly criminal type that the Law was 'made to': cope with, and he should, therefore, be speedily brought to boolc. Moreover,- "Truth" - cannot allow this matter .. ito- end.' without one word to the part the advertising columns of the daily press, plays iii aiding and abetting swindlers of the Vanda White type. It was the alluring advertisement m the daily press that helped White, to rob and rook his victims. The. daily press is not particular; who .advertises m their columns so long 'as they pay. "Truth" is, particular at anyrate on this score. White and his speciously worded little "ad.," the invitation for the fly to walk into the spider's parlor, would hot find .its way into "Truth," simply because "Truth" Would want to know all about it. The "Post" and the "Dominion" lent their advertise ing columns to White at the usual rates, a,nd it was by those small advts. , for partners, etc., he succeeded, at anyrate, IN ROBBING MISS WRIGHT. ■ Anyhow, it is just as well that the part the daily press play m aiding and abetr ting; criminals of the White type shouldbe given , special prbriiinence. . His 'Worship Dr. McArthur, S.M., livered his reserved judgment, on Thursday week.- '''-'..■•. . A great deal of evidence, his Worship .said, had been taken m the case, but that by no means; implied that, a long judgment was a 1 necessary sequence. It was evident to him that the defendant', who was a late arrival in' New Zealand,, and \frho had been m business m .'Australia under another name, opened businesses of a . similar character to the one m ques-i ■ tion for the purpose of disposing of them to anyone who was soft enough or suitable enough to take them. He would not burden the judgment with any particulars of the so-called branches, m Dunpdin anji m Christchiurchi^jrieither ,. woiiid- he ter into the question of whether the plaintiff signed a document whiph was not the sajmejas that read out to her. He would assume that she signed tlje document, \ AS MANY FOOLISHLY DID,/ without making herself acquainted with its contents. ' ' JThe question I , have to determine." said, his Worship, "is a short one — did the defendant induce the plaintiff to enter into partnership With him by fraudulent representations? I -have no hesitation m saying that the defendant did represent to the plaintiff that '■ he carried on a genuine and substantial Business m Wellington, with branches m Dunedin and Christchurfch, , whereas m fact, as heywell knew, his business was, as mentioned m the statement of claim, 'insignificant and illusory.' I also believe , that the defendant fraudulently represented that a sum of .. oyer £200 , was received at the office m Wellington each \yeek, -either from or for the collection of debts, whereas, m fact, only " a . very small amount was received, as the defendant well knew. A conclusive proof bf this ,is that the only' sum placed to his credit m the bank was £28 out of the '£3o re^ ceived' from the plaintiff. Again, he falsely represented that the business carried on by him/ had branches; m Dunedin and Christchurch, whereas ih fact, it had no such branches, as he well liriew.^ Lastly, he falsely led the plaintiff ,. to believe that he had been m Wellington some three or four months, whereas he had been only one month. The defendant's means of exploitation was iby advertisement, and he seemed, to have had 1 A SPECIAL WEAKNESS FOR . ,-,-' LADIES to join his establishment. It was. the old , story of the spider and the fly. The law is- clear oil the subject. When a person has been, induced . by the false and fraudulent I representations ,of another to enter into partnership with him, an action will clearly lie at the suit of the first person against the second for the recovery pf damages which he has sustained, by reason -of such fraud. There are abundant authorities for this statement. In justice to the plaintiff I cannot overlook what 1 may call the Otaki affair. I . firmly believe the plaintiff's story, and as firmly disbelieve that; of the 'defendant. One can hardly express his detestation of a creature, who, after receiving money from a young girl by false repres.epta tions, then drags her name into Court fpr the purppse of defaming her character. These words are strong, but are intended to be so, , The defendant's mottive was evident." Judgment was given for the plaintiff for the amount claimed, with costs £5 Bs. , ■ , -.;■ ■-Mr Von Haast, .on behalf of the plaintiff, asked for an order for immediate teixe-» qution to issue. Mr Levvey, for plaintiff, considered that the application was not a fair One m the circumstances. As a riaatter of fact, he had been instructed to ask for feave to' appeal. ' His Worship : Oh, you can appeal. Mr Levvey : I am riot expressing ,any opinion on the case. Mr Von Haa,s*t pointed out that defendant had , admitted he owed the plaintiff £15 and had made, no provision for paying her. Unless lie got 4 an order for immediate execution, plaiattff . might not get anything if defendant, left the city. His Worship : I think that this is a proper case m which an order should be ■granted. ■ „"' ■•; ■.-