The Akaroa Mail. TUESDAY, JUNE 11.

Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, Volume 2, Issue 198, 11 June 1878, Page 2

The Akaroa Mail. TUESDAY, JUNE 11.

So sweeping a meaisurc, namely, the intention of Government to do awaj with the present system of legnl administration as hitherto carried.out by Resident Magistrates, deserves more than a passing notice, and should be subjected, we think, before being brought into effect, to, a minute and searching investigation as to the probabilities of its successful working throughout the colony as a whole. Tbat districts of the extent and population of Wellington, Christchurch and Napier should haye developed , legal dimensions beyond those workable by a Magistrates' Court, is a natural sequence of their growth and prosperity, with which everything else has kept pace, so that the establishment of a District Court, with the appointment

of a District Judge falls easily in with the requirements of the place and people. But the present stage of advancement of. outlying settlements and the smaller towns', &c, does not warrant any increase of legal machinery, and we unhesitatingly assert, that with these places! the intended system of periodical District Courts, with an interregnum of Courts { of Petty Sessions, presided over by local; J.'sP., with a limited jurisdiction in civil cases up to £20, would prove an' 'expensive failure. It must be borne in' rnintl that Colonial Justices of the Peace are widely differently circumstanced to their more fortunate brethren in the old country; There,, County ; Magistrates are for the most part men of large landed possessions, and independent means ; men to whom time is of little or no moment, who are, in the fullest sense of the term, perfectly free ' agents. But in this country it is very different. With the majority of our J.'sP. time is money, and they are decidedly not, for many reasons, independent. To imagine then that these unpaid officers will be at the beck and call of the Government, or that the threat of being struck off tlie roll, for inattention to duties which will be greatly, increased, and which will entail a corresponding amount of loss in some shape or other, will carry any weight, is simply ridiculous. In fact, we should not feel surprised if the "Government persist in adopting this measure throughout the colony, were the J.'sP. to simultaneously throw up their commissions, and leave the authorities to work the scheme out by themselves. This would necessitate the appointment of salaried police magistrates, and, as one of the objects of the change seems to be retrenchment, it is a matter of considerable query where the saving comes in. When the New Zealand Jurist, in animadverting upon the existing system of lay . magistrates, declaims against the "injustice to the profession," it pretty clearly shews the quarter from which pressure has 'been brought to'bear. Of course one must stick to-one's colors. The Jurist could not well say otherwise, but some explanation of the " injustice " is very necessary. Moreover, there is much room for questioning whether the ordinary business of small Courts of Equity, such as Resident Magistrates' Courts would bo more satisfactorily or expeditiously conducted by a lawyer, than by a layman having a knowledge of the various Acts, and some years' experience as a magistrate. The mere knowledge of the subteltics of law does not necessarily combine the idea of justice, perhaps rather the contrary, and it may fairly be contended that in all ordinary Resident Magistrate's Court cases, an experienced lay magistrate would be. as competent to give an equitable judgment as the shrewdest lawyer in the profession. There is one other view of this measure which cannot be lost sight of, and that is the manifest injustice that will be done to many an old ;;ad well tried Government servant by the sudden dismissal from their offices of the It'esiibnt Magistrates. Many of these gentloraen have faithfully served the coioriv for years in this capacity, and have expended the best years of their lives in that- service. Now they are to be cast on one side (their labours being stigmatised by the Jurist as a "farce"), abruptly turned out of their employment, and Yi\ to find some other provision for themselves and their families almost at a mom em's notice. A kind and paternal Government works them till they reach that time of life when they are fit for only the duties they have been so long accustomed to do, and which they did efficiently to the end, aud then with a wave of the arm dismisses them-—with thanks. This is a dire injustice. If the present system needs the alteration proposed, the measure should be, and could be, gradually introduced, so as to take the place of existing institutions by degrees. As regards the adaptability of the new system to the Peninsula, we feel convinced that it caunot be successfully worked here. With our present difficulties of communication, tho scattered nature of the district, and its peculiar configuration, .the expenses and delay that would result in the administration of justice by the proposed measure would be productive of considerable loss and inconvenience to the public. As ire said before, there are doubtless some large districts winch have advanced sufficiently to need an extension of the local legal machinery, but in this district, as in many others, it is premature and superfluous. The present system is sufficient, for all local requirements. :