ALLEGED DUMMYISM.

Tuapeka Times, Volume XVIII, Issue 1141, 2 May 1885, Page 3

ALLEGED DUMMYISM.

[Abridged from the Dunedin dailies.]

The iiquiiy into the alleged cases of dummyism at Waitahuna West was resumed by the Land Board on Thursday. Present— The Chief Commissioner (Mr J. P. Maitland) and Messrs Clark, Green, Duncan, Bradshaw, M.H.R., and M'Kenzie, M.H.R. Mr Mouat appeared for the petitioners for the inquiry, and Messrs Connell and Macgregor for some of the selectors. After some discussion as to who should first address the Boards it was decided that Mr Mouat, as representing what might be termecPthe prosecution, should do so. Mr Mount said the task before him was a somewhat diffi ult one, for the question to be deoided was not like one in a court of law, where everything was finished before a decision had to be come to. Here they had to judge, long before the whole affair was completed, of the object of the acts done. The Messrs Smith were old friends of his ; st'll he had a duty to perform, and he would carry it out without extenuating anything, yet without S9tting anything down in malice. There were certain facts which he thought the Board wou'd take as admitted. Firstly, before the sale of the sections Mr John Martin Smith spoke to several different persons about taking up land ; he spoke to every man separately, and offered to assist everyone with cash. This fact hid been admitted by Durant, Low, Hughe?, and others, including Mr J. M. Smith himself. Then Mr J. M. | Smith procured the forms of declaration and I filled them up. Next he paid all the dej posits on lodging the declarations, and also paid the advances on the upset prices. All these facts were admitted. As further proof, a' most the first step towards improving the land, the erection of a ring feuce, was taken by Mr J. M. Smith — the fence was put up by ! Mr Smith in concert with some of the selectors. It was of no earthly use to the selectors as settler*, but was simply for the benefit of Mr Smith. Then there was an arrangement to ran Mr SmitbVjiheep.-for, an in-" definite time,* which actually /extended to eighteen months. Then all the money expended on the lections was advanced by Mr Smith. These were all admitted facts. The persons who gave evidence before the Board themselves admitted them as correct; he had not stated anything that was not in the evidence. The Messrs Smith asked the Board to believe that they had not intended an evasion of the' Act, but simply to settle round them a good class of men, and have them available for work on the station. That was very hard to believe. A strong point in favor of his contention was that from' first to last all the witnesses had been uncommonly reticent in giving their evidence. The things that some of the principal witnesses knew nothing about were really surprising, Mr J. M, Smith especially. He knew nothing of the arrangement for the erecting of the ring feooe ; that was exceedingly improbable, to begin with. Another fact was that all thejseiectors had been for a number of years in the employ of ths station, and were still so employed. Another singular fact waa that at the sale no one of these two men opposed another in bidding for the sections. Was it therefore hard to believe that Mr Smith arranged and filled in the sections each man was to apply for? Yet actually no conversation as to the sections took place between any of the parties, and the only inference therefore was tbat.it was of ni consequence* whatever to- the .men 'what sections they got— that each of them w&», in point of fact, a dummy. Another: significant fact was th»t.J,he b.alf-«yearly ljc^risa fees were paid by\Mr Smith himself. Still another important little bit of evidence was got from Mr

Smith with great reluctance : He told the Board that he had written down in h's pocketbook memornnda the amounts charged againstthe men. The fact was that the books and the so-called accounts were a mere juggle. As to the fence, the men said they got the money from Mr J. M. Smith and paid for the stuff; but there was nothing to show that any m >ney pa^eri at all, and that was the only conclusion that could be arrived at. As to the arrangement for depasturing Mr Smith's sheep, Wm. Smith, the head-shepherd, knew nothing about it, and Mr James Smith knew absolutely nothing about it ; but the Board finally, after great trouble, got out the fact that Mr J. M. Smith had made the arrangement. Nojterras were fixed, nor anything said about the terms for depasturing the sheep. William Smith, be had no hesitation in a.iying, was quite as much a dummy as any cf the other men— in fact, he was just such a man as would probably be selected as a firstclass dummy. He said that he had paid Mr Smith for posts and strainers, but it did not appear in the station accounts. Lirge sums of money appeared to have changed hands, but in imagination only. Then Wymer and Low had houses built for them, admittedly by Mr J. M. Smith, and paid for by his money; yet he knew nothing about it, although they had money of their own. Why were these houses not charged against the men ? Simply because they were not put up for them, but to evade the Act. As to the men's evidence, it must be borne in mind that if they would make false declarations in the first instance, they could hardly be expected to speak the truth in giving evidence before the Board. Another extraordinary thing was that M'Cay and others had money in the Bank, yet never touched it in connection with the purchase of their section— they got all the money they wanted from Mr Smith. Then in his statements about the payment for his particular section Jamieson had told an unequivocal lie. Then there was M'Cay, who got into serious difficulties in giving his evidence. He absolutely did not know how he stood with Mr J. Smith in his accounts ; he was totally ignorant of his position. Another witness, with whom he must deal with deep regret, because he was such a stylish and smart young man, was Mr Gilliand. This young man was evidently a dummy, for he bad no money, and yet said that he paid all his deposit.* Hughes was another witness who gave evidence of an exceedingly interesting character, but he counsel) need 'go no further into instances. No doubt the members of the Board had analysed the evidence, and noticed the inconsistencies and discrepancies contained in it. The extraordinary and unusual generosity evinced by the Messrs Smith towards the selectors would have been almost enough to decide the matter wi'hout these discrepancies { but with the evidence before them he submitted that the Board must come to the conclusion that the witnesses were not those of truth. Then,again, at last a witness named Robertson had come forward boldly and stated clearly the sense in which he understood the transaction as it affected himself— that it was one entirely arranged by Mr J. M. Smith. The whole thing was not like an honest transaction, but just like what dummyiim would be. If it had been an honest transaction it would be easy to give a straightforward and clear account of the whole affair; and he submitted that if theßotrd came to the conclusion that it was anything else but dummyism they would be in a very small minority. I i

Mr J. A. Connell, in addressing the Board, said he regarded his task as congenial and easy. The accusation which hid been widely bruited abroad, in the Press of the Colony, in the House of Parliament at Wellington, and throughout the Colony generally, was a very serious one, and simply amounted to this : that by ai improper and illegal understanding Mr Smith, or the Messrs Smith, induced these I sottlers to take up the land, and that the occupants of the land were driven like sheep to make false declarations ; that Mr Smith himself paid all the moneys for the land, made all the improvements, practically used it for his own purpose, sowed the crops, reaped and threshed them, erected the fences, and in fact exercised all the acts of ownership with regard to Ihe land, and that the licensees were not bona fide agricultural settlers at all, but mere men of straw— dummies for Mr Smith. This charge which has been promulgated was a very serious one. He proposed, first of all, to notice what had been proved in the course of the long inquiry, and afterwards to refer carefully to the various points of Ihe evidence that met the particular charges contained in the accusation. What bad been really proved he took to be thit Messrs Smith— or one of them, Mr John M. Smith— had advanced these men a very considerable sum of money, amounting in the aggregate to £2000, at a very low rate of interest, and upon terms singularly favorable to the settlers— namely, that the loan should be repayable at the convenience of the settlers at any time during the term of seven years, the interest being only six per cent: This had not only been clearly proved, but frankly admitted by every person concerned, including Mr Smith himself. It had been suggested that this of itself was suflLient to throw grave suspicions upon the whole transaction ; that no man in his semes— -no man who was not carried awsy with a kind of mad philanthropy, could ever be expected by any reasonable man to make such advances to settlers. When Mr Smil h was examined regarding the reason for his conduct, he informed the Board that these settlers were all men who had been long engaged upon his estate, and that when neighboring lands were about to be sold, he being prevented from acquiring them, felt it of great importance to have men whom he knew as moral and industrious working men settled near him. Mr J. M. Smith hid sworn in a most solemn manner 'hat in making these advances he had no ulterior design to acquire the land, and had not been influenced by an improper motive of any kind whatever. As these advances were . repayable when the settlers pleased, it was clearly evident that had Mr Smith any nefarious ulterior designs, ho had pursued precisely the opposite course to tHe only one that was likely to lead to success. If Mr Smith bad wished to get these men into his power, and ultimately to acquire the land, he would have taken good care that the rate of interest should be high, that the sum lent should.be repayable on demand, and thit a strict deed should be erecuted, giving Mr Smith full right to enter upon the properties. He (Mr Connell) has taxed his ingenuity to the utmost to discover how loans granted upon such terms as these upon which Mr Smith had advanced money could crush the men, and so enable Mr Smith to get the land. The sum total of the interest upon the amount that Mr Smith had advanoed was only £120 a-year ; that was the entire amount, and if it was lost.it woul i be a. great gain to Mp Smith to hare old raluable and trustworthy pzople as neighbors, and to be able to secure their services when required. Men said they cou'd not understand this nob'e and generous conduct on the part of Mr Smith, but he thought that if Mr Smith had men of the stamp he mentioned, who had worked for him for years, and wanted to take up land in the neighorhood of his estate, and he had looked on with perfect indifference and took no interest in their advancement in life, his conduct wou'd have bee 1 altogether unworthy of one occupying the high position he did as an estate owner in the Colony. It j was incumbent upon Mr Bmith to take the interest he had displayed in the men, and instead of his conduct. being incredibly generom, he had only done what wai reasonable, wise, and proper under the circumstances. This met all that had been proved in this inquiry, and he would proceed to notice Ihe various points which had been brought forward in the Press and otherwise alleging the suspicious character of the occupation of this land.

Unless they were to beliere that the settlers who had been examined] and the Messrs Smith, were double-dyed Hare and perjurow, i' they were to be guided by the evidence as i f , stood before the Board, they must concluJe that every single circumstance alleged to be of a suspicious character was perfectly bona fide, And was capable of a fair explanation. .It was in evidence that absolutely no arragement of an improper kind had been made between any of the Messrs Smith and these settlers, and if that was untrue Mr Smith deserved 21 years' penal servitude, and he (Mr Connell) hoped he would get if. Mr Mouat had attacked the veracity of Mr Wiliiuin Smith, but his selection was an unfortunate one, for if he (Mr Connell) could believe that .that witness had sworn falsely, as suggested, he should have so lost bis faith in human nature that he could never believe any person in the world, for if he were any judge of character he had never seen a m >re honest man in his life. In conclusion, he said that the best class of men in the countrj were those rising from the position of a mere farm laborer to a working farmer, and pointed out that since this land had been taken up a number of marmges h:id taken place among the settlers. Ho left the case in the hands of members of the Board with the utmos* confiJence. Mr Mucgregor, who appearod for three of the licensees, Messrs Hughes, Durranr, and Low, also addressed the Board at considerab'e length, dealing mainly with the legtl aspect of the question. The Chief Commissioner mentioned that MrHaggitr, the Board's adviser, would return to Dunedin that nighN He wished to know if members wanted to learn the position of recent decisions in the Supreme Court with repect to the Land Act. Mr Connell asked if members wished to deliberate with closed doors before announcing their decision. Mr Duncan: I am quite willing to say what I have to say on the subject in open Board. Mr Green : Except on law points lam prepared to give my vote. It was decided to adjourn till Saturday morning at 11, to secure Mr Haggitt's attendance.