SUPREME COURT, HOKITIKA,

Grey River Argus, Volume XIV, Issue 1755, 20 March 1874, Page 2

SUPREME COURT, HOKITIKA,

Wednesday, March 18. (Before his Honor Mr Justice Richmond.) At the opening of the Court his Honor^ in addressing the Grand Jury, said that although fhe calendar contained some charges of considerable gravity tbere were none of the. worst description. The gravest offence charged was that of an attempt to murder a warder on the part of one of the prisoners in the gaol. Another case, of a somewhat unusual character, was a charge of conspiracy. It was a curious feature of the criminal law that if several persons ' joined in certain acts, for which singly they would only be civilly responsible, they became criminally responsible, as conspirators. This was a case of that nature. There had been a charge of libel upon the calendar, T)ut in this the prosecutor declined to proceed, and there was no objectieri to allowing him to withdraw, ah apology having been offered and accepted. His Honor was sorry to note that there was upon the list cf caseß for trial one of those abominable cases of tampering with a child. There was another charge of a similar character, in which the committal had been to the District Court of which the next sitting would not be held until 4th April. It was unnecessary for him to make any further remarks upon the cases.

I might be allowed to congratulate you upon the concession to the district of a Provincial constitution. Practically, there may not be much difference between the power of local self-government which you recently enjoyed and those which belong to you under the new order of things. The powers and functions of your County Chairman were pretty nearly those of a Superintendent. But words and names go for a good deal in this world ; and I can well understand that the 1 political weight of the district will be increased by the change. At the least the alteration may be taken to' indicate the opinion of those who should be'best able to judge of the matter that the settlement of the Coast is now established on a permanent basis, and had now property, and not mere nomads unfit to be charged with, because uninterested in, the permanent welfare of the district.' In a social point of view, the permanence of these settlements is a subject of unmixed rejoicing. It is a sorry scheme of life under which men pass their best years in a place to which they are bound by no social tie, and in which they are charged with no political obligation. My own connection with this district has now existed seven years, and I am addressing; many whose residence here must have extended close upon ten years. Such periods as these are substantial parts of a man's active life. Our powers of work and enjoyment rarely extend with anything like vigor beyond four such periods, but it is a common thing to see men devoting the whole of this time to a mere provisional existence, selfishly absorbed in the effort to accumulate wealth for future enjoyment, at a period when perhaps the power of enjoyment will be past, and neglecting in the meantime to take up the enjoyments and the duties of social life; remaining without interest in their place of abode, or in the welfare of the people in whose midst they are spending their best days. The creation of the Province of Westland should mark the termination amongst us of such a provisional state of life, and calls upon all the inhabitants of this-dis-trict to take upon themselves the full and complete obligations of citizens of New Zealand. In the important matter of conduct in particular, you will no doubt be looked to not to fall below the general standard of the Colony. The Province which shall allow its larrikins to develop into full-fledged criminals, will be justly blamed as having neglected those means of prevention and reformation w.hich lie within the power of the legislators. ' The calendars will be looked to as affording some test of the extent to which the several Provinces fulfil their duties in this respect. I make these remarks not at all in the way of reflection for the past, but of suggestions for the future. Indeed, I am not aware that the criminal records of any part of the Colony show our colonial youth to be addicted to crime. Our calendars are, in great part, filled with the names of old offenders — men who did not get their lessons in crime in this part of the world. The coming years may be expected to exhibit more clearly the effect, of colonial training in this respect, and there is great reason to hope that the result will afford a satisfactory comparison with the state of older countries.

Gentlemen— These are all the remarks suggested to me by the present calendar on the state of the districts, and you are now at liberty to retire to your room arid deal with the bills which shall be presented to you.