JOHN CHINAMAN NO-SA VEED

Willie Wong Alleged McDougalls Tried To Swindle Him In Truck Deal IMPUTATIONS AGAINST POLITICIAN (From N.Z. Truth 's' Special Eepresentative) I Cases of international, complication are not confined to the Leagiie of Nations. Gore, 1 a southern township, had one of its own iri the civil court the other day, Willie Wong, a Chinese national, alleging that Hugh McPougali had swindled him McDougall is the son of David. McDougall, varibusly: deiscribed as the member for Matauria and ''The humorist of the House.' The complication seems obvious, particularly as McDougall, senior, had abetted his sonin the niisdeal imputed by Wong. THROUGH his solicitor (Mr. Popplewell) Wong sought an order for the upsetting .of a contract which involved the. sale of a truck, admittedly a prosaic article of commerce, yet one l which inspires the thought that there is light and shade m the plainest, of pictures. Wong, it appeared, had been carrying on business at Gore, but had, not been successful, so he decided to abandon his. enterprise. As he had a number of debts, he sought the advice of the two Me-. Dougalls, and after some discussion a proposal was made that Hugh Mc- Dougall. should, purchase the Chinaman's truck at a certain price. Counsel asked- whether Wong had received fair treatment, since he had no knowledge" of English and ho advice save that of a Chinese laundry-, man.' <'The sum- of £15 was offered ;for the truck, but -Wong.- agreed to part' with it only, on condition that his other accounts were paid," continued Mr. Popplewell. v i. v The sum of £13 was owing on the truck to a firm of motor dealers at Gorei and 0 Hugh McDougall. paid them, leayihg^Wong with only £2r The vehicle .had cost £75 and was reasonably, worth £50, while a motor agency m"? Ihvercargill had -allowed Hugh .;McDougair: £65 oh it when he traded' it m! to purchase? a car. Later, when Wong fo^und the Mc- TWkAbdutTradk 'i Dougalis had hot paid his other accounts, a letter of repudiation was sent, to the purchaser of the truck, but j prior t<6 that verbal repudiation had 1 been made when Wong's solicitor; interviewed McDougall, junior. Wong's counsel declared that Mc- Dougall said he had paid £28 for the truck, and produced Wong's receipt for £15 and Gormack and Pettigrew's receipt for £13. The law on the matter was perfectly c l ear where one party was simple and ignorant, with no one to guide him, and it appeared that advantage had been taken, the contract could be set aside. Willie Wong, through an interpreter, told his story along similar lines. He said that when he. went to Mc- Dougall's shop for the purpose of dis- j cussing his financial position, both father and son were present. Aftei* a while he agreed to accept £15 for the dlorry— if his other deb.t's were paid, r and he then -alleged that the member .if or Mataura' told him.; to put the accounts in' the fire. Wong said he refused} and that both the McDougafl's thereupon told hjm that if anyone came to, him about his' accounts they would "fix everything up." Later, said Wong, a solicitor came and asked about the lorry, and wad told it had been sold to the member for the district.-Eng Kew, a young Chinaman, who said he spoke a little English and worked m a laundry at Gore, remembered being m McDougall's office with Wong to talk about a truck. McDougall and "old man McDougall" were there, and Wong was telling them about trouble he had with his landlord. McDougall said he would help Wong, and that he would buy the' car. v According to Kew, -Wong said he would sell it for £50. Mr. Hewat (who appealed for Mc- Dougall): You say that McDougall told Wong to burn his accounts? Kew: Yes. Which McDougall told Wong that?-^- Old McDougall. Did you hear McDougall tell Wong that he would pay Gormack and Pettigrew No. Did anyone say anything about paying £13 when you were m the office? —No. Did you hear McDougall say he would give £15 for it?— Yes. J What did Wong -say to that?-No answer. Did he talk to you m Chinese about it?— Yes. What did he say to you?-— He said that McDougall would fix everything up for him but the car was too cheap.--! Later, Kew stated that Wong was i wdrried, about his accounts at the tim«, and m reply to Mr. Hogg Kew stated that he had told Wong McDougall would give £15 for the .truck and fix the others. .Alfred Leslie Dolamore, solicitor, of Gore, said Wong had very little know- ledge of English or business. He came to witness's office with two £1. notes and burst out crying. In consequence df what Wong told him he saw Mc- Dougall m the presence of others, and told McDougall the transaction would be upset. McDougall told them they could do what they liked about it as the papers had been sighed,. McDougall became v At another interview McDougall, produced-receipts for £28, saying he had paid that amount for .the truck. McDougall admitted haying made a good sale, and said- he -was going to stick tQ it. He also said that, -he would sooner put a match to the lorry than> hand it back, as if he did so all' the young- fellows m the town would laugh at him. When told that a Supreme Court action would be taken, McDougall replied: "You can take it before if you, like." Witness said it was inj correct to 1 say that there was bad feeling personally', between,, the v -Me-' Dougalis and himself, but they did;.not agree politically. Archibald T. Pettigrew said his firm so|d the lorry to Wong for £75. It was worth £50 when sold': to McDougall. McDougall had gone to him and asked what balance was owing on the van and said he was acting for Briscoe and Company. On being asked if Wong owed Briscoe's any money, Mc, Dougall allegedly said "yes." The. required information was supplied, .and McDougall returned within half ah. hour and paid the balance owing on the truck. Mr. Hewat, for the. defence, said that undue had been alleged, but tie claimed that the Chinese was able to effect tho deal and was not entitled to the protection of the court so far as the deal was concerned. If Wong was inferior it would be proved ttiat he knew/ what -he was doing and that he had- advice! Wong was nbt entitled to the protection "of the court Us he wad not at a disadvantage. Evidence would be given that Wong asked for £20 and was given £15, which was not an unduly low figure for a speculator to pay. I'Wong had accepted the price and McDougall; had not attempted to buy' under the value of the car. The defendant, Hugh McDougall, said •he was a carrier and agent at Gore. Hlsstory was that Wong asked him if he wanted to buy a car. Wong said: "I sell you this one for £20," arid he offered Wong £15 for the truck. When Wong had secured the services of Kew he said: "I take it." He gave Wong £15 m notes, and then Wong No:PromiseMade? said he owed £1,3 on the car and gave witness £13 back to pay the balance with. .No accounts were mentioned till ;afterVthe sale. No promise was made that^ Wong's accounts would be paid. Wo^ng made; no cprtiplaints to him about the deal, but Mr. Dolamore had C9ihe.*to him later and; he had refused to. diyulge ';'aoy information. He was of the opinion that, it was inquisitiveness for Mr. Dolamore to ask about it. He was allowed 65 on the truck on a trade-in when he secured a second-hand car from Agnew and Grieve. j He •denied that Wong had asked '..him to give £50 for the car,.and 'stated that he did not tell Mr. Dolamore that he had paid £28 for 'it." He had -shown two receipts that totalled £28, but- he did hot- .-.say he had paid that /amount. James Norman Armour, managing director, of Russell and Co., Ltd., of. Inyercargill, stated that /the car had been brought to his garage, and he estimates that it w6uld.be worth £35. if traded m for a new, car. Witness con-, sidered that £15 was a fair price for it. Norman Rodger Hoffman, a motor mechanic, considered that the car would be worth £'35 as a trade-in, but he would not have .given more than £20 or £25 for it f or his own U&5. .I .William Agnew,.- who took 'charge', ofthe car from McDougall' when a 1 deal was made for. another machine, said the;truck had been reconditipned at a cost of. £12/8/4, and was valued by witness at £85.' This concluded the evidence and his Honor,Mr. Justice Kennedy, reserved his decision. NZ Truth , Issue 1241, 12 September 1929, Page 5