POLICE COURT.

Taranaki Herald, Volume XXXI, Issue 4464, 5 October 1883, Page 2

POLICE COURT.

Thursday, October 4.— Before C. E. Rawsonj Esq., R.M. LARCENY OF A CHEQUE. Alexander Boswell surrendered to his bail on a charge of having, on the 30th September, 1880, stolen a cheque for £41, the property of the Lighter Company. Mr. Pardy conducted the case, and Mr. Hutchinson appeared, with Mr. Richmond, to defend the prisoner. {Continued from yesterday^] Michael McGonnell (continued) : Boswell said to me that whatever profits he should receive from the wreck outside the half share coming to the ten workmen he would divide it with the ten men who had worked at the wreck. Cross-examined : I cannot say that Boswell was the founder of the Company. Boswell was manager, and he had to look after the financial affairs of the Company. Boswell did not keep the books ; they were kept by a paid secretary. In 1870 Neale was the Secretary, and Boswell signed all cheques ; and after Neale left I signed the cheques. In 1880 Mr. Simpson was secretary. The writing in the butts of the cheques is Mr. Boswell's handwriting. I do not think it was otherwise than right to keep the cheque-book locked up in a drawer when it had signatures attached. I was continually watched by Mr. Boswell every time that I signed the cheques. Had I looked at the butt of the cheque produced two years ago I should have seen the way in which it had been filled up. Messrs. Boswell, Humphries, and Watkins were the purchasers of the wreck. I never heard before that Boswell offered to the firm of Boswell and Co., that the firm should stand in his shares in respect of onethird of the Rangatira. The firm never agreed to accept any such offer. Boswell said that whatever he should receive of the profits would go with the rest, and we were all to have an equal share. Mr. Hutchison : Well, if you were to receive part of BoswelFs profits, is it not reasonable that you should have to pay for part of the purchase money of the wreck ? Witness: It was not the firm that was to receive the profits, but the ten men who worked at the wreck. Mr. Hutchison: But seven out of those ten men belonged to the firm. Witness: Yes. Examination continued: Some of the papers found in the drawer appear to be bank slips. In one of these bank slips there is a payment into the bank on the 19th October of £52. On the back of this slip are written the words, " Wreck, £40." Mr. Hutchison : Well, does not that show that £40 was paid into the Company's account from the profits of tho wreck ? Witness: No ; I suppose the £40 was for lighterage. Mr. Hutchison : You suppose, but is it likely? Witness : Yes. Mr. Hutchison : Is there another occasion besides this where a business transaction does not appear in the books of the Company ? Witness : Yes, perhaps there was. Mr. Hutebison: What occasion was that? Witness : In connection with the Adamant; but I believe it was mentioned in the books. Mr. Hutchison : Can you show any entry of it in the books ? Witness : I am not sure that I can. Re-examined : I know nothing of the bundle of papers called pay in slips. I never examined them. It was the duty of the manager to see that the books of the firm were properly kept. On two occasions when I was signing cheques Boswell put his finger upon the blocks, which had the effect of preventing my seeing the blocks. To the Court : It was about the beginning of this year that -I first had suspicion against Mr. Boswell. I also suspected him when he put his finger on the butt of the cheques. Oliver Samuel deposed : I have been acting as solicitor for the firm of A. Boswell & Co. for three or four years. I recollect the last witness and other members of the Company coming to me in connection with some discrepences in their books concerning A. Boswell. I knew Mr. Boswell well, as he had been a constant client of mine. I despatched a letter to Mr. Boswell (letter produced). The letter warns Mr. Boswell that a serious charge had been laid against him, and calls upon Mr. Boswell to explain, otherwise proceedings might be taken. Mr. Hutchison : If the case goes further (which [ hope it won't), I should like that letter to be put in as evidence, as it will show that a private tribunal of justice has been set up in Devon-street, Taranaki. His Worship : Do you wish the letter put in, Mr. Pardy ? Mr. Pardy : Certainly I do. The letter was put in and read. Examination resumed: That letter shows that we gave the accused time to give an explanation, and that is the reason of the delay in taking proceedings. A meeting was held at which Boswell gave an explanation of the cheque. He stated that Mebsrs. Humphries, Watkins, and he bought the wreck of the Rangatira. On the same evening or the day after he spoke to all thb members of the Lighter Company except James and told them that if they went in to " save" they would get i or ij of the the net proceeds, he was not certain which. That the Company would also get his third along with the other two partners. He said it was arranged that Boswell and Co. should take his share of the purchase to carry out the salvage. He said the Co., authorised him to pay Hl9 £41 for his (Boswell's) share in tho purchnso of the wreck with Humphries and Watkinn. All the other members of tho Lighter Company were present at the time, and they, with the exception of Mr. Boswell, contradicted tbjs statement. They said that the Company had notlnng to do with the wreck of the Rangatira, and never got any of the proceeds. Joljn James and Joseph Simpson said they did not work nt the Uungntira. The papers marked "D" were produced and were examined, and commented upon in the hearing of Mr. Boswell. I pointed out tbut if tl>e Company had given £41 at that date to recoup him, they must have received his share of the profits, and recouped the £41 if the venturo was not a loss. I said this paper seems to show a credit to A. Boswell of £41 — has the Company received that ? Mr. Boswell said he did not remember whether he had received it or the Company, but he supposed Mr. Watkins or Mr. Humphries would know. Mr. Richmond asked for further time to be given to satisfy the parties t))at t||ere was nothing dishonest in tho transaction, and they a)| agreed to this. I allowed Mr. Richmond possession of all the books and papers, in order to allow a thorough investigation of the affair. I was present when the drawer was broken open, an:l BoswpH'h private documents were handed to Mr. Bennett. The Court adjourned at 5 p.m , until the following morning (Friday). This Day, October s.— The Court sat at 10.30 a.m. this morning. Josepb Simpson, deposed : I am a partner in tho Lighter Company, and h September, 1880, I was a partner in the firm of A. Boswell & Co., lightermen. In the month of September, 1880, I kept the books of the Company under Mr. Boswcll's instructions. I kept the ledger, day book, und cash book. The ledger and day book arc missing, but the cash book is here. 1 have examined the cash book recently, and I do not find any entry of £41 being" paid in the month of September, 1880. I did not find a cheque for £41 iv the cheque book. 1 had no knowledge that any cheque for £41 bad buen drawn by Bosvvell for payment of tho wreck of the Rangatira. I did uot know unytlu'Dg of the block pro-

duced. It is in Boswell's handwriting, and Boswell always kept the cheque book under lock and key. The Company never in any way authorised Mr. Boswell, as our Manager, to buy the wreck. I received no proceeds of any kind from the wreck of the Rangatira. I do not know of two other cheques drawn by Mr. Boswell in connection with the wreck of the Rangitira. J. Neale — a partner in the firm — was at one of them. I was present when we settled up before he left. I heard Neale ask Boswell for a share of the profits of the wreck, and Boswell replied that it was not a Company's affair, and he (Neale) had nothing to do with it. I was present at a meeting of the partners of the firm, when Boswell, and Messrs. Richmond and Samuel were there. I heard some mention made at the meeting about the £41 cheque paid for the wreck, but as the wreck did not concern me I did not pay any attention to what was said about it. The ledger and day book that are missing were kept in tho safe, and I kept the key ; but when I ceased to be clerk I sent the key to Mr. Boswell. That was about two years ago. I first knew of the £41 cheque having been drawn in June last. Boswell always filled in the cheques himself. He never gave mo possession of the cheque book, but always kept it locked up. Cross-examined : I first acted as clerk in April, 1880. I have had a little experience in keeping accounts at home. Entries on both sides of the cash book have not been regularly made. That was on account of a man who was employed to help me having made a mistake in the date of a month. I received the cash and handed it over every night to Mr. Boswell, and I expected that the money should be paid into the bank. I cannot now tot up the receipts for the month of October. Ido not recollect a sum of £213 being received from the Customs. Mr. Hutchison : Would you be surprised that the receipts for the month of October totted up to £350 ? Witness : I do not know. Mr. Hutchison : And would you also be surprised to know that the amount paid into the bank during the month was over £700? Witness : I do not pretend to be a bookkeeper. I ciinnot say. Examination continued : Every month we had a settling up. The day book show all the money received during the tuonth, and our settling up was on that basis. I never made a claim in connection with the Rangatira. I never spoke to Mr. Boswell about it. The men who saved the wreck had the use of one of our boats, and Nealo and I thought we had a right to some of the proceeds of the wreck on account of the Company's ooats having been used. There was a memorandum book in which my initials were placed to all moneys 1 paid to Boswell. That book begins in 1881. Mr. Pardy objected to the book being put in, as it was after the date of the alleged offence. Mr. Hutchison said that the object of putting in the book was to show that there was no book kept previous to 1881, and therefore Boswell, had he been so inclined, could have defrauded the Company of hundreds of pounds, and not only £40. Mr. Hutchison (to Witness) : Would you be surprised to know that the moneys paid into the bank by Mr. Boswell during April, May, and June exceed the amount shown in the cash book during those months ? Witness : That might be ; I could not say. We bad an auditor who periodically examined the accounts. lie never told me that there was anything wrong. Mr. Matthews was the auditor during last year. I had a row with Boswell about the books, and I said I would give up keeping the books. There was a dispute about a Mr. McVicker's account. He said that he had paid his account to me, but it was not shown in the books. I did not receive the money. A bill was produced with my name to it as a receipt, but my signature was forged. I never signed the receipt. It was for about £2. Boswell should have taken the matter to Court and found out the man who had forged my signature. I cannot say what tho monthly takings were. Boswell had the solo charge of the money. I have never seen Boswell make any copy of paying in slips. I had perfect confidence in Boswell. Re-examined : Boswell sometimes collected accounts himself. That money would not be handed over to me, but he would give me a memo, of it. There were certain moneys handed over to Boswell to pay into the reserve account, and that money would not appear in the books. We trusted entirely to Boswell to pay that money into the bank. I never had the bank pass book in my hands until June last. That was the time when we broke the drawer open. I never had access to it before because it was always kept locked by Boswell in bis drawer. I never knew about Boswell paying in the proceeds of the wreck of the Rangatiia and then drawing it out. By the Court : The partners had access to the books by asking for them. George Cock deposed : I am a partner in the Lighter Company. I recollect making an agreement in September, 1880, with Boswell about landing the wreck of the Rangatira. I was in the Taranaki Hotel with several members of the firm and others. Boswell came into the hotel and called us out at the back. He asked us if we would go to work at the wreck of the Rangatini, and we asked him on what "lay." lie replied that himself, Humphries, and Watkins had bought the wreck, and they would give us one-half of the proceeds of the goods that were saved. There were some who demurred about going, and he said it was optionally to ourselves whether we went or not. We ultimately agreed to go. He asked me to sec the other members of the firm, and see if they would go. I might have asked some, but I cannot say. Ten of uswentdown to work at the wreck, seven being members, including Boswell. Wo were paid for our work according to the paper marked "C' Boswell never told me that he had purchased his share of tho wreck for the Company. He never told me that he had paid for his share of the wreck with the Company's money. I knew nothing of the cheque produced for £41. At a meeting held lately of the Company, Boswell stated that Iris share of the wreck had been purchased for the Company. The other members of the Company denied this at once. I know that the Company's ledger and day book of 1880 are missing from the ollice, but I do not know anything about them. By the Court : I think we had written rules of the Company, but I have not seen them. Everything was not left in the hands of Boswell. There was a Committee of the Company appointed to decide everything. Boswell acted as manager generally. His Worship : Supposing Boswell took upon himself, as manager, to buy the wreck on behulf of the Company, and if it had turned out a fine speculation, would you have said anything against it ? Witness : Our agroement was that wo were to work at lighterage in the port of New Plymouth, and for anything else special arrangements would have to bo made by a Committee. His Worship : Would you have thought it anything extraordinary if Boswell, as your manager, ljud bought the wreck on behalf of the Company ? Witness : I think it would have been a mistake it' he had done so ; but it would not bo in his power to do so. His Worship : Supposing seven of the members of tho Company agreed with Boswell to buy tho wreck, would not tho other three have to agree to it ?

Witness : Yes ; the majority, I suppose, would rule ; but in that case the Company would share the profits. His Worship : I suppose we shall hear something about the profits by and bye. His Worship : Did not Boswell enter into an agreement about landing the cargo o£ the Adamant on behalf of the Company without first consulting the Company? Witness : No ; it was put before the Company before Boswell entered into any agreement for landing the cargo. We had several meetings of the Company before the matter was decided. [Left sitting."]