SMUGGLING TOBACCO.

Otago Witness, Issue 2849, 21 October 1908, Page 12

SMUGGLING TOBACCO.

JUSTICE DEPARTMENT CRITICISED. WESTPORT, October 9. During the hearing in May last of the murder charge, against Halinen and Andersen, smuggled tobacco alleged , to have been supplied to Bourke for sale was' suggested by -Connelly as the motive for the. crime. Haakon Haakonsen, in ' .giving evidence, admitted the sale of j 591b of uncustomed- tobacco supplied to ' him by the captain of the barque Tacora. j After the Nelson trial, when Halinen and Andersen were ■■ convicted of manslaughter, the Customs Department laid an information against Haakonsen for dealing in tobacco. The case, which was j adjourned till after the perjury proceed- j ings at Hokitika, in which Haakonsen was the nominal informant, came on \ yesterday before Mr Rawson, S.M. ' Andersen, called by the prosecution, deposed to buying tobacco from Haakonsen, who told him he had given the money to the captain of the Tacora, Counsel for Haakonsen th«n pleaded " Guilty." Mr Rawson said that defendant having pleaded guilty, there was no doubt he was liable for treble the amount of duty, and the court had no option, but the case was one in which the penalty should be reduced as provided. If the captain of the Tacora had been before him he would not have treated the case leniently. .- The captain had apparently been guilty of a grave offence. Haakonsen had been made a cafspaw, and in their relations of captain and cook Haakonsen had not much option in the matter. The treble duty on the tobacco would be £45. He would impose a reduced fine of £11 ss, with £1 10s costs. The fine was a little more than the duty payable, but probably the revenue had not lost much, as the bulk of the tobacco had been dumped overboard. Counsel for the defendant stated that now the case was over he wished to say that the proceedings by the Customs Department, egged on by some person or persons unknown, were scandalous. If such a course of action was repeated justice might easily be imperilled. Two men's lives were at stake. This smuggled tobacco was suggested as the motive for the crime. Haakonsen had been dug out of the backwoods, and to assist in seeing justice done to men afterwards proved entirely innocent he had made a full, free, and frank disclosure of his illegal tobacco transactions. Proceedings were taken against him, and he was convicted- on his own evidence. In giving this evidence at Westport and Nelson he was entitled to the protection of the courts in the investigation of the truth on the graver charge, bufc he did not receive that protection. Technically it might have been justice to proceed against him, but under the extraordinary circumstances counsel thought the action of the department was outrageous. He thought the matter was one that should be brought under the notice of the Minister of Justice, as future cases might be affected. The Collector of Customs said the proceedings were instituted when Haakonsen's depositions in the murder charge reached Wellington. The Tacora, from which the tobacco was obtained, was liable to forfeiture. Counsel for the prosecution said that the proceedings were not originated by the Collector, but he acted under direct instructions from Wellington. If the boaf were here the captain would be proceeded against. If such wholesale smuggling were carried on the revenue could not be protected. His Worship said that the law was bo stringent that the defendant would have to be imprisoned till the amount of the fine was paid. Haakon^en's solicitor paid the fine immediately.

A conductor <>f a Scarliormigli CEncrlaml) tramcar, %vho fourd a pnrso in ih<> car ronta miner £8 17-= n-.u- offered a re ward of. 2d A which lie declined.