WHY?

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 853, 27 June 1910, Page 6

WHY?

I EMINENT SERVICES OVEH--1 LOOKED. j Both the "Otago Daily Times" and , Christchurch "Press," in commenting i on tho birthday honours just an- • nounced, remark on tho failure to rej cognise the services of Mr. Justice , Williams. r The "Otago Daily Times," in. the J course* of its article, says: —"We par- > ticularly dqsire, however, at this time ■ to express regret that once more the i eminent services that have been ron- ' dered the Dominion by a respected member of tho judiciary have escaped recognition at the hands of the Crown. 1 Not only is Mr. Justico Williams, in '' point of service, by far tho oldest judge ' in the Australasian Dominions, but he ' is, wo believe, actually the doyen of ' the judges throughout the whole of the ' British Empire. For more than thirty- ' five years he has with dignity and distinction filled a place on the Bench of the Supreme Court, and the ability with, which no has discharged the duties of i his responsible and honourable office is I recognised, far and wide, by those • skilled in the interpretation of the law. . To those who are unable to assign a ■ , cause for tho continued absence of his \ name from tho list of recipients of Royal favours it is a surprise that, \ while judges in other countries with far'shorter terras of service have had knighthoods conferred upon them, he should have been apparently over- ' looked. But by those who believe they, • can assign a cause for what they re- > gard as a deliberate slight upon an ; eminent jurist the omission of his name t from tho lists of honours is described ■ in harsh terms. If. it be the case that i the private feelings of any colonial personage are allowed to influence the disposal by the Sovereign of the marks of his Royal favour the circumstance is ( one that must bo regarded with pro- . found regret." '•■ The "Press" says:—"We have again . to regret that Mr. Justice Williams'e kmg and valnable services as a puisne judge havo not yet been recognised by ' the knighthood that in other colonies 1 has been conferred upon men immeasurably his inferior. Not only has he sat on tho Supreme Court Bench.for a ■ far longer period than any otilqr judge ■ in Australasia—a full generation has passed since he was appointed—buthe is also, by consent of tho legal profession, admitted to be one of the most \ able jurists in the Empire. It is unfortunate that the New Zealand Gevemmeiit should so persistently overlook a distingaished colonist whose claim to--1 official- recognition would have beer, admitted long ago in any other part of' ' the Dominions."