The Alleged Conspiracy Case.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XIX, Issue 6892, 13 June 1892, Page 4

The Alleged Conspiracy Case.

At the Wellington R.M s Court on Friday the hearing of the charge of alleged conspiracy against Mr B;iggelt and Mr Whyte was continued. Ch;\rles O'H.-ira Smith deposed that at an interview with Baggett, at which Mr FitzGerald was present, Baggett was called upon to explain certain matters in connection with his accounts regarding the purchase of the section by Mrs Crawford and the substitution of Government scrip for cash without the knowledge and consent of the purchaser or her agents. Bagget replied : ' Whyte bought for me eight Volunteer orders at £30, and I gave him a cheque on my deposit account for £240, which was paid into the credit of his account. I paid Pearce's cheque into my deposit account. I have on several occasions cashed land orders for Whyte, but got no commission for so doing. Hay, who acted aa Whyte's agent at one time, offered me commission, which I declined. I paid Government money direct to Whyte over the counter, and took Whyte's land orders in exchange. Considerably more than two-thirds of the land orders were Whyte's. Whyte told me that they were transferable, and were as gcod as cash to the Government, and now I find that lam deceived. I did not act as Whyte's agent in getting him cash buyers. I simply cashed his orders. Witness made a note of Baggett's remarks immediately after the interview. The statement was elicited by a number of questions from witness and the Con-troller-General. On the llth witness saw Baggett again in the Provincial Buildings, and Baggett then stated that Whyte approached him, and said " You have seen Hay re commission." He (Baggett) said 44 Yes. I won't take it," but offered to do what he could to help Whyte to dispose of the scrip. " Whyte," continued Baggett, 11 tried to put the scrip in the bank and pay the money to his account. I did not act as agent for Whyte. I did not get him cash buyers, but gave him Government cash for the scrip — that is, I went to the bank and paid in the cash to the credit of Whyte's account and got scrip from the bank. Whyte knew I was paying him Government cash." Witness saw Baggett again in the presence of Mr M'Alister, who was employed in the Lands Department to inspect land accounts. Witness produced to Baegett a copy of a pay-in slip dated the 2nd of April, 1889, for L 234. Witness showed him the endorsement and asked him if in face of that evidence he meant to say that he got no commission from Whyfee 1 Baggett said he did not get any commission, and that he thought Whyte got L 6. Witness said : " With all deference, in face of the evidence of this paper, I could not believe it. " Baggett then said that Whyte made him a present of about LlO in all, and of this the 1-6 formed part. He (Bnggett) would not receive any commission, and got the LlO as a present. That was the substance of the conversation of which witness took notes at the time. Charles O'Hara Smith, cross-examined, stated that he believed he had seen the defendant Baggett at other times than those he (witness) had mentioned yesterday, but the first interview was the first time that he had spoken to Baggett regarding the particular matters under notice. Baggett, witness believed, could see that mischief was brewing ; in fact, he said as much. Witness believed that Mr Fitzgerald told Baggett that he had been guilty of offences against the Public Revenues Act. Baggett was asked a great many questions in explanation of transactions which appeared to be irregular. Witness questioned Baggett, having in his mind a foregone conclusion. Witness had a good deal of documentary evidence of most of the facts, and he desired to see if Baggett could explain auy of them. Witness's only motive was to get at the truth of the transactions. Witness had conducted the prosecution against Mr Whyte at Auckland, which came to nothing, and he believed he would find out something against Mr Whyte down here. Witness did not think that Baggett was confused by the process of examination. Witness considered that Baggett's answers were fairly consistent with the facts of the case. Baggett seemed to desire to tell the truth and' not to conceal anything, and witness believed at the time that all that Baggett told him was correct— that was, he believed the main facts. He did not believo Baggett's assertion that he received no commission. He believed part of Baggett's statement and other parts he took c»m (jmnu salis. Witness accepted BaggettVstateinent that he had paid a cheque for £240 to Mr Whyte or into Mr Whyte's account, but on enquiry ho found that it was not true, and that only £234 was paid into Mr Whyte's account. Baggett made some statement which led witness to believe that Mr Marchatit, the Commissioner, was nq£ unaware of these transsactions. The 'Controller said to. Baggett, "Do you mean to tell me, sir, that Mr Marchant was aware that you were in the habit of exchanging Government cash for scrip?" Baggett replied in a hesitating, confused way, " No, sir ; no, sir, he did not." Witness wrote out his notes within half an hour at the very outside, after the conclusion of the conversations. Baggett said that he received eight Volunteer scrip from Mr Whyte in Mrs Crawfoid'a transaction, and witness's impression was that Baggett received the scrip from Mr Whyte's hands befere the money was paid. Now he believed that that impression was incorrect, and that Baggett did not get it from Mr Whyte personally. Witness would not be surprised to hear that Mr Whyte was not in Wellington at the time, or that he had seen Baggett, or written to Baggett, because he had an agent in Wellington who could act for him. Regarding Mr Donald's affair, witness thought Mr Whyte had no business to get the Receiver of Land Revenue to act as his agent, though auch a thing was not conspiracy, and the same remark would apply to any case in which the applicant's consent had been obtained to the use of scrip in substitution for his cash prior .to payment of the cash to the Land Receiver. Provided, however, that the scrip was exercised according to law subsequent dealings in scrip was different. Mr M'Lean's scrip was not exercised in accordance with law. It had been illegally used, and the amount used was beyond the limit. Witness was aware of instructions to tnke scrip beyond the legal limit in some cases, but the instructions were not general, except in the case of the Ellesmere lands, where scrip was to be taken at its full value. Baggett told witness that Mr Whyte's scrip was usfld in Mr Wainwright's transaction, but witness would not be surprised to hear that it was uot Mr Whyte's scrip that was made use of, but someone else's scrip was reduced to the full amount. Witness firmly believed that Baggett pocketed the £6 If Baggett purchased that particular scrip with Government moneys he should have paid the £6 into the Government account. If Baggett got any commission he got it from Mr Whyte. not from the Crown. He would admit that none of theso particular Government moneys went into Basgett's pocket excepting the £6. The case was adjourned until the 28th inst.

Smith (a physician) : "I tell you doctors are a necessity, but lawyers are not." Briefs : " They are not 1 How do you make thai out ?" Smith : " Because necessity knows no law." Friend : "You received a good many presents, didn't you?" Bride: "Yes, and just think how nice ; most of them were from married friends, and wo shan't have to give them any in return."

The tug-of-war at Wellington had a very unpleasant ending. On Saturday night the attendance was larger than usual, and (remarks the New Zealand Times) as each and everyone present was " barracking " one or other of the teams, displaying at the same time a good de-U of bad temper, the state of things which prevailed may be easily iniigined. When the German and Welsh tennis met, three of the "Leeks" were objected to for v»wious reasons, and after a disgraceful scene, during which several oilers to light were made on the platform, and a good deal of bad language was used, the Welsh had to withdraw, dotiantly nibbling at the leeks they were carrying, and the Germans accordingly scored a bye. After this discreditable episode a couple of byes were pulled. The proceedings throughout had been of a most disorderly character, and one riotous pittite had to be forcibly removed by the police. The disorderliness culminated at the conclusion of the pull between the Scotch and Germans, which was not over until close on midnight. The management at that hour decided that the concluding pulls should come off on Thursday night next. Stage-manager Johnson announced this decision to the spectators, who received it with mingled cheers, groans, and general uproar, and Captain Black, of the Irish team, ran excidedly out of the wings and struck Mr Johnson a blow on the chest, at the same time shouting out "This won't do." etc. Seeing the dreadfully excited state of the spectators Mr Johnson did not retaliate, and quietly walked away, but an information will be laid against Captain Black for assault. The proceedings then terminated, the spectators dispersing in a by no means orderly manner. George : " Either you must marry me or put me out of misery." Ethel: "Must I choose?" George: "You must." Ethel: (with a sigh) : " Well, where is the axe ?" "We judge ourselves," said Longfellow, " by what we feel capable of doing, while others judge us by what we have already done." An excellent piece of advice is bequeathed to farmers by Epictetus : — Be careful to leave your sons well instructed rather than rich.