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Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mAthode. 1 2 3 4 5 6 n^f^* . \ II ■ \ v^ ^OVA SCOT/4 PROVINCE HOUSE I '\ K / / • M " '■ ■'. h" -*^' i - 'u # INJUSTICE IN A COUNTY COURT, OR TiS Sow I WAS SWINDLED OUT OF ..!5^a. /.•■' ,_^rt" 1-^ FORTY DOLLARS. By W. H. Hogepr ^ii ^^s^rHEK-sT, hvla-E/Oh:, a»§9@.' I HAunrAx, N. S. :M^i -;- » ii jj 1 1 r i^ I ' i rr' Di a i :l'' . ^i^ ./i.»-J!^i. . Ji;- CT j_ i. !_>..„ .■.;in._.,Li:. :. J... li. S '■ „^■. ^ , '■' -■ ** ■ ■■■■■■ i.y-' >- T COUNTY COURTS A ERAUD ; OR How I was Swindled out of $10.00, Early in May, 1878, just before leaving home on a tour in the Western Counties, as was my custom in previous years, and having a number of small notes at the Bank, which would fall due before n y return, I arranged with J. Z. Uliss, Esq., to take my monthly orders for salary and collect them at the Bank, and with the proceeds, lift my notes — for which service I paid him a certain commission or shave for advancing on tlie orders, when he did so, before they became due. After arranging for three months' orders, and giving hini a list of notes which he was to retire from the liauk, amounting to the sum covered by the orders for three months, there was a note for $40 in favor of Rufus Embree, which would fall due on tlie 5th of June, to meet whicli I left an order for my salary for August, amounting to $65.33. Out of this, or with this in his hands, Mr. Bliss partly agreed to lift the note at maturity, — that is, he would do it if he could possibly do so at the time. I told Page — the endorsee — the same dav, or before I left home that I had made this provision for the note, and that if he got notice of dishonor before I returned, to call on Mr. Bliss, who would arrange it. Page, it aj^pears, got notice, and on the 7th went to the Bank, as he says, and swears, (knowing at the time that I had made pro))er provision for the note, ancl this he admits under oath,) and told the Cashier, Mr. Chipman, to charge the note to him ! ! Why did lie do this 1 Who believes he did so ! Would any man, even much more benevohmt than Mr. Page, have done so ] Be it remembered, Mr. Page has swprn and stuck to the statement that "lie thoiujht the note wns so cKarf/ed to him until the 26th, the day he gave his cheque for it. Let the reader bear in mind this statement, because it will have an important bearing on future acts and statements oi this same Page. I altirin, on the contrary, that he did not tell Chipman to charge it to him, and he made this story to try to account for the note being stanqx-d witli the Bank stamp on the 7th. Ho says that rihipnian must have stamped it and omitted to charge it. 1st, The Bank Teller don't do tliat kind of thing, that is, to omit his duty in that way ; 2nd, If lie had been re(iuested to do so he would not only have tlone it, but handed the note to Page then, or the first -i ^ L r is clear : lie dloth P)liss and Page corroborate tliis. I had paid Mr. Jiliss for looking after my notes, and did not intend that Mr. Page should get the money or anything else from IJliss. How then cculd I make such an unlikidy expression, or ask such a ([Uestion as that 1 I never did so. I told him, on the contrary, just what all the natural circumstances proclaim trumptit-tongued, viz.: " ^Ir. Hay says that note is not paid, Dliss says he ' fixed it,' Cliipman says it is not fixed, but lying there unpaid. How about it? Do you know anything about it !" "/ '//'/ nut ijd flic iinniry from Bliss, hat I (jui'-ss it will he alt riijht." And why did he answer me in that way 1 He knew lie had Bliss's I U in his pocket, and supposinl Bliss might have told me so, and as he had not taken up the note as he pr(jmised Bliss he wouhl do, and I having told him it was not taken up, and he knowing right well that it was not paid said as a sort of excuse or palliation of his neglect, " I did not get the money from Bliss," another strong proof logically drawn from his own statement as well as mine and all the circumstances, he never intended to take it up with his own money if he could avoid it. Remembering the arrangements I made and informed him of before I left home, when Page got the Bank notice un the 7th, he went to the Bank, no doubt, and spoke to Chii)man about receiving the notice. The note being close at hand, as all notes due are I)laced, so that the teller can put his hand on them when called for, ^Ir. Chipman, thinking that Page was going to retire the note, stamjjed it, but Page, instead of ordering it charged to himself, which under all the circ.unstances would be a most unlikely as well as unnecessary thing for him to do, he said something like this, " Eogers told me before he left that he arranged with Jiliss to pay this note ; probal)ly he (IJliss) don't know it is due, or likely he will take it up in a day or two, if not, [ will see him." Acconling- ly, on the 10th, we find Mr. Page in Afr. Bliss's office, agreeing (as My. B. had no money by him that day) to take up the note if he (Bliss) would give him his I O U. This Mr. Bliss agrees to, expecting, of course, to be called upon by Page in a very few days IT Z-\at^-^^-'i ^ij^^^l^l^^^l^^^^j^ ilU-" % \ e for the money. liut tloos ho go as he then proinlsoil and take tip tlio note ] Xo ; but h(! swears now that ho thought it was chargecl to him on the 7tl». If ho. thought so then, wliy did lie not tell Bliss so, and not as tlioy both now swear, tfmt ha stiid he inonhl take it up on (/rtfiiiij tin' I O IJ I A.nd why ilid he not tell me it was charge'd to him when I sjMjke to liim about the matt(;r on the loth or IGth? The thing is dear eiiou^fJi. I'ay:e ol)tained the I O U so that ho woidd bo safe if lie should bo (»blig(!d to retina the note, anank should force him to, and hiiving pnipareil himself f(»r such a contingency, retires from active participation in the allair, notwithstanding his promise to Uliss. It is «[uite impossible to put any more charitable construction on his sul)se(iuent acts. Mr. liliss having informed mo that he had " fixed it," and Page that he '•''did nut (jet the moneij from Jili,s,s," [ was disarmed, and concluded that as I'age had added that he " supposed it Avould be all right," or words to that otFect, I let the matter rest, wlien some eight or ten days subsequently Mr. Hay notified me again that the note had not Iteen paid. I then went to Mr. Bliss and told him the story, and as any person may know, he was terrilily indignant, and annoyed at Page for not doing as he; promised, antU T ■'h-' 1 know, from wivcnil letters and inatti'r.s tliat tliis was tlui day. lilisH jtaid niii tlu) money ; besichis, thcri' was still 82.T dm; nie on my order, and wliicli he (iJliss) said lie wonld pay me in a day or two. Aceordiiij^dy, on the L'Htli .Inne, he paid me $1(>, acc.ordinj;; to his own liooks, and as he hail iin mnre that day, and as I was goiniii 01/ till' 7tli to I'liiii'ifi it, mid it Writs tin: Bank's fault, and not his, that thvij did not ask fur hi," chiujac sooiinr, or 3rd, thiit he would not have told me on the li')th that the note was charged to him on the "tli if he thought it was so charged then, or 4th, that Chipman, though being told on the 7th to charge it to him, never asked him for his che([U'' until the l^fith, and this is the reason he gives for the date jf the cheque ; or .")th, that I'age would not have called upon Hliss for his money inside of hve months, when the whole transaction was an 1 U V, which is always understood to be a very few days transaction among business men, and more especially as he knew that lUiss would not care to pay him interest on my money laying in his hands, as I had [)aid JUiss for the u.se of his money, and he (liliss) was not a borrower, but a lender of nnmey ; or 6th, that the reasass between tluMu on that occasion ; or 8th, that I could have done anything else with the .$40 1 got from Pliss on the 26th but pay my note with it, as 1 tokl lUiss I was going to do when I got the money, and had arranged for two months previously ; or Dth, that I could have paid it to the Jknk and not get my note when I did so ; or 10th, that I could have held to the view that I had paid it to the Bank for one hour after I ascertained that Page had my note, which Page and everybody else who heard anything of the ati'air knows I leariied in a day t)r two after Page called upon Bliss for the money, and althinigh I held the Bank responsible for two .-'A^.^ ■ -l! Si'-'t'.'ivita'^i^'t^L-wi:'. 'ijiH^-'n'^ir >r jLl^Mh ^^mm^ r^^ - '■ ■■•■ : , y ■R.wt''.c.'.iia.v>i.>-.--^L'>.': T 8 or tliron wi^eks aftcii" I (;liiiiijj;t'st em]>hatically (having just eaiiie I'mm Dliss's who said, "Rogers, L fixed that,") " Is it not cl- ,;-ed to Page or fixed hy Page in some way 1 The answer was not that Page told me to chargt! it to him hiit [ omitted to ask for his ehe(iue, hut he said, " No, it is lying liere uni)aid," and that it was lying tliei-e is eorrohorated hy sul)se([uent (h^velopments, and interest 30cts. charged hy I>aid<, and Mr. Hay having t(jld me it was not paid and wanted me to att(ind to it. And we are asked to b(;lieve that although I had Inien looking after the matter, anil Chipman of the I>ank kntiw it and knew that I shouM pay it an I not Page, and was as In^fore expecting IMiss to pay this note as he had others, hi; asks Page for his chei^ut! lU days after he (Page) had told him to eharge the note to him I I And yet Chipman knew that Page told him to charge to him (Pa^e) on the 7th, and on the loth or lOth, when I s])oke to him, lie had forgotten it, and, prcfitd, on the 20th he thinks of it, and duns Page for his cheipie I ! ! Who helieve.s this % Who with citmnion sense can believe it ] I tliink I have now made it pretty clear that the plain and . obvious reason why Page did nfit pay that note until the 26th was that he did not want to pay it with his own money, which was right enough and reasonable enough, espt'cially as he knew the note was alread}' arranged for by the drawer witli a man who had the money and would certainly take it up shortly. It is also clear that the reason he gives for the date of his checiue to retire the note could not be true, but the payment was made that day, and not before, because that was the first day he bad the jiroper money to do it with, and that is the day, I swear, and will swear a thousand times, if necessary, that I paid him the $40, to retire the note, instead of paying it into the Jiank as I intended when I left. An Examination of Page'"! Story. When asked why he neither called upon Kogers or Bliss for the $40, from 26th June until the last of November or first of December, his reply was, " I never looked to Rogers for it ; / hid that mite ami I O U face up in my cash box, and saw them every time I looked into the box, and knew they Avere good and on interest, and as Bliss had been robbed \w the meantime I did not feel like bothering him for the money." Benevolent Mr. PtHjc ! ! This latter he dinged at all along the line and swore to it before ■^, ■'■..i, mm •"-r- ■! .im»j ' 9 •^; tHe Justice of tht^ Pciico iit first trial, iiiid tliis wivs llie only reason he f,MVe h)v not doiu^' so. lliit Ik; iiftorwiinls limls tliiit sucli a statcMiient would not hold \rat(M', hocnuso Bliss was not rolilx'd until tlit^ 17th SeptciiilMir, nearly tlirci'. months after lie had paid the money, and that althoui,di Iliiss did not (^vitcct him to wait over a very few days, and Hliss tohl me a dozen times since that lie oould have ;^fiven him the money tlie day he )^'ave the f O l', and wiis sorry now In; didn't, and the reason he did not do so was that he never liiced to pay away tlie last he had Ity him. And all this is corroborated hy the fact of Iliiss i»ayini( me the very mon(\v i'lv^'' held the f () (I for, on the LMUh, without sayiii;^- a W(,rd ahottt wishin*,' or expectini^ t(» wait lon;^er, !iiit was very sorry that he hail not j,'iv(!n it to l*ai,'(; at tirst, which would have preventt'd all th(! delay, ]*a;,'e knew all this, and when he promiseil I'diss to pay the note with his own money, expecteil to Lret this iiKmey from lUiss in a very few diiys ; and this is further corro1i(U'ateil l»y Pa;_je's own acknowledged statcMuent to me on the street, i. '., " I did not .i,'(ft the moiKfy Irom IJliss, hut it will be all ri,L(ht." .\11 ri;^dit how ] It Would bu paid immediately to lift my note Ivin^' dish(Uiored. While this man held the 1 <> T in bis j 'kt^t, ami liis pr(»mise tit Jiliss in his niiml, but both of which he i .irefully concealed from nie, what cared he for his jtromise so huii; as his money did not have to b(! advanced to i>av niv note ' Wli;'t cared h(; about mv credit, or the injury do.i «, to me, so .,jng as he VMuld not be calleil upon to advance any money. How can his delay in asking' for his money from Uliss until about the 2r)th \o\;mber or 1st D'.'cember — live months — be accoun.eHt thv^ papers away at honH? and found tliein on or about the last of Novend)er, and tlie transaction, or fact of how 1 paid it to hi)n, had passed away front Ids mind for the tiin»' h(!ing, and he at once sent his son with the I () U to Mr. lUiss for tlie money, who at once ccjrrectly states tliut lie liiid paid it to nie long l>efore. The partienhirs had also largely passed from my own mind when I first lieard of it, hut I at once; eonoborated I'Jiss's stat<;nient, and thought I had paid my note at the liank, as I had intended when I left the house to get tlie money, and as L had (h)ne for years before, I»oth Bliss and Page swore that 1 h(dd to this view for all of a montli. It was very necessary for them to do this in order to weaken th(! true state of till' case, as if they could establish that it would look sus]ticittu« that I shouhl change my ndnd and say [ paiich hurry. At this period, no doubt, the stu1)h of my note was marked thus " Paid on the 26tli June to Page," this was on the stubb of this very note, and yet wliile I coidd not swear I made that memorandum on the day the money was paid, but I did, or would swear that it was made when it was fresh on my memory, and not since this trial or latter facts beconu^ known, the Judge would not allow this iuiportant memo, as evidence, I of course am not lawyer enough to say Avhether he is right or not, but I do believe that if it had ))een on the otlnvr side there would have been swearing enough forthcoming to have made this evidence, but, as I was not ([uite sure, did not swear it was, anil lost it as evidence, to strengthen my case. Would the man who swore that the reason he did not call for the money for the I (J U was one time one thing and when that was too leakey, swore to another reason, be long in making evidence of that menu) Avhen it was so (iiisilij i{oite, I think not, but tlu; money is gone, I leave the public to judge where, and I and my family must try to live with- m t»aMHMwi*»>»«w**a» «ii i iMi ii i 1 i i I ■ ' ■ ■ < » ■ I 4 t 4- 11 init il, T lliink however that tlicrc will not he ii hoy sif tpu year.< of iij^e iihdut here, who will not he ahle after reiuliii;^' tliis exposee, lo |)(»int his linifcr directly to the pocket where my money is. V(!s, and thrt man hinvsiilf will see, i\w\ feel when Ue has examined this that he has my money. I couM not have paid it in any (ither directi(tn :— First — because there could he no other In'll unless it was an <'Xecution in the hands at some olHcer of tjie law, demandin'^f pay- ment whicli could he so ]»ressing as this note, hut there was no such execution. Secondly — -I liad to meet my notes in the I'ank, as I always have, or I could not live. My su[)plies must and would stop, as -Air. Hay knows. Thirdly— I had no other hills pressing me hut what I colild pay. Fourthly — I had still !B2') r money to do it, is clear, because he refus(jd to do S(» before, although la; pronused he W(juld, and held the 10 IT, from I'diss. These things being true, What of the (Jourt and Jury wlio tried this case ] C'ould it he a compettMit court 1 Could the .Judge havti had a head sufficiently clear to see through intricate cases, when he failed to coin|)rehend oneso sim[)le and transj)arant as this is? Ts such a court a safe institution, to deal with the ])ro])(!rty or liberties of the people 1 Has not the introduction of county courts, put very important matters as affecting our liberti(!s and vital interests at the mercy of third rate lawyers, and charlatans. "When the foun- tains of justice are corrupt, God help the people, when they are imbecile and pusillauimousuess, they are ec^ually bail, liritish courts ttamtmmjm 12 have hitherto heen .above suspicioii, but I fear these Petty County Courts for obvii»u.s reasons, will prove a curse rather than a blessing. Litigation is on the increase. Facilities for law, like the same for (Irani driiik-ing, multiply the evils or increase litigation, iis the bar- room does drunkenness, while the country is heavily taxed to maintain them. The evidence given by poor Dliss was so extraordinary, it dis- played so clearly that gi'ey hairs do not always bring either the goodness of heart or intelligence of brain or mind, that the accumu- lated yeai"s it took to produce them, or the opportunities a christian training and country afford, would justify one in expecting, and ought to produce, lie could not understand why I appealed after telling him he should not loose his money, &c., &c. When at that time, he had not paid Page and after he had done so or after he told me he had given some pi^rson an order on Judge Morse for the amount, and seemed sony he had done so, and promised to see Morse and tell him not to pay it, as I called his attention to the fact, and which he admitted, /. e., that he could not collect it from me as he was only paying me the money due me according to partial agreement before I left home, as I had not told him to pay Page ^40, or to give his I O 11 to Page, but to pay it into the Bank, he ad- mitted this, and I expected him to make the proper effort to collect it from Page, or if it was not paid to Page that he would not do so, and if Page sued him, to call upon me for a witness, and if Page beat him on trial he should not loose his money. But instead of doing this, he went at the dirty work of gettii^g my note from Page, and called him for a witness against me so that I Avould not only have to meet the note, but Page's crooked stories. And yet Wants to know why I appeal, this exposes about as dirty and ungentelmanly, not to ssiy dishonest, a part of his doings as that other nasty mean contemjttible trick he did just before the ellec- tions, when he told Wm. Greenfield that he would loose his money (if he cashed my orders, after declining to do so himself and recommending "VVm. Greenfield to me as one likely to do so for me in future) — as I would be sure to loose my office after the elec- tions ! ! This ignorant clown had the impudence to think that either he or any of his kind had influence enough to do that, no matter who won the elections, and the miserable man Avas say- ing this of a man who has forgotten more of the institutions and politics of the country than Bliss ever knew or will know, and this simple old man was too ignorant to see the influences at work which in a feiw Aveeks Avould overthrow all the Grit Governments in the Dominion, and Avould strip himself of office, and not me, influences and results Avhich I knew then, as Avell as I know now, and gave the very best evidence that I did knoAV, and did not hesitate to state it boldly before the elections when my enemies had the poAver to turn me out of office. Such a helpless being as Bliss might be dismissed from office Avithout much fear from any quarter, but a man with brains, energy, and ability to defend himself either on the '1 TT T „--jtii^*.....*)- •WiMUlM ^M.i— ii^a 13 ^1' platf(jrni or through the press, against tlie best or ablest of his enemies, it is not so safe to dismiss from office for very obvious reasons, especially at the beck or nod of a lot of ignoramuses, because he would be apt to make it lively for all concerned, as he is now doing for those who robbed him of the .$40, and always will do and serve all snouts found sticking through his garden f(!nce, and if these ]>eople are found rushing about the community in future annoying their neighbours with their swinish inhuman gruntings, their sore noses must plead their excuse, but it will be satisfactory to know that th(iy will not put their noses exactly in that place again, u-ifJtoiit first ancertainuKj vhnthcr tlic. hteper of tlie (jurtlen is nhont or not. Now gentlemen come right along and show if you can, that my money is anywhere but where I say it is, and show this community, if they can, why it should not keep on burning the pockc^t that contains it, unless proi)er compensation is made to its rightful ownia-. I demand in the name of honesty and in the interest of the rising generation, that my story lie proved untrue and falacious, or the proper resti- tution be made. Some softer victim than I claim to be should be selected on whom to practice suoh adial)olical swindle as this. vSome creature who would lay down and say roll me gently in the mud, roll on, rob and l)espatter me as you choose, but I am not of that kind, l)y a long way. This is a live matter and sliall l)e ke])t alive until it is made right, or until I am proved in the wrong, not by the live men who sat upon the case, but l)y a discerning public, and the logic of facts and sound argument, which I claim tlie foregoing to be. If not let the fallacies Ite jxtinted out, and hit the judge and jury as well as the witnesses clear themselves of iheir n^spec- tive shares in this transpanuit swindle, honourably, if tlu^y can. That I have been I'obbed is clear. The way in which it was done, and the machinery through wliich it was iifl'ected, I dont hesitate to say is a Inirlesque on common justice, and exposes a stati; of matters dangerous to society. When I say this I am at the same time (piite aware of the careless manner, in which I did the l)u.si- ness, but my carelessness is no justification for those who took tlie dishonest advantage of that carelessness, and turned it to account in transferring .$40 from my pocket into anotlii'rs, where it did not belong. If society is at liberty to do thesi; things, iind courts (;an be found sufficiently stupid to alhjw such matters to pass through them undetected and unpunished, the sooner sucli (loiirts are abol- lished the better. Tlie country is full of notes laying in the wi'ong hands. Mr. Tlillson had, till a few days ago, a note of miii ; for $75, paid thrtui or four years ago, and if he had given it to a lawyer to collect I would have ])een helpless, idthough I knew it was ])aid. If men are to take advantage of each other, and succeed in robliing in this way, there is no redress left to honest people, but use the rights and liberties guarantee! I to every 15ritish subject, Avherewith to make wrongs right, viz., th(> ])latforni and the pn.'ss. To these I am driven by ind)ecile courts anil bivd men. I cheerfully u invite these worthies to the bar of public opinion. If I fail there I must be wrong if I have the ability to put my case fairly. But that wont be the case in this instance. My case is too clear, and is one that concerns too many people not to be interesting. If I can be swindeled in this way, who knows who will be the next victim. Anil if courts of justice don't administer justice, but the man with the worst case, and who tells the most crooked story, to sustain it is sustained. The court fails to fulfill the ends intended, and ought to die. lint I will be told that the possession of the note by Page gave him the advantage in law, and our oaths being of equal value in law, the possession of the note does and should turn the scale. I am aware of, and readily admit, the justice of all that, but are not Page's statements, as well as mine, to be judged of in the light of our acts and statements in relation to this matter, as I have detailed, as well as the telltale circumstances which are sufliciently strong and clear in my favor to hang the best man in town, if there was a man murdered and his whereabouts was to be ascertained as the whereabouts of my money is 1 "Who can doubt m the light of the foregoing who lyiurdared my money. I speak strongly, but justice demands that I should. "When peo])le cry Peace, Peace, where there is no peace or justice ; justice, where it is not to be found, a moral malaria is tlie result, and eventually, disease and death. Public o])inion ])roperly and fearlessly expressed, is the best preventative for the repetition of such swindles as this. If the reckless conduct of careless judges 'and jmsillaninious juries, were often made the subjects of pub- lic criticism, justice would be oftener obtained. ^Ir. lUiss takes an order for my salary worth $65.33, and agrees to pay my note at maturity, Page the endorser, calls upon him for the money, which he has not by him at tlie time, Page agrees with IJliss to retire my note for Jiliss if he would give liim. Page, his due bill, he does so and with this in his hands, he retires my note, thus paying my note with my nionej'^, still, keeping my note, which he retires and sells it to Pliss, who sues me for the same note and recovers, and the judge says this is law, justice and ecpiity, and gives judgment acconlingly ! ! 1 While liliss got liis money l)efore from the l!ank on my order, and 1 am thus luipelled to pay my note twice, once at the IJank by Page, and now to Hliss, and tliis is called justic(\ in our County Courts. If tliis had lieen done a Inuidred or two hundred years ago somebody's head wouUl have tallen oU". Some may thiidc that this is too trifling a matter to \n\A\ into so much proir.ir.ence. My enemies, and those who wdl be immediately affected by this ex])osee, will doubtless feel and say so, but I do not choose to consider it my duty to consult such people. I owe a duty to myself, my family, and friemls, as well as to sttciety in this matter. 1 hav(! done no act in my life that I am not prepanid to meet and sub- mit to the arbitrament of sound argument, and the logic of facta, k ''., X W ,^' s^?i> '. * '■■.■< A-iwAjAfvrVu. lirtr'MriiWiLi wmmmmm •*"'" ' '''— '■■"*? '^-'^'^ ,:> n ■| I M^ 15 Ignorant unprincipled paltroons may do that behind luy back, but there is no man in Amherst who dare, over his own signature or in person on the platform, meet me on any act of my whole life, and 1