The Dunstan Times. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 1880.

Dunstan Times, Issue 969, 12 November 1880, Page 2

The Dunstan Times.

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 1880.

BeneatJitherule of men kstikklyjurt<7i pkn is mightier than «7ieswoßi>

It is we tlrnlc pretty certain that Central Otago is to lie left without the higher forms of administrative justice. This is very complimentary to the Counties of Vincent and Maniototo, because it includes the assnmp tion that indebtedness, fraud, and crime are unknown within their boundaries , and yet not complimentary because it also includes the as sumption that no person in these Counties has any occasion to make a will—having presumedly nothing to bequeath. Upon no other grounds is it possible to account for the startling circumstance that the Government has forgotten to provide for the holding of J'i.strict Courts in any put of Central Otago, 'i he functions of the

District Court are manifold. There is tho extended jurisdiction in cases over -£loo ; there is the appeal jurisdiction- from tho Warden's Court; there is the bankruptcy jurisdiction and there is the ecclesiastical jurisdiction ; and there is also the primary jurisdiction which every suitor has the right of selecting of taking his case ab initio into the District Comt rather than imo the Warden’s Court or the Magistrate’s Court And of all and each of these Central Otago is to he deprived. What suitor in Cromwell, Clyde, Alexandra, or Blacks will like to have the alternative forced upon him of having to take his District Court business to Queenstown or Lawrence] What suitor in Nftseby, St. Bathtms, Hamilton, or Hyde will like to have the alternative forced upon him of having to take his District Court business to Dunedin ? Yet this is precisely what the “ pseudoeconomical ” Government of the day are trying to force upon us Sure : v here is a question upon which we ad can agree Here no local jealousies can creep in unless human nature is morn corrupt than we deem it. We ask the Minister of Justice to explain the why and wherefore of his rash proceeding. The District Courts of Lawrence and Queenstown are gazetted as of half-yearly recurrence ; and the Courts for the whole of Central Otago are altogether abolished. It were bad enough and stupid enough to hold half-yearly Courts only at. each centre of population; but to abolish them at some betrays an excess cf stupidity fo r which we did not previously hold the Minister of Justice capable. Is it that in tlie-e dainty days Judges of the Ward stamp a r e unable to travel where railways are not—that Lawrence and Queenstown being within easy railway distance, may be honoured with his Judgeship’s presence, but that the possible contiguity of 1 iw persons in a common coach is incompatible with his judicial dignity] And if this he so, why were not the services retained of Judge Harvey, who was given to sucli luxurious propensities] Any wav we fail to see why the interests of people should be ruthlessly ,-acriliced j either to tho mad rage for economy j ■which possesses the Ham, Ministry, • or to the convenience of a paid officer of the public. To anyone acquainted wi<h the geography of the interior districts of Otago the present arrangements must appear thoroughly preposterous The Judge visits Queens- ! town—then returns to Dunedin, and visits Lawrence. Why can he not • travel twice a-year from Queenstown ; to Naseby via Cromwell and Clyde] There can be only one answer, and i that is of suck a nature as not to be creditable to the Minister or the Judge. j