THE UNION BANK BOBBERY, AT GREYMOUTH.

West Coast Times, Issue 570, 23 July 1867, Page 2

THE UNION BANK BOBBERY, AT GREYMOUTH.

TO THE EDITOR OF TIIE WEST COAST-riMES. Sir — Will you permit me to draw yo tr attention to a report, published in the' "Grey "^ Eiver Argus " of Thursday last, of a iLgisterial enquiry at Greymouth, into a chtf .rr e o f larceny brought by the Union Bank ",tthe instance of Mr Eobert Han-old again 1 t Mr C. Gundy. Not that I am going to jenter upon a discussion respecting the merits ctf that case, the sufficiency or otherwise of th^ evidence to warrant the decision arrived at by the magistrate, but, as it seems to me a qufestion of great public moment is involved, my Object in communicating with you is to offer a few observations upon the last paragraph of the * report alluded to. Greymouth committals are and have been so frequent j the cases committed have so often broken do a-ii, cither at their inception before the Grand Jury, or during the hearing, and Supreme Court Judges have several times remarked that many of them ought not to have been brought bolbre them at ; all, that it surely is not out of placo- to enqiurc what is tho reason of this ? The case above alluded to, throws, I think, some light upon the subject. The Groymouth Magistrate upoi* that'oc- , casiou, gave his reasons for the course he adopted. Those reasons, when examintd, in my opinion, clearly show that Mr Eci e ll is either unacquainted with liis duties as a magistrate, or if he is acquainted with (hem, has not sufficient confidence in himself to take tho responsibility of their performance. shero can be no question but that the dutyfof a magistrate in these preliminarv_inveßtigaJlions is to satisfy himself whefifier or «?^-rhere is any evidence upon wliich a jury might afterwards convict, whether or not thero is sufficient evidence to put the prisoner upon his trial, and to commit, or not, accordingly. The "sufficiency" meaning evidence which tends to convict and raise more than a mere suspicion. Now, in the case before us, Mr Eevell after a lengthy investigation, occupying a whole day ; as the paragraph says — summed up the evidence very carefully, and altogether in the prisoners favor, and' dwelt upon the fact ot there scarcely being on? point of the evidence that would induce any •-. jury to convict the prisoner. Out of his own moutu-ii^li. Eovell condemned. In committing the prisoner, has he not unquestionably committed himself, for the reasons ho gives, are the very ones wliich should have induced him to dJasM^W^^Qpojlhat; is if he follows precedents antl authorities He admits that no jury will convict, anl y e t * commits. He comments upon the "cv3 e nce, and says it is all in the prisoners favol and yet commits. No one for a momoM imagined that Mr Eevell, when he finptook his seat on the magisterial bench, wajj ?erv well qualified to perform the important functions of the office he was raised tojj but yet it was hoped he would speedily fit himself for it, and had he attempted to d<fi so, and even supereially studied "Johnson's • Justice of Peace," he would have found that under the circumstances which arose at this investigation, and which his mind (was fully satificd of, it is therein clearly laid d >wn' that he ought not to commit. ' But il ere suspicion, however vague, is sufficient to warrant Mr Eevell to send a case for ti ml. > I wonder how it would be if the expen ses " came out of his- own pocket. On Mr Eevell's behalf, however, it; may be said (although few would make so rash an " assertion) that he is acquainted with the duties of his office, that he lias studied Johnston's "Justice of tho Peace," and is now (whatever he may have been) well qualified to perform the important functions of the office to which he has, by a wise and beneficent Government, been raised. Yet, even then, is he out of his * own mouth condemued ; for in this case he says, "he declined the responsibility of decidiug it himself. Knowing lurmity/hVyefcde* clines the responsibility. His legal studies have inacio him fully acquainted with what he ought to have done under the circumstances which arose in this case, and yet he declines the responsibility. No matter what the expense to the country — what the expense and annoyance to the witnesses — what the injury to the unfortunate prisoner— as Mr Eevell declines tho responsibility, all must be borne. You will see, then, Mr Editor, that this worthy magistrate is in cither or both of the following positions :— Not acquainted with the duties of his office, or unwilling- to take their responsibility upon himself. By his own words, ho is placed in one or both of tho two positions. The consequences of having such a" <f n tl c . man on the Bench arc so serious, so detrimontal to the interests of the comm in ity so burdensome to the country, so dang rOUB ' to the liborty of the subject, that it becomes a matter of grave enquiry whether the tinn , has not arrived when the public should take i O me step or othsr to remedy tliis matter. It \ n ot the first case of the kind that has arise a i n Greymouth, else it might be overlooked, but there have been many of them. Every trial at Hokitika costs the Government a large sun» of money. The small sum that is given to *' witnesses attending them is not nearly sufficient to defray their expenses. Tkey are, therefore, subjected to pecuniary loss, setting aside the great inconvenience of baing days away from their business. No doubt every one must expect to make some sacrifices in tho repression of crime, but it does not follow that because a Magistrate feels indispose]! to take the responsibility of pronouncing a broper decision when called upon to do so.lliat people are to trot off down to Hokitika, seMon

X • I • ""';" w " u " llia > *"m fon alter session, to give evidence in cases wi lere there is scarcely one point of eridenco ;hat would induce the jury -to convict tho prisoner. Trusting the public may forthwith some decisive step towards preventing in future so many abortive Greymouth,- Committals. — " I am, &c, i — ' SCRUTATOR. £Not having received copies of the " Grey Argus," containing a report of Mr Cundy's examination, we are unable to comnimt upon the case ; but if the above facts aw correct, we certainly think it is high time Hut the Greymouth Bench was occupied by a gentleman more conversant with the duties ofjKesident Magisti-ate than Mr Eevell appe\ru to be.— Ed. "W. C. T."]