JUDGE RICHMOND ON "COMPARISONS."

Evening Star, Issue 3180, 30 April 1873, Page 2

JUDGE RICHMOND ON "COMPARISONS."

The following was the address delivered by Mr Justice Richmond, to the Nelson Grand Jury, last week :

On the present occasion, as for many years past, the calendar was very light. Only on one occasion since he was appointed to his present district in 1867 bad it happened to him to be called upon to pass the last sentence of the law. Other grave crimes too £g,d been far from frequent, and this was a state o t things on which they might fairly congratulate' was, he thought, ill' a great measure to bp attributed to the steady £ind : settled-' character of the jpinipg districts. The districts over which he presided—napiely, Nelson and Westland, produced as large g,n amount of gold as any other part of the Colony, and looking at the connection between gold and crime, there was every reason to believe that there must be as much of the latter here as anywhere. Throughout the whole Colony it was observable that crime was on the decrease, and this was perhaps owing to the fact that gold was not to be obtained by mere scratching, but required the application of steady industry, and skill. The paucity of criminal cases occasionally provoked the observation that the judicial establishments of the Colony were out of proportion to the work they had to do, but it was scarcely fair to apply this remark to the judicial establishment alone. It might with equal reason be made of every Government Department from the Executive down to the lowest office, ft wps absurd to institute comparisorik on this between New Zealand and other British 'possessions, and the climax of absurdity was reached when it was compared, as spsaetjmee the case, with Singapore, a siqall islippl thickly in habited by Chinese, and Malays, and other lawless characters. This, on the other hand, was a territory extending orer twelve decrees of latitude and a similar number of ongitude, and was equally habitable by the *<une race in all its parts. The inhabitants " »f the Bluff, for instance, considered that their climate was far superior to that of

Mongonui in the eJtWDWW>rth; while those in the latter place wondered how people could be found to live at the Bluff, ihpre was a remarkable climatic identity throughout the whoje Colony such is was scarcely known elsewhere. The climate of the north of Scotland was hyperborean compared with that of the neighborhood of London, but no such great distinction existed here, the whole Colony being habitable by the same individuals throughout, and this was the reason of the number of our establishments. There was the Customs, too, with reference to which comparisons wve occasionally drawn between the Colonies of New Zealand and Victoria. This was exceedingly foolish, as in Victoria there was one central port, while ours were numerous, extending over thousands of miles. It was not fair, therefore, to select the judicial establishment for such comments, as the time of the judges was, owing to the extent of their districts, frequently taken up in journeyings to and fro that occasionally were far from pleasant, especially to those who were not fond of the sea. Similar remarks were sometimes made regarding the inferior Courts, [but those too were of necessity numerous, and it was impossible to find men of ability and understanding to perform the work without providing them with remunerative salaries.