NOT IT'S "DADDY"

NZ Truth, Issue 509, 20 March 1915, Page 3

NOT IT'S "DADDY"

Another Win for Stuart Dixon Mn, Smith's Husband Presumed to, be "Guilty" Case Dismissed Without Cost*. One of Mfork Twain's most humorous creations concerned , "Aurelia's Young Man," and it is doubtful it any other imagination but the one given play by Mark Twain could, qjpnceive a more unfortunate creature. He was always m trouble, but turned up smiling every time, and, ddspite many hard luck adr ventures, got there m the long run, and was made extremely happy by Aurolia. Now, it ha£,' occurred to "Truth" that New Zealand's replica of Aurelia's young man iB "an Individual, more or less known to fame as Stuart Dlxon, who, at various, times, has been, more or less, prominent m connection with matters «b they stood in.tho IND^rfitlALLiY-DIfeTURBTiJD DISTRICT OF HUNTLY. Stuart D. has been called a lot of very hard names, and' villined m all directions, .'and, /'Truth-'a'i; .experience m this very wlcHsd vale of tears is that no man 'is hajf as black as he is painted, and that the individual who, rightly or wrongly, is glv£n art indifferent refutation, must at times And ltj exceedingly difficult ,to , live up>-'ip; the, reputation which, olthor from « malice or c envy, or both, has been created, for him nnd not by him.; Stuart D. |,t Huntly is an individiml yrjAo lias i friends and foes. He has pursued;. a career m life ; which has pleased many and displeased as many more, which goes ,ttf. show that Stuart D., m mapping out his own career, has gone straight ahead, and we know that the man who succeeds In life must offend many. Now, Stuart D. is one of the many of the working men. who m this Dominion do not approve of the Red ' Fed methods of working oft. the score against capitalism, and because Stuart I.X 's,, methods of working m antagonistic spirit to Red Fed methods, he war scuirllouHly stigmatised a "scab" by. the "ifaorlland Worker," and a Hamilton, a good old Hamilton special Jury thought .so much of the "Maorlland Worker" and Its vulgar Abuso of .Dlxon for endeavoring to solve the labor prqblenr at'- Fluntly, that it awarded him fulldainages, viz., £1000 and costs.- Incidentally, also, it was not necessary for Stuart 1\ to . GO^N'TO Tllfe WitNI3SS-BOX at the time and tell the jury how his churnctec, .had' been assailed, still, It has to be pointed ojit that the law will give damages to a ."ijnun who complains of libel without the man himself going Into the witnesft-hox and swearing on

his 'oath that his character has been assailed, and without giving the lawyer on the other side an opportunity or cross-examlnirigr him, and eliciting, If he can, anything m the career of the man which might not bear the light of day. Of course, Stuart D. cannot be considered unlucky m having got a "thou" from a newspaper which went out of its way to say something of him, which vras not pfoved to be true, arid .which could not be justified. On the. contrary, m the eye of the law, arid the law of a Hamilton jury, Stuart D. just got justice. " ; But it would seem that Stuart D. is nqt:,ha.ving a gdod run now. The miners of.llunjtly have, m their wisdom, relegatedt hin;, to practical obscurity as far as^ controlling the affairs of their more and; sanjii. Trades' Unionism affairs are concerned, and it Beemedlike base ingratltudo that Bhortly after the said miners had relegated him to some sort of obscurity that a charge of a criminal nature should be preferred againßt him.. /t :. The' ' charge had , something >to do -with the books of the Union, and the court before Which the 7 charge was heard decided that a prlma facie case was made out, btherWisp he would not have been 'coinmitted for trial. The GRAND FAT JURY OF HAMILTON, however, perceived the flimsy nature of the charge against Stuart D., or, at any rate, considered the .charge one of a flimsy nature, perhaps! they even considered it trumped -upf and Stuart D. waß not, troubled to give his explanation of the matter. ; , Now. that little experience was hardly over, thanks to theipromptltude of a Hamilton Fat Grand Jury, when more trouble loomed up for the persecuted Stuart D. ' On February 12 last he liad to suffer the indignity of ■appearing before Magistrate Rawson at Huntly to,see about a. Mtlo complaint abbuc a little thing, of which a Mrs. ISdltii Smith was the mother, and of which she had the audacity to deelaro Stuart Dlxon to be the "papa." At the time of the hearing Mrs. Edith told the story of how she was a married woman living at Hiintly, and how m .June, 1912, Smith her. spouse had left her, how Stuart Dlxori m December of that year had become a boarder, how friendship ripened, and how m Iho long- i« U n she lived us Dixon'B "wife." He lived with her up till within .a couple of months of baby'a birth. She was attended by Dr. Lowe, and, according to the lady, when baby was born, for after baby came lo light, Dlxon came m and sat up with her all night: Still, he acted the. good Samaritan, and when It caiiie ! to tho registration of .baby's birth ! Dlxon filled m Smith's name as the ; father and. according to the lady j Dlxon. was to alter it afterward'?' I Slit- bad been 111 In the Walkato hos- : pital for three months, and Stuart had I visited her, and given her mondy. She had. so she swore, begged him always TO PROVIDE FOR TUB OIIKK-ILD, but lie hud not done no. It wna fur^ tiior slated In ovlilcnco that the °exI'rosident of tho liuntly .Miners' Union hud been looked to or was expected tn pay the maternity expenses. Further | evidence concerning Mrs. Smith 1 * home j lif ft was given, and Sam .Smythc, the j fiithor or Edith, gave it as his ilown- ; right opinion that Stuart D. was "Boss 1 of the House." j Of course,, the caur: was not free , from the suggestion that the matter • was ii put-up Job, and lawyer Xorthi croft at the time of the hearing raised ( la\y polntH, ahirl dki not, think it worth J while, calling evidence. Tho upahot i was that Magistrate Rawson had one | or twp knotty legal points raised for : him to think ovei\ and evidently they j caused him sonic thinking ns It wan' j on FiUluy last that he delivered hi* ' reserved Judgment, and came to the j conclusion that npart from the evlI deuce of Edith herself there was'ln- | mimclcnt Independent ' testimony to I Biißtain the complaint. His Worship also mentioned the fact lihat tlioiißlr the presumption could ' now and again be upset, children born I In wedlock were generally regarded a« j legitimate. In the prenent en so he concluded that that presumption had not boen rebutted. In dismissing the case, the magistrate did not allow contii. I Incidentally, an Mr*. Smith says the t-lifc-lld Ik Dlxon>, and that gent by defending the action denied the soft Impeachment, and an th*> magtatratt premimeH Smith to be the papa, the position m InteroHtlnp. Wonder what Smith think*? Incidentally, further. Stuart Dlxon «enmn to h* having a rather Htronuoun time of it.