OUR RESIDENT MAGISTRATE.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1785, 9 March 1888, Page 3

OUR RESIDENT MAGISTRATE.

A tery curioaß contretemps hasjoccured m connection with the publication cf tatters under Ihia heading In yesterdays i?EUrf. The draft handed to üb, aad purporting; to be n copy of the letter sent to the Miuister of Justice by the memoirs of the Bar, turns cut to havo been a fiist (:md unuasd) drr.fi of ilt« Justices' letier. We are cony i\T the mistake, bat are really fn no v?Ey to blaino for it. Fortunately it 2a not oni of those mistakes which are beyond remedy, as we are able '■o BUpply tho exact terms of the letter sent by the profession. This is it : — The Honorable ihn Miaisier of Justice. Well'ngon. Sib, — It has come to oar knowledge 'hat the Government propose to remove Mr 0 livier, H.M., from th!a district at •h< cU>sa of the preaotit month, and hat henceforth the tc:ing Resident Magistrate) *t Tlmatu will preside at the Ashburton Resident Magria rate'a Court. We beg respectfully t > urge that grave public Inconvenience is likely ta reoulr from the proposed changp, snd trust that you will reconsider the matter end see voar way to let the exiating arrangements continue. The experiment of administering justice -it Aehburtoo (trough the medium of a Resident Magistrate having his headquarters at Timarn, wav tried some years ago, with the most unsaliefactory results. Great pnbl c dlsaatisfp.otfon w^b ocoisionon and strong represen rations were made to the Government of tha day, the reaalt beint- that the experiment was abandoned, ' and Mr Btddeley, R.M., placed In charge of the Ashburton district (*a we generally understood at the time) to take up hi^ residence m Ashburton. At all events, he did reside m Aahbnrton for some time after his appointment, and then removed to Ohristchurch. We recognise the necessity that exists for economy m the public expenditure, bat beg to point oat that the Magisterial arrangements for the district have for a long time past been characterised by b Revere frugality, and many places In the oolony of much emaller population than Aehburton have long ci joyed the ad vantage of a Resident Magistrate dwelling on the eput, 4 reference to the records of the Resident Magistrate's Court of Ashburton will show the large quantity of criminal and civil busineeo which Ib transacted m tha Oomt during the course of the year and which, of course, yields to Government a corresponding revenue In the shape of Court fees or fines. As members of the legal profession practising m the Resident Qfagtßtrate'a Court at Ashburton, we have th >oght It our duty to bring the subject under your notice and trust that you will give due weight to our representations which are pimply made m the public interest. We have, etc.