The Evening Star WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 1876.

Evening Star, Issue 4227, 13 September 1876, Page 2

The Evening Star WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 1876.

Although exception has be en taken to the manner of Mr "Whitaker's appointiuent to tlio Attorney-Coua'id'h*}', it* ■sviil be generally concede 5. that the office required filling up. It had i wen vacant siuct > Mr Premdeh* sasj’s trouft itioa to tho Boa« >h, Mr Exn>,

th# Assistant Law Officer, was shortly after that event raised to the rank of SolicitorGeneral, and in that capacity had been acting in the place of the Attorney-General; but such an arrangement was temporary in its nature, and had lasted much too long for the public good when Mr Whitaker’s appointment was announced. The AttorneyGeneral is an integral part of our judicial system. He is the authorised representative of the Crown in legal proceedings, and in many suits which only theoretically concern the Crown his name and consent are absolutely requisite before the Courts can move a step. No practical inconvenience had occurred in consequence of the want of an AttorneyGeneral. The Solicitor-General’s services had, as it happened, proved sufficient. When the Princes street widening case was before the Supreme Court, a question was indeed raised as to the power of the Solicitor-General to lay an information against the Corporation, which should in the ordinary course of things have been laid by the Attorney-General, but the Court ruled in his favor. Ihe objection, however, might have been sustained in another case ; and in any event, the parties to actions with which it is necessary to associate the Crown were rendered liable t > pay the cost of expensive legal arguments so long as a doubt existed as to the status of the official representative of the Crown for the time being. Then, too, the Attorney-General is the head of the bar; and the bar will not recognise the Solicitor-General as locum tenens, although it is compelled to acknowledge his presence in the Court. Mr Whitaker’s appointment presents another and equally important aspect. It is a return to the old principle of making the Attorney-General a political officer. At Home the Attorney General gees in and out of office with the Ministry, and the same practice prevailed here until Mr Stafford persuaded the Assembly to change it and to pass the Attorney-General’s Act, 1866, by which the Attorney-General was converted into a civil servant, holding Lis appointment during good behaviour, but removable on the address of both Houses of the Assembly* from a seat in either of which he was expressly excluded. The salary was likewise fixed at LI,OOO a year. The change was brought about in consequence of the small number of lawyers then in the Assembly, which rendered two or three individuals practically masters of the situation when a Cabinet was being formed. It was a rather rash alteration, since it threatened to tie the hands of the Colony permanently for the sake of getting rid of a passing evil. However, it was made, and Mr Prendergast accepted the office. The House of Representatives soon found out its mistake. Legal questions habitually arise in the course of its daily business, and many of the Bills which are introduced during each session are of such a technical character that none but a lawyer can thoroughly comprehend them ; while Bills of every kind when passing through Committee, requiie the constant supervision of a trained mind to prevent incongruous amendments being made in them. The lawyers, at the next election, flowed into the House abundantly, but since they were not elected as lawyers, but as politicians, their advent did not much improve matters. A conspicuous illustration of the need of a political Attorney-General was furnished last session in the discussions which took place upon the power of the Assembly to pass the Abolition Bill, the legality of the Piako Swamp sale, and various other subjects wherein questions of policy were involved. Legal opinions w«m given without stint, but those who proffered them spoke as partisans, not as lawyers, and the opinions were valued accordingly. The events of the past two months have taught the same lesson. It is, however, in the supervision of Bills that the want of a legal member of the Government is most felt in the House ; and the deficiency would probably have been supplied some time ago but for the difficulty created by Mr Prendergast having received a life appointment. The late Government tried to surmount that barrier by appointing a Minister of Justice ; but unfortunately, the gentleman upon whom the portfolio was first bestowed was unpopular with the House, which flatly refused to accept him as its legal adviser. This gentleman retired, and was succeeded by Mr Bowen, who, being a layman, could not, of course, claim to be an authority on legal matters, however useful he might be in the Cabinet otherwise. The time was consequently ripe for bringing back the Attorney-General to his natural place in Parliament, and evoking order out of that confusion which Mr Stafford’s well-intentioned but injudicious change Jiad made. Nor would anyone dispute Mr Whitaker’s competency for the post. He has held the Attorney Generalship before with credit to himself, and his high position as a practising barrister is beyond question. The challenge thrown down by the Oppjsition is that, by the terms of the Attorney-General’s Act, the AttorneyGeneral cannot be a member of the Government. The Act says distinctly in section 5, “No Attorney General shall, during his continuance in office, be capable of being a member of the Executive Council of the Colony or of either House of Assembly. The meaning of these words is unmistakeable ; but it is argued, on the other side, that the Civil List Amendment Act, 1873, contemplates the existence of a political Attorney-General, and being of a later date overrides the former statute. In order to have avoided difficulties, it would have been better perhaps had Mr Whitaker accepted some other portfolio, temporarily until the Attorney-General's Act could have been repealed, so as to set at rest all doubts upon the subject. However, the Bill now before the Assembly will effect that object, and restore the Attorney-General to his rightful position.