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Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume XLV, Issue XLV, 13 July 1917, Page 3

Plain Speaking. Commenting editorially on the jury system, under the caption "A Serious Matter," the Grey River Argus says hard things about the integrity of Greymouth:—"lt is regrettable, but it is none theleßS true" (says the paper), "that Greymouth has earned an unenviable reputation for the palpably in • correct verdict of its juries in some serious cases of recent years, and we have frequently heard people Btate, 'lt is impossible to get a conviction in Greymouth. Could any place fall lower than that if the statement i.? true? Such words simply mean that this town and dißtrict are willing to cover up crime, and to N allow criminals to remain at large and to mix freely with th 6 community. If we look into the question a little we shall find that our juries allow themselves to be influenced by suce thoughts as 'Accused is a good-natured fellow, and though thare is no doubt that he is guilty we are .not going to have him sent to gaol,' or 'Nb doubt So-and-so is guilty, but wa could not, for the sake of his father or his family, give our consent for him to be put in gaol,' and bo on. It is hardly credible, but we know with certainty that such is the position. Tbis is indeed a serious state of affairs, and we believe that tb« New Zealand Government would ba well advised to discontinue trial by jury in this district, and have all Supreme Court cases heard elsewhere, where those eligible for juries know their doty and are willing to do that which they take a solemn oath to do. As Judge Sim said not long ago, those who wilfully permit guilty men to go free are worse criminals than those for whom they return a verdict of not guilty. These are hard words, but they are true. . . . We are astonished at the serious things that happen in tbis town, and which are regarded lightly and with a smile by a section of the people. The man who by snody methods beats hia neighbour in business is 'patted on the back,' while the man who goeß 'straight* ia regarded as something of a fool, and is looked upon as some abnormal being. The moral fabric of the town as a whole has been reduced to shreds, and it is high time there was an awakening to the seriousness of the position. There are some people of honour and dignity in Greymouth, and it is their solemn duty to clear up the present situation, though where to begin is not altogether easy to decide. We are ceriain that if there were more justice shown by our juries and more daylight thrown upon ttie misorabla doings of some who deserve to be sho»?n in their true light we should have a cleaner and more wholesome moral atmosphere in a town which contains many of the fines; people in the Dominion, as well as some of the worst." I