THE Manawatu Times. SATURDAY, JULY 19, 1879. THE DISTRICT COURT.

Manawatu Times, Volume III, Issue 58, 19 July 1879, Page 2

THE Manawatu Times.

SATURDAY, JULY 19, 1879. THE DISTRICT COURT.

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Now that Parliament is m Session we desire, to press upon the attention of Mr Walter Johnson, the member for Manawatu, the absolute necessity that exists for the erection of a District Court building m Palmerston. At every sitting of the Resident Magistrate's Court the total inadequacy of the accommodation makes. itself most inconveniently apparent.' Take, for instance, the last sitting, when m a. small enclosure there were crammed five members of the Bar, a member of the Press, and the Clerk of tli c Court. So closely were the unfortunates. packed, that until the outside mau chose to retire, the remaining six wera not only compelled to retain their seats, but the actual use of their legs and arms were seriously curtailed. In a little oven three months from now the first sitting of the District Court will be held, and m the absence of some definite "action it is a matter of the wildest speculation as to what portion of the Court is to be allottedjto the jurymen. The Court as it now stands is a building of the total length of 21, with a breadth of 14 feet. Of this amount 5 f oet are occupied by tho -seat of justice, 8 by the table aud the space allowed by the Bar, Press and Court officials, while 9 feet are allowed to witnesses and the public. In the rear of the Court there is a little den 9 x 7 feet, but not one-half this space is available, inasmuch as a table and a'quantity of office furniture absorbs more than half the amount. This at present is the clerk's office and magistrate's room ;,but failing some proper arrangements and provision during the sitting of the District Court it would not only be compelled to do duty as barristers' dressing and witnesses waiting room, but also serve as a retiring room for the. jury as well. As this latter will, we bolievo, be generally, composed of four, the dimensions of the room, would not be an insurmountable difficulty, but the drawback' would be that tha multifarious duties to which it would be allotted would m a great measure be the bar sinister to that immunity from outside 'communication 'which- juries are supposed to observe wh.ile m deliberation over their verdicts. Tho building, even ,for the purpose of a Resident Magistrates' Court, is simply a disgrace and an absurd'ty ; and the idea that m its present diminutive proportions it could be used as a y District Court is simply preposterous,' unless the barristers are to be treated m the future as witnesses have been and are "m the past and present—obliged to wait the- call of the Court m the ; open air. Under the present system; when counsel request that witnesses leave the Court, the want of .proper accommodation necessitates that the unfortunates retire ipto tlie ,open.air, no matter what the weather may be, and during the past winter it "has been no uncommon thing to see ladies crouching alongside the building, m some measure to escape the effects of the weather. ' We very nipch question if the members of the Bar will care to perform an al fresco robing and .disrobing, but this is what they will be compelled to do unless jthe-sandtity of the Temple of Justioe is' to be profaned by the operation beneath the shade of the judgment scat, and under the very nose- of the blind goddess. Seriously speaking, unless immediate steps are taken to make suitable provision for the holding of the District Court, the whole proceeding, will be a mockery and a iarce.