PURITY OP THE BENCH.

Evening Star, Volume VII, Issue 1964, 21 August 1869, Page 2

PURITY OP THE BENCH.

To the Editor of the Ereulny Star. Sir—l consider that every right minded man in the community must fully concur in the opinion expressed in a letter from 44 A Member of the Legal Profession,” m yesterday’s Times; and in that from your correspondent 44 Q ” in last night’s Star, as to the recent exhibition of bad taste and indecent partisanship on the part of one of our 4 4 great unpaid.” I allude of course to the extraordinary, although timeli/ appearance of Mr Bathgate on the Bench, at the hearing of the case of Fish v. Hutchison, on Tuesday last. On the one hand there is Mr Bathgate’s active partisanship for the plaintiff Fish, as displayed by him in his strong support of the latter (luring the recent election for South Ward, and by presiding at a supper given to Mr Fish, in Walker street, * y his supporters ; while on the other han i there is his known hostility to Mr Hutchison, tindefendant, in conseouence of some bantering remarks of the latter at an election meeting, as to the influential philanthropic sympathies of Mr Bathgate for the denizens of Walker and Stafford streets. I contend that the administration of justice should be at all times above suspicion and 1 submit, sir, that it is incumbent on the other members of the Dunedin Bench, as a duty alike to the public and themselves (if they wish their decisions and influence to be respected) to represent forthwith to the Colonial Secretary the advisability of removing Mr Bathgate from the commission of the peace now that he is a practising solicitor, and thus preventing any possibility of the duties of the latter cl ishing with those of the magistrate, or the one becoming subservient to the other.—l am, &c., Faikpiav. Dunedin, August 20.