The Ashburton Guardian. Magna Est Veritas et Prevalebit. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 31, 1883. The Great Unpaid.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume IV, Issue 856, 31 January 1883, Page 2

The Ashburton Guardian. Magna Est Veritas et Prevalebit. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 31, 1883. The Great Unpaid.

When we wrote the other day advocating the appointment of a Magistrate for this district who should reside in Ashburton, there was one phase of the question that we omitted to mention. Now that we have to be satisfied with a two days’ visit in each week from a stipendiary Magistrate, our local J.P.’s are sometimes called on to decide cases that should not properly be brought before them. For the most part the only charges they have to deal with are those in which men have overstepped the bounds of prudence in taking too much alcohol, but now and then more serious cases occur. We have no doubt that the gentlemen who act as Justices of the Pence here are equally as intelligent as those who hold similar positions elsewhere, but, at the same time, it requires a certain amount of training to enable a man to appraise the value of evidence, and this it would not be reasonable to expect. The system of unpaid Magistrates is in itself a bad one, and numerous instances could be given where flagarant injustice has been done. Absurdly severe sentences have been passed for the most trivial offences, while cases have been sent to the Supreme Court which a properly qualified Magistrate would have decided offhand. As ar. example, we may instance a case which was brought before the Ashburton Court a few days ago, when a man was charged with having committed an indecent assault on a child. The offence was not an aggravated one, but at the same time some punishment should have been accorded. The Justices on the Bench, however, decided on committing the prisoner for trial, and the result was that he was acquitted. Had Mr Watt or Mr Beswick been presiding, we have no doubt that a sentence commensurate with the offence would have been delivered, and thus the country would have been saved considerable expense and the offender would have been punished as he deserved. English people move slowly in the matter of reform, and it would be too much to expect that the time will soon come when the “ great unpaid ” will be no more, but it would be well if their powers were curtailed as much as possible. It is not to be wondered at that one whose interests are bound up in a particular district, and who has lived a long time in one place, would not be biassed in his judgment. Even with the best intentions, a man must necessarily be swayed in his opinions by his surroundings, and his decision would probably be guided at least as much by his personal knowledge of what had occurred outside the Court as by the actual evidence given in the witness boy. Another and even more urgent reason why >ye should have a Resident Magistrate in 4?hbujton is that a debtor who wishes to absppnd could 1 easily carry out his intention, as it would be a very difficult matter to obtain a warrant for his arrest as things are now. This is not a pleasant contingency to contemplate, although it might happen at any moment, and it behoves those wfco kave taken up this question of a Resident Magistrate to continue their agitation until their wishes are satisfied.