Bordering on Delirium Tremens.

Manawatu Herald, 1 June 1893, Page 2

Bordering on Delirium Tremens.

Thr peculiar ideas the present Go-' venmienfc hold as to what is nucessary as a qualification for the office of Justice of the Peace is now becoming widely known. At a new settlement, in a neighbouring county, the Premier directed a meeting lo be called at which the names of two persons should be chosen to be forwarded to tho Government so as to be gazetted as Justices of the Peace. The Premier however desired that this being his suggestion should be kept private. The meetingthought otherwise and' that is how every one .knows of these proceedings. We cannot conceive how appointments made in this manner can be satisfactory, and many have turned out very unsatisfactory. The Gazette has notified already many names of those gentlemen who* were placed, in haste; into positions they were unable to fulfil satisfactorily, as having been pleased to retire, in haste, from them. If they would all do this no cne would object to a longer trial of the system. Un« fortunately many will not, and though convicted of offences which should cause their immediate dismissal are retained, with a caution. We are brought to conclude the above by the most peculiar conduct of a Mr Geo. Heller, a Justice of the Peace residing at Arrow town, the hero of what the Wellington Ministerial paper is pleased to call, " a sensation pared down." After all the paring the ugly facts, as admitted by Mr Heller'and deposed to by respectable witnesses amounts to this:— About the middle of last month it was stated that Mr Heller, after one o'clock in the morning, signalised his entry into the township by firing shots into dwelling houses with a breech loader. The Constable being asked for an explanation reported he heard reports of shots and found Mr Heller setting at the door of his house in a state of intoxication, and with a fowling piece across his knees. He arrested him, and the next morning Hillev was find twenty shillings and costs for drunkenness and subsequently fined twenty shillings and costs for discharging firearms in a public place. Detective Henderson who went up to. inquire into the case said that Mr Heller had arrived home in a state bordering on de lirium tremens. Mr Heller admittina being drank but excused himself by saying he had only two drinks " which would not have been sufficient to make me drunk had the liquor not been poisou instead of whisky.!' There is little doubt but" that the shooting was harmless, but it is not satisfactory to think of a drunken J.P. in a town firing off a loaded gun just as it pleased him. The man admits .he was drunk, so that the accident no one was hurt is not to : his credit, it was mere chance. The peculiar part about the matter is that if the detective is comet in diagnosing Mr Heller's state of health, as bordering on delirium tremens, it would be the first time oil record that two glasses of whisky had had that effect on any man. In the face of this, because he bore a good character (for what?) the Government do not feel called upon to take action " unless there is a repetition of the conduct complained of." This means, he may get drank again but, must pot then be shooting* or he' may go shooting promiscuously about his town provided he is not drunk, but the two offences together will really call forth a grave rebuke. If this is the ' Government's estimate ot the cha- ' racter of a Justice of the Peace, it is not an exalted one, and should.be ! within the means of any nominee to ( claim, but it is not complimentary to those who hold office nor is it an incentitive to many to strive to « attain that position* The Liberal ! Government have now declared that \ a person, bordering on delirium j tremens is a fit person to decide f upon the actions of those brought i before him. !