The Feilding Star. SATURDAY, NOV. 18, 1882. THE CLERK TO THE BENCH.

Feilding Star, Volume III, Issue 44, 18 November 1882, Page 2

The Feilding Star. SATURDAY, NOV. 18, 1882. THE CLERK TO THE BENCH.

The reply from t lie Government to the letter of J. H. Fnv, Esq.,forwarding- the resolutions passed at a public meeting held here ou the 3rd instant, is us follows : — Department of Justice, Wellington, Xov 11, 18S2. Sir, — The Hvii. Mr Johnston lms forwarded to this department your letter to. him, enclosing resolutions passed at a public meeting held at Feilding on the 3rd histiinl. In ivply f am directed by the Minister of Justice to inform you that the amount of business transacted in the llesident Magistrate's Court at Keihling, does not warrant the appointment of a Resident Clerk at present. C. J. A. Hasei.dkx, Acting Under-Seerctary. J. IE. Fry, E*q , J.P , Feilding. This, as a piece of pn'ite snubbing, is ini.nitable, and the desire to shelve the question by the phrase — " the busings transacted does not warraii the appointment of a Resident Cl»rk i tit presort" — is remarkable for its impertinence veiled u/.der courti ous phraseology. This reply is »-iven, too. in the iace of the support to the resolutions »-ivi-n by Messrs Stkvkns, Wilson and Johnston, M.H.li's. We ventureto think t hat these gentlemen vvoul. . hardly care to yive merely a halfhearted racommendarion to the Minister of Justice to j*rant lln« request of the citizens of so important a. settlement as the Manchester Block. In a previous article on the removal of the Clerk to the Bench, and treating of the mode in which the Minister of Justice should be addressed, we said; " It wijl be advisable to approach the Minister with all huuility and. according to rule, for any expression of independence would most likely be met with a not ovrr polite rejoiuder " These words were unhappily prophetic, and go to prove that " we have a knowledge ot those thin s. ' We are not positively sure that the Minister himself is to blame, because he is new to his work, and is entirely, or almost so, dependant on underlines for departmental information, and it no influential official had a sucking 'lite Barnacle on whom the appointment could be conferred, it would, as a matter of course, be left open until one could be fetched out or the nursery. The utter want of general kuowlerlo-o displayed by the Government of what ought to be their business is remarkable, or it may be that they wilfully ignore facts when these facts would interfere with their own peculiar views. It is well-known i lisit every Government office in Feilding; — we will omit the li.M. Court for reasons afterwards to be explained — is a source of revenue (proportionately) far exceeding- that of any similar oiliee in other parts ot the Colony, The railway returns of the FeiJding station alone exceed £12,000 a year, about an average of £4 per head of the population. 'Jhe Savings Bank returns are far a-head of those of . Palmnrstou, and the credit returns ot the Post aud Telegraph offices are also superior to those oi Palmerston, Ihe Government Insurance Department has done more business in the Manchester Block than in any other proportionate part of the colony. To these statements there is not any possibility of contradiction, because our remarks are based on the Government Jfe'urns, and we presume they are to be accepted as correct. We now eoinc to the business of the H.M. Court. We are prepared to admit that, as a source vi revenue, this office has not yet been a success, and we are proud of it. We do not believe any town can be in a prosperous condition when the receipts for stamps of summonses. t£c , are an ol j"Ct to the Colonial Treasurer when " logging" up his Jiudg-er. We will also admit that police cases are remarkably fe.v in Feilding-, which goes to prove that we are a law abiding- community. 'ihe above t.tate ments cannot be contradicted, and should go a long' way towards justifying the Minister of Justice ill uddtugto the Goveruineut expenditure by consulting the general convenience of the settlers. iJore especially when it can >>c truthfully said that in no other place in the colony is so much revenue collected in proportion to ihe population, liy this we do iot mean contingent revenue collected on dutiable goods, it a, but in hard cash, paid . to Hrtiiway, Post, and Telegraph. The question resolves itself into this ; Are we quierly to suliuir to au act, oi injustice and a gross wrong i* We opine iiot. We hope to see the settlers again gather together, so that immediate steps may be taken to let tlie. Ministry know that we are determined to have our just rights, and not what the. Oo crnmeiii- -a thing of our

own creation — may bo pleased to dole our, or withhold at th n ir own caprice. [After our leader was in tj'pe we received the notification, which appears in niir advertising columns, by which the .Mayor calls a meeting of the town and country settlers, to consider the- action of the Minister of Justice in refusing the request of a previous meeting — to appoint a .Resident Clerk,of tla- Court at Feilding. The meeting will be held on Friday evening next, the 2Jth instant. A large attendance is expected and resolution* will be passed, which, it is hoped, will not only have the effect of compelling mem hers of the House concerned in the district to warmly in f crest themselves on our behalf, but make the Ministry aware that we are alive to our own interests and capable of looking after them.]