A Judge on his Defence.

Feilding Star, Volume XVI, Issue 268, 16 May 1895, Page 3

A Judge on his Defence.

(Per Press Association.) Melbourne, May 15. Judge Molesworth in. replying to the Premier in reference to remarks he made from the Bench in connection with J. B. Davies' insolvency, says he spoke in the public interest. It was not in the public interest that an insolvency judge should be subject to a dependent position and that there should be reasonable ground for the public to fear that in doing what he believed to be his duty he might act against his own interests by offending influential members of Parliament. In cities there were a number of cases where such members with wide-reaching social influence became insolvent for amouuts ranging over a million and the judges had to decide all cases without the intervention of a jury, thus urging a strong plea in making the Insolvency Court independent of political influences. In conclusion he says it certainly appears to him there are good grounds for believing that the public who are sufferers where members of Parliament are concerned, might not believe that a Judge in such a position is able to dispense impartial justice without fear, favor, or affection.