HIS HONOR'S ADDRESS.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume XXXXVII, Issue 11745, 23 September 1902, Page 7

HIS HONOR'S ADDRESS.

" In his address to the Grand Jury, his Honor said he had to congratulate them on the Ughtoess of the calendar at the present session. There were only five cases, and he thought, from reasons he would explain later on, that there should be only foui cases. The charges, with the exception of the one he referred to, were not of a most serious character. There were charges of assault, of assault with, intent to rob (perhaps the most serious), theft, and breaking and entering. It was a very gratifying circumstance that there was an entire absence of offences against women and children, which were so prevalent at the previous- session. Whether this was due to the wave which seemed to. cross the country, or to the very salutary sentences which had recently been passed, he could not say. Nevertheless, there was an entire absence of such charges. There was a charge against a man named Weightmau for having failed to comply with an order made on the 17th May, at Waneranui, for the maintenance of his wife, whereby he was ordered to pay £1 per week to his wife. It was laid under Section IT. of the Destitute Persons Act, which provide^ that any .person who failed or neglected to comply with such an order, and went to reside at. or is resident in, any of the Australasian Colonies, shall be liable to imprisonment with hard labour fox twelve months. To constitute this offence, two ingredients were necessary. First of all an order for maintenance must be made under Section 16 of the Act, and secondly, the person charged must have gone to reside in Australia. In the .present case it was very doubtful whether a lawful order had been made, but that was a question which he was not prepared to speak definitely upon at present. In his opinion, before an offence could be proved, it would have to be shown, that before the person left for the Australian colonies the order was made. It waa quite out of the question, his Honor thought, that the Legislature intended thail if a man left the colony lawfully, he should be made a criminal by something done behind his back after he left. Moreover, said his Honor, if it was the intention of the Legislature, he though* it was quite clear that the Legislature could.not, by any enactment of its own, make a person residing in another colony a criminal and bring him back to this colony. The importance of that was this: In the present case it seemed that the accused was married in 1884, and, after living with his* wife for some time, his wife's health became so bad that her mind was temporarily affected. They separated, and some time afterwards Weightman left the colony. -Some two years after he left the colony (proceedings were taken and an order issued against him. From the deposit 1 ?:i sit did not appear that accused knew anything at all about it. It did not appear that he-had notice that he should ajproear to give cause why an order should not be issued against him. Yet, notwithstanding that, by some process of the law, he had been arrested in New South Wales and brought bnck to New Zealiand. If the jury found +, iat the facts were as his iionor had it was their duty to throw out the bill. There could be no offence if the order was Issued against a person after he left New Zealand. If the jury was of opinion ;;hat Weightman left the colony after the ov«.<>n was issued, it would be their duty to bring in a "true bill" in order that.the facts might be investigated before a petty jury. The Jury then retired.