The Dunstan Times FRIDAY, APRIL 18,1873,

Dunstan Times, Issue 574, 18 April 1873, Page 2

The Dunstan Times FRIDAY, APRIL 18,1873,

Beneath tlxeUulo of Men entirely just the pen is mightier than the sword.

■ The Necessity for ; hdlding periodical sittings of our Supreme' Courts of •Law iu some central part of Ihc Dunstan District is daily becoming more and more apparent. Every Session of these Courts in Duu•ofli’% the numerous cases from the Gold-fields occupy a con

sidenible amount of its -attention; and suitors and their witnesses are put to long-and expensive journeys, coupled with much loss of time, in attending them. It is not only the direct loss and inconvenience these people suffer, but they are obliged to neglect their "businesses, which suffer materially from the absence nf those exercising the necessary leading control, and now that competition is so keen among traders, the evil is greatly to be deplored. That justice misses its aim, and the guilty remain unpunished, is the inevitable consequence of this state of affairs, and people voluntarily suffer the first loss, rather than be put to the great cost which stands in the way of securing their rights. It was urged, some time ago, that, for want of the necessary legal assistance, sit tings of the Supreme Court could not, with any sense of justice he held at the Dunstan, as only those possessing the means to bring council from Dunedin would be able to have their cases properly advocated; and where this was not the case, many innocent persons would suffer. This objection, although fatal at the time, is not so now, the difficulty being removed In this and 'the neighboring Gold fields townships the profession of the law is very fairly ■ represented, and we feel assured that there would muster every Session of the Courts a very respectable Bar,with sufficient talent to undertake the conducting of any ° cases, however complicated. In no other country but New Zealand would the omission to establish sittings of the Supreme Courts of Law in such a populous and important up-country district as this be tolerated. In New South Wales, for instance, we find the Judges travelling on circuit to the most remote portions of that vast Colony; there is every attention paid to the inhabitants, and justice is not permitted to error miss in its mission on account of any cheese paring principle on Ihe part of the Government; and we believe now, that, in asking for the establishment of periodical Sittings of the Supreme Courts of Law at the Dunstan, we are only asking what we have a right to demand as a body of numerous and important colonists. Without any hesitation, or a desire to place one per tion ot the Dunstan District in a more prominent position than the other, or to create any local jealousies, we can point to no other place than Clyde as the most central town of the whole ; in fact, it is the natural centre of the Northern Gold-fields, and the point from and to which all traffic radiates. This has been the case ever since gold was first discovered in the valleys of of the Molyneux, the Kawaran, and the Manuherikia, and the same holds good with the Lakes’ Districts. Except with the .Manuherikia, all traffic between Dunedin and either of these other places must pass through Clyde, while, in the case of the Manuherikia, is accessible at every point by an hour or two’s ride or drive. Queenstown, Arrow, Cardrona, Naseby, and the Teviot are about equi-distant one day’s easy travel will reach either—while we have also Alexandra, Cromwell, Black’s, and St. Bathan’s at considerably less distances ; and we may, with great truth, say that at least two thirds of the Gold-fields’ population of Otago are within one day’s ride of Clyde. Were this matter only properly and energetically taken up, we see no reason why it should not be successful. We possess the influence, and this, coupled with justice on our side, cannot fail to accomplish the desired end.”