The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1873-08-30
The Claimants" New Appeal

The wonderful Ticbbornc trial stall goes or. aud
the s~Anguinc people who hoped io be able by this
time 70 make up their minds or ihr subject. one
way or the sther. are beginning 90 despair. ON
both sides the testimony seems like ropes oi sand
it falls to pieces rs fast as made. or else is rem
dered useless by counter evidence. which. in turu.
is cast into the shade by something else. 1; is iu-
possible, consequently, % form any positive esii-
mate of the upshot Of The current trial. although
the chances are strong agaiat absolute conviction.
One day. in reading the reports. il seems incrcdii-
able that the " claimant should be any other ;hau
Sir Roger Tichborne another day ia" reader Is
equally convinced that be must inialibly he Arthur
Orion, the Mapping butcher There are plenty Co
swear in the most unreServed manner 20 their con.
v5ction that be is both. One set Of witnesses. ou
the side Of the -" claimant, are AZ least as sure -
those on the side of the government The persons
Of social distinction. members Of Parliament, aud
others, who befriended the d" claimant before, still
stick 10 his Ortune-although We observe, by The
way. that they no longer back their opinions with
their purses-and with the masses OF The English
public the man appears 10 be- as popular aS ever.
Whether he is or is not Tichborur. there Is some
thing in the tenacity and indoIaitable courage that
is almost heroic and this ii Is, We suspect. that
has gained and kept friends for the claimant ="
whose Sympathies have not been precisely meas
ured by the extent ot their belief in the validity OF
his pretensions.
For the tenth time since his huge figure doomed
into publicity, the " claimants funds have given
out. He made application some lime since Tor
assistance from the government Being on trial
before the Court of Queens Bench for perjury and
forgery. his case. il was represented. warranted
such q supply for his defense. The Home Secre.
tary has, however, refused the application. on the
ground that while the State. when il undertakes a
prosecution, is bound to find the funds necessary
for that object. it has never proceeded on the prin-
ciple Of also supplying funds for conduct Of a
defense. Had the petitioner been committed for
trial by magistrates in the usual way. instead Of by
the Superior Court. Ia bdGcO, he would have been
it is said. in this respect in no better position. The
magistrates MIGHT indeed. IN the exercise pt their
discretion, have bound over such witnesses as they
thought material, and the Judge of the court at
which the trial took place might have ordered the
costs OF such witnesses 10 be paid. But the Supp-
rior Court has not the power 10 order payment of
any such costs when witnesses have not been pre-
viously so bound over by magistrates. Still, when
the trial is over, the Home Secretary will be pre-
pared, he intimates, 10 consider. in conjunction
with the Lords Commissioners of the treasury
I" whether and to what extent. witnesses for the
defense, under the special circumstances of the
petitioners case may be treated ON the same foot
ing as those who are bound over by the magistrates
TO give evidence for the defense Under these
circumstances, the undaunted " claimant has APP
pealed, as before 10 the British nation. He has
published his appeal in these words: 1t is now
quite plain that | must do one of two things
either appeal again to my friends, the British pub
lie, or cave in under the enormous pressure brought
TO bear against me by the government and my
relatives. lnasmuch as | have tought-now for over
six years to try and regain my rights for my chill
dren, | feel assured that my friends will not now
desert me. Therefore / make bold to ask them
again to render me what assistance they can TO
defend myself against the government and the
purse of the nation"
a failure to convict in the present trial-and.
while conviction is possible, it is extremely diff
cult, In the present aspect of the case. to see on
what ground such a conclusion can be founded
will undoubtedly be followed by a fresh effort on
the part of the claimant = TO possess himself of
what he calls his family estates. In such an effort.
too, he may, not improbably be more strongly
supported than before-since many will inevitably
regard his acquittal in the light of an Endorsement.
If the government, they will argue, with its pow
erful machinery and unlimited resources. cannot
prove the " claimant " TO be some one other than
Sir Roger Doughty TichbOrne-and it is on this. of
necessity, that the whole action of perjury and
forgery Tests-the claimant" must be that baronet
and none other. The inference is, of course, de-
fective, but not for that reason likely to be less
popular. One of the weapons of the Tichborne
family in the former trial consisted in the now
government prosecution. If that prose
cution ends in smoke. the family will go into the
next contest considerably enfeebled. Surprising.
that the I" claimant I" escapes conviction,
it is likely that the ensuing struggle for the dis
puted property will be far more animated and
than the last one and it is by no means
that the conflict may end in the " claim
!" success, and extraordinary and nnwarrant-
able as to many might be the spectacle. his sitting
down comfortably TO end his days under the an
cestral oaks of Tichborne.