Correspondence.

Lyttelton Times, Volume X, Issue 642, 31 December 1858, Page 4

Correspondence.

To the Editor of the Lyttelton Times.

Sir, —Your remarks referring to the information conveyed by the letter of an advocate and counsel in the late case of Baker v. Schroder to the 'Wellington Independent' appear to demand the confirmation to some extent of those who practice in the Supreme Court, to which all communities have been accustomed to look with confidence and deference to its decisions. I trust it will be long before any will be found among the members of the profession here who (after a cause has been heard and determined with all the formalities and attention which the -law can require) will call in question the result by snch means as an analysis of the opinions entertained in the jury room, or the acts of the judge of the court, by such illegitimate means as a correspondence with the press. If the law is to be respected amongst us, the officers of the court should each and all respect and bow to its decisions, or leave its jurisdiction. As Englishmen we have been taught to respect the laws as administered at home, and hitherto have submitted with a very good grace to the imperfect application of it by persons uneducated to the profession. Some have construed such submission to the perfection of the system inaugurated by the" Resident Magistrate's Extended Jurisdiction Act," implied by t'ue number of cases settled without hearing, forgetting or not knowing that in the-Common Law Courts not one case in twenty comes before the judge for adjudication, and that a writ of summons or some further process is all that is generally needed to produce a settlement of most causes of action; the alternative the creditor has of seizing or rather suing his debtor and demanding him to " pay him what he owes," is sufficient to show that he will not " have patience with him till he can pay the debt," and he acts accordingly. The Supreme Court is undoubtedly a powerful and expensive weapon of offence, and in a small community like ours particularly so ; we will hope it may also be an equally powerful one to defend.

3 am, sir, your obedient servant,

AN OFFICER OF THE COURT