D. C. M'INTYRE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 14002, 7 September 1907, Page 5

D. C. M'INTYRE

A PLEA OF "GUILTY." COMMITTED FOR SENTENCE. (Per United Press Association.) GHRISTOHURCH, September 6. Duncan Cunningham M'lntyre, late director of exhibits at the Now Zealand International Exhibition, appearod at the Magistrate s Court- this morning on a number of chargcs—viz., theft of £21 6s on October 1, 1906, theft of £35 on December 3, 19C6, theft of £12 on October 27, 1906 theft of £19 10s on November, 21, 1906,' In regard to these chargcs it was alleged that tho moneys were the property of his. Majesty. Two other charges were also laid viz., that on Apr.il 9 the accused obtained from Frank A. Cook the sum of £5, and frGm Aitkcn and Roborts tho sum mi 11105,115 valueless oheques. The accused pleaded "Guilty," and was committed to the Supreme Court for sentence on all the four charges to which he had pleaded guilty. Bfl.il was allowed on the same conditions as those formerly imposed viz., accused's own recognisance of £100 and a surety of £100. : Tho statement made by M'lntyre to Chicf-dcteetivo M'llvcney on board the Turakina was produced by the chief-dotec-tive in his evidence, but was not read. Tho statement is contained in fen pages of foolscap, and has attached to it several document to which reference is made in M'lntyre's confession. The statement makes certain admissions concerning the chargcs for which M'lntyre has been" committed for sentence, and recounts some of his dealings - with money-lenders, which for obvious rer.eons wo cannot take tJie risk of publishing. The following is an extract regarding M'lntyre's experiences:—"Pending extradition on arrival at Monto Video on May 1, I was placed under arrest by tho British consul, and handed over to t-ho Uruguayan police. I was detained in the 'carcel central dc jiolicia.' (the central police station at Monte Video). .1 beg to point out the great suffering I experienced while there, owing to the exceedingly unsatisfactory arrangements for the detention of British subjects. Although the consul did his utmost for me, still tho prison regulations did not permit of outside interference, and consequently my enforced detention was almost beyond endurance, and heartbreaking in the very extreme-. During the day I was confined in a stone-paved yard about 30ft square, and with the juvenile prisoners. The said yard was surrounded by walls about 30ft high. Consequently there was never a glimpse of the sun, and at that lime of the year it. was dreadfully cold. Invariably the yard was wet, and in o. disgusting state from the almost constant- expectoration of the attendants and prisoners, who were continually sucking herbs, etc., a custom of the Spanish. In this place I had to remain 12 hours daily, and among people who could not speak a- word of English. At night I had to sleep in a room 10ft square. This room was known as the iVarders' room. At night it was occupied as sleeping quarters by at least, two others, all prisoners arrested during the night, and there were always several brought into this room to be searched. They were' usually in a filthy condition, and always very troublesome. The room was simply SiMeg gib iii bate agd was aifflpsfr

alive with rats and vermin. The place iva3 damp and mildewed, and unfit to be used by any man. Immediately outside was the men's latrine, "and immediately overhead was .that for the females. The sanitation was 'Tcry hod, and the drainage very detective. Consequently I need not. describe the result. The Buffering occasioned. was veiy groat. Indeed, 1o get. to the men's latrine I had to pass through tho place where the prisoners, many of them criminals of the worst type, were confined. On cach occasion I was subjected to jeers, taunts, and other insults owing to niv being to them a foreigner. While tho suffering due to the above was great, it was as nothing when compared with the dreadfid loneliness and desolation practically amounting to solitary confinement. I was compelled to wash myself in the trough in which many spittoo"n6 and other filthy utensils used in tho official buildings were washed. No soap or towel was provided me, and, being unable to speak Spanish, and there being no Eng-lish-speaking' person th«re, tho mental strain was .increased almost, to breaking point. This I endured for 17 days, during whica I hail no bed or bedding. I had to lie on the bare boards without covering of any sort, and no' food was given mo excepting what I was abic to get bv bribing ihe_ attendants. I 'only had £5* 12s on ■ arrival at the Monte Video prison, and that amount was used in the way mentioned during tho first 12 days. The remaining five days I subsisted on tho charity of officials. After making several requests I was permitted at last to communicate with the British minister, and' as a result I was provided with a stretcher and blanket, and arrangements were made to send my meals in at the expense of the New Zealand Government. Still I remained .in the same room until your (Detective M Jlveney arrival on Juno 1, whereupon I was provided with the 'share of another room on the opposite side of the yard. In this I remained until I was Landed over 'to your charge on Juno 12. I was just on seven weeks in Monte Video. To add to my sufferings my box of clothes went astray on the day 0 f my detention, T had handed it to the authorities. When I next, heard of it, 17 days afterwards, I heard that, a quantity of my clothing, principally what 1 uaa most in need of, had been stolen. I estimate the loss at about £13. In consequence of my loss I was seriously inconvenienced. Indeed, for 17 days I never hod my clothes off. My belongings have not been recovered, and I have handed to the Consul a claim for their value, but have, not received a reply from him. So bad wero the sufferings and treatment extended to mo that the British Minister .has made I a representation on the matter to tho Imperial* authorities, and the Consul informed mo that ho had also requested the Imperial authorities to communicate the ,contents of his, letter -to- the New Zealand Government. V\ lien leaving Uruguay the chief* officer of police handed me a voluntary certificate as to my conduct while 'detained there. This and ils translation I have handed to you, and I ask you to be good enough to produce it when'at court. Since Juno 12 I have been in your personal custody, and I feel satisfied that my conduct has given you no cause lor dissatisfaction or complaint I have now been several .months in custody, and I tryst that fact, witli the miseries ifc has brought, will be taken into consideration. I most deeply regret tho serious position in which I am placed. I havo never denied my wrong doing. 1 agreed to my extradition, and I can only asf: the clemency of tho court beforo which I am brought. My position is not due to vice of any kind. 1 have not been a gambler, a drinker, or a dissipator. I have always been a hard worker, and while at the Exhibition I invariably worked twelve hours per day, and when that was not enough to cope with the demands 1' worked even all night and on Sundays. I think I can with confidence say my general reputation is good. lam 'now in my 41st' year. lam penniless, in touble and adverse circumstances, and the tyranny of usurers accounts fov my position. lam dotennincd to 110 my utmost in the future to restore my good name. 1 boss are the first charges ever brough against me, and i trust to he able to show by my future conduct that they will be the fe The facts I havo above stated are absolutely true. You had the advantage 'of ' seeing for yourself where 1 was imprisoned at, Monte' Video, and I Uunk you, at least, know that I have told the simple truth. lam confident that you will corroborate what I have wr-'tten in connection with mv prison suffering. Thanking you in anticipation.—l ani, 'sir.- your obedient servant, 1). C. Jl'lnttre."

The Exhibits^ The exhibits attached to this statement were a- stumped receipt signed by F. C Raphael, for the sum of £187 10s in full settlement of all moneys owing to him by Mr and .Mrs M'lntyre. a blank cheque on the Bank of New South Wales, ("This is the chcquo Air Race banded me at the presentation to represent the cheque I was to receive later for one hundred guineas, D, C. M Intyre ")■; a. licwspajnx report of the presentation to Mr and Mrs D. C. Jl'lntyre at the Exhibition, on November 30, 1906; translation of certificate "Aicadia Jefatura, P do la Capital." ("By tho present document I certify that-the English citizen, Mr Daniel Cunningham M'lntyre, during his residenco in- the police central house' from the.2nd day of last May, 3907, until to-day (Juno, 8) has observed a good and correct conduct, and in request, of interested part thus I give constancy.—O. Baeigaluz, Monte v ideo, June 8.") In the statement ho produced D. C. M Intyre gave the following account of the events leading up to his flight, extradition, and arrest at Monto Video:—Regarding the charges preferred against me in Clrristehurch and upon which I have been extradited from 'Monte Video—viz., the onibezzlement of ■ £35 paid me by Mr Nicholls, £12 pa-id mo by Mr Brodcrick, £21 fc paid me by Lucas Bros, and £19 lis paid mo by Mrs Jackson, which moneys I received as a,n ofTioial at. tho New Zealand International Exhibition, ' Christchuroh, and also my obtaining tho slim of £5 from F. A. Cook and £7 from Aitken and Roberts by false pretences, I lioreby make the following voluntary statement in connection therewith, and I 'request you to communicate the contents of this statement to the Benoh when I am charged at the court at Christehurch. About two ago I gavo up the manufacturing liusiness that I had conducted at Christehurch for a number of years. I was then financially embarrassed to tho extent of several hundred pounds. To save myself from bankruptcy I borrowed money from moneys lenders in Christchurch, with a view to defraying my; business liabilities. I was then paying* interest on borrowed money at the rate of 40 per ocnt. per annum. Later on I was employed in connection with tho Exhibition, my duties there commencing on February 15, 1906. My first duties took mc to different parts of tho colony. During my absence from Christchurch many of my creditors 6ued me in the Magistrate's Court. Rather than risk losing my position, I a,f;ain sought tho assistance of the money-lenders. Owing to the exorbitant rates of interest charged by them, and being unable to extricate myself from, their grasp, matters became worse and worse. As an instance, I had borrowed £150 from a Christchurch moneylender. I paid tho first quarter's interest when due, but on the second failing due 1' was unable to meet it, and he then added £37 10s (interest for 'one quarter) to the principal, irmkin" my iudeb l 'xlne«i to him £187 10s. He then compelled me "to pay him interest on that amount at tho rate of £15 por month, which I kept up until I finally paid off the amount of my liability to him on March 28, 1907. 'You are already in possession of his reccipt for. that amount, and I ask yon to produce it- io the court to prove my words. I had paid him considerably more money in interest alone than I had 'originally received from him _ as principal. Meantime my other creditors continued to press me, and I felt myself hopelessly involved. I was worried to death by the pressure of my creditors, serious illness in my family, anil tho persistent, demands of usurers. I had reason to believe that, if I could tide over my affairs until the close of tho Exhibition I would receive by way of bonus a sufficient amount to materially help me in my difficulties, and, further, I had reason for believing that a sum of £50 (over and above £50 I had already received) would 1)0 handed me by the M'lntyre Presentation Committee. Tho gentlemen who made tho said presentation stated publicly that tho amount to be presented to mo wa6 £100, as reference to the newspaper report which you have among my effects will show. I unfortunately used th.o Exhibition moneys referred to in the charges, not. with the intention of 3epriving the Exhibition authorities of their moneys, but with tho intention of paying in tho respective sums t9 the director of finance liefore the Exhibition closed. On April 8 I was suspended by Mr Munro, tlie general manager, who informed mo that no publicity would be given to the fact until the Minister in oliarge of the Exhibition had inquired into' my position. No reason for my suspension was given me. I at once decided to go to Wellington with tho object of raising sufficient money to defray any defalcations before the said inquiry could take place. Being short of money, I cashed the cheques, the subject of the charges of false pretences. I was at the I#<! not arfßsigfiJi i

(a meet, the elicquas, but I hoped and intended to havo enough money in tho baiilc.to mo9t them on presentation. In fact, I intended telegraphing; tho amount from -Wellington. I reached Wellington on April 9, and to my sorrow I found that my suopension was a matter of public knowledge. It appeared in tho Wellington newspapere. I telegraphed- to Messrs Cook and Ait,ken and Roberts to hold over my clioqu.cs until I returned, which i (hen fully intended doing by that evening's steamer. Later I found that. my.suspension had thwarted my possibilities of raising- money, and in sheer desperation I decided to leave the colony. I joined'the steamship Turajciria, intending to go 1o London, taking out my ticket in the name of Mack, a nanio I invariably used wheu travelling by steamer. The fact of my departure was well known to the police, for I had a conversation with a- detective on I»ard tho steamer immediately before she left on tho morning of April 12. I had gone on Ixord quite openly the night previously, and had my tea and slept on the ship. ,