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149
attend at the Bar of the House on September 11;
Hall's evidence before
the Select Committee was published in the Hobart Town Advertiser in such
a garbled fashion that he protested
Either ·a witless piece of burlesque, or the muddled effusion
of some inebriated person;
in addition, he was accused of previously supplying to certain memb ers
of the Committee wr.itten copies of the questions he wished to be asked,
an accusation which he immediately denied. Th e farce continued :
as Hampton did not app ear before the House on Septemb er 11, the Speaker
issued a warrant for his arrest on the grounds of "contempt'1, which
Hampton declared he would forcib ly resist as it was illegal; sheriffs ,
bailiffs and constab les were then ordered by the House to assist in his
arrest.
On the same day, the Advertiser continued its vicious campaign
to discredit Hall by pub lishing official documents and correspondence
connected with the Hickman Affair " some of which were unknown to Hall
himself;
letters written by Hampton and Denison were included.
introduction the Advertiser wrote:
We ubit the following correspondence in relation to the
inhuman treatment of Prisoners of the Crown without any other
comment than an expression af regret that Dr Hall's statements
should have necessitated the pub lic exposure of such gross
cases of barbarity and cruelty as the following officially
authenticated facts indicat e. We make no comment upon the
facts - they speak for themselves and but too truly realize
our ideas as to the policy of colonial management .
In its
However the Advertiser's charge of inhumanity was immediately rebutted
the next day by Hall in the Daily News which, for good measure , added
the story of Hampton 's servant, dying of consumption in the Colonial
Hospital, for whom -Hall had bought strawberries at three shillings per
quat to satisfy his _
craving when his master neglected to do so.
.
September 13 the attempts by the Sergeant-at-Arms to arrest Hampton were
foiled by the Governor who gave instructions to the Chief Police Magistrate
and the Sheriff to_ give no assistance until the legality of the warrant
was determined upon by the Law officers of the Crown .
On
The following day,
Hampton 's proposal to surrender to the Sergeant-at-Arms at his own house
was repudiated by the Council who demanded that he come before the Bar
of the House.
So intense was the excitement in the city that the
Governor became alarmed and sent the following message:
The officer commanding the troops or the Senior Officer present
is hereby requested and authorized without unnecessary display
to hold the military force in readiness in case of need to aid