RETIREMENT OF HIS HONOR THE JUDGE.

Globe, Volume III, Issue 251, 1 April 1875, Page 2

RETIREMENT OF HIS HONOR THE JUDGE.

Yesterday being the last occasion upon which bis Honor Mr Justice Gresson sat as a Judge of fie Supreme Court, advantage was taken by the Bar of Canterbury to bid his Honor farewell. The Chamber was crowded, as in addition to the members of the legal profession, his Honor Judge Williams and several other gentlemen were also present, showing the high esteem in which his Honor Mr Justice Gresson is held, not only by the members of the profession, but also by all classes of the community. The following gentlemen were present:—His Honor Judge Williams, the Sheriff (Dr Back), the Registrar (Mr. E. S. Willcocks), Deputy-Registrar (Mr R. Davis), Messrs P. Hanmer, J. C Porter, G. Harper, T. S. Duncan (Crowr prosecutor), F. Slater, H. Slater, F. J Garrick, W. P. Cowlishaw, R. W. D'Oyly O'Neill, T. I. Joynt (Provincial Solicitor), R D. Thomas, G..W. Nalder, A. R. Inwood, R W. Fereday, H. B. Johnstone, J. Struthers Williams, Wynn Williams, Lewis, J. B. Gresson, H. Bamford, Dr Foster, G. L. : Mellish (Resident Magistrate), F. de 0. Malet (clerk to the Bench), R. Walton (Provisional Trustee). At the conclusion of the ordinary Chamber business, Mr T. S. Duncan rose and said—May it please your Honor —As president of the LawSociety; and also'as/representing and expressing what I feel'sureis-lbe-heartfelt feeling of every member of the profession, it becomes my duty on this occasion to express to your Honor on behalf of the Bar, and also myself, the deep sorrow we feel on this, the last occasion upon which your Honor will occupy that chair. We feel it the more deeply, because we have for so many years practised before you, and have always experienced at the hands of your Honor the greatest courtesy and consideration. We have also seen the integrity and high minded discharge of the functions of your office, and on all occasions our intercourse officially has been marked with the most friendly relations. The dignity and uprightness in the discharge of your duty, which has been so conspicuous in your Honor's judicial career amongst us, has given to this Co»rf, and to the Bar, a tone, which I think I may say is not excelled nor equalled by any Court in the colony. The influence o£ the Bench upon the tone of the Bar and the Court generally is well known, and the Bar of this province have been par- < ticularly fortunate, in that during your i Honor's judicial career they have possessed i on the Bench one who has so worthily and < efficiently discharged the duties of the ( office. Therefore it is, your Honor, that the 1 profession feel —and I may say myself more i especially, from my long and close official c connection with your Honor—the deepest t regret that we »re this day called upon tp j

bid you farewell, and that our official connection now ceases. But your Honor, while we say this, we also rejoice that you are retiring in full vigor of health, and we hope that you may enjoy many happy years of life. You are retiring to your own home with the consciousness of having done your duty, and the approval of your fellowcolonists ; and we venture to express a hope that your retirement may be blessed with all you can wish. On the part of the profession, also personally, I hope that, although we are losing your Honor from that seat, and our official connection is severed, the friendship and cordiality which has always subsisted between us may continue uninterrupted, and that it may be our privilege often to meet your Honor, and that our meetings may always be in kindness and good feeling. The intercourse between your Honor arid the Bar professionally for many yearp.hasbeeu marked by the utmost urbanity and consideration on the part of your Honor towards the members of the profession, and I am only expressing their sentiments when I say that the} are deeply sensible of the many marks of kindly consideration received by them from your Honor. Many little matters which perhaps might have been visited harshly by a judge have been dealt with in a kindly and considerate spirit by your Honor. It now only remains for me, on the part of the Bar, to wish yi*r Honor farewell, perhaps for ever, iu your judicial capacity, and to express a hope that you may be permitted to enjoy for many years the happiness which I am certain every one in >the province wishes you may experience.

His Honor, who on risine was received by those present standing, was deeply affected, and replied as follows:—Mr Duncan and gentlemen,—l thank you most sincerely for the kind terms in which you have spokea of me and my discharge of my judicial duties. Next to the approval of my own conscience, I value the approval of those who, like yourselves, have been intimately connected with me in the discharge of the duties of my office. Gentlemen, I cannot express to you in words what I feel. When invited in 1867 by the then Colonial Secretary to become Acting Judge, my first impulse was to decline, chiefly from a sense of my own insufficiency, ''here were only two judges then for the whole colony, and both were in very delicate health. Conse* quently there was a large arrear of business both civil and criminal, and great inconvenience was experienced throughout the colony. Under these circumstances I felt upon reflection that the more manly course for me to pursue was to accept the position offered, and endeavour to discharge the duties to the best of my ability. We all know that in a new country the greatest difficulty with whieh its rulers have to contend is to find men qualified even inamoderate degree for the posts which must be filled, and therefore the standard of qualification is necessarily much lower than in England. I felt that, however deficient I might be in learning and experieace, I might reasonably hope to maintain a character for integrity, impartiality, and patience, three most essential qualifications for the judicial office. The difficulties with which a Judge of the Supreme Court in New Zealand had to contend in these days were much greater than those of the Judges at Westminster. He had not only to administer the law in nearly all its branches, but he must do this without the advice of his brother Judges, who were beyond hiß reach, without access to legalj decisions or even text books, save a few of those most commonly used, and unaided, or but slightly aided, by a Bar, which at that time scarcely existed in the colony; nor could he resort to the experience of the officers of the Court, whose experience is found so valuable on points of practice, and so often resorted to by the English Judges. Hore the practice was new alike to officers and Judges, and many of the rules were of a novel and tentative character. If the English Judges, notwithstanding their long experience, eminent learning, and the great advantages to which I have referred, mistake the law, as every reader of the law reports knows they do, frequently—is it surprising if Colonial Judges fall into like errors. Have we not a strong claim to the indulgence of our fellow-colonists, and more especially to those of them who, from their legal attainments, are capable of appreciating the novelty and difficulty of the questions which sometimes come before us for decision. Your presence here to-day, and the kind terms in which Mr Duncan has addressed me, prove that you make allowance for my deficiencies, and give me credit, even beyond my deserts. I freely and gratefully acknowledge the respect and kind consideration with which you have always treated me, and the able assistance which I have derived from you on very many occasions. The friendly relations which have so long subsisted between you, Mr Duncan, and myself will always be remembered by me with pleasure. I beg also to tender my most sincere thanks to the Sheriff, Registrar, and Deputy Registrar, and other officers, for their constant care and attention in the discharge of their duties. I avail myself of this, the only opportunity I shall have of expressing to his Honor the Superintendent and his Executive Council my deep sense of the desire which they have on all occasions evinced to maintain the dignity and supremacy of the Court, and to show their respect to my office and to myself personally. I have always found in his Honor ready sympathy -and hearty co-operation in any practicable plan that might be suggested for ameliorating the condition of the gaols and other public or charitable institutions of the province. It only remains for me before I take leave of you io explain the events which have caused me to retire somewhat sooner than I had intended. You are aware that the joint committee of both Houses of Assembly upon the " Ward-Chap-man Enquiry" appended to their report a recommendation that the Supreme and District Court Judges should change their circuits occasionally. I supposed at the time, as did many others, that it was merely intended to invite the Judges to exchange circuits, in conformity with the practice of the Judges in the United Kingdom. Such an exchange has often been talked of, and to it the only possible objection could be that it might be attended with some slight additional cost to the country. But the General Government interpreted the suggestion to mean that the Judges should be required to change their judicial districts at intervals, and remove from time to time from one point of the colony to another. I venture to doubt that this could have been the meaning of the committee, or the intention of the Legislature, because it would have implied an imputation against the Judges, and because it would have been at variance with the course of legislation of the last sixteen years, culminating in the statute which

secured the independence of the Supreme Court Judges by making them removable only by her Majesty upon the address of both Houses of the Legislature Bat what becomes of the independence of the judges if they may be ordered by the Minister of the day as often as he pleases to remove to whatsoever part of the colony he pleases. It is obvious that such a power is open to gross abuse, and that if these be the terms on which they hold office, the judges are not better off then when their commission was only during pleasure—a form which was wisely altered by the legislature to a good conduct tenure so long ago as in 1858. In conformity with what the Government supposed to be the intention of the legislature, I received a letter from the Colonial Secretary informing me that this judicial district has been assigned to Mr Justice Johnston, and inviting me to remove to Nelson. This I did not feel called upon to do, under circumstances which appear to me to convey an imputation against the impartiality of the judges. If the legislature had by statute expressed its intention that they should reside at the seat of government, I should have unhesitatingly accepted a change which might then fairly be assumed to be for the public interest, and not inconsistent with the independence of the judges, although in my opinion the colony is not sufficiently advanced for such a movement. But, viewing the matter as 1 do, no alternanative remained for me but to retire. In conclusion, I beg again to thank you most sincerely, and to assure you that although the official tie between us exists no longer, I shall always feel the deepest interest in the honor of the New Zealand bar, and that of Canterbury in particular; and lam most grateful for the expression of your kind wishes for my welfare and happiness in my retirement, and assure you that the sentiments of good will which you have expressed on behalf of the Bar are most heartily reciprocated by me. I cordially reciprocate what Mr Duncan has said respecting our meeting hitherto, and I trust I shall often meet you, gentlemen, and that though our official connection may be severed our intercourse will always, as it has been in the past, be that of friends—Gentlemen, I beg now to bid you farewell. His Honor, who was very deeply affected during the delivery of his reply, then left the Chamber, having taken leave personally of all present.