The Nelson Evening Mail. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30. 1873.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VIII, Issue 235, 30 September 1873, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30. 1873.

Mr Bathgate has made himself famous during ihe session n^w closing as being one of the most prolific Bill producers the Assembly has evi r yet known. He haj also had to submit, to an extent hiihertc unheard of, to seeing those creations ol his brain knocked on the head one after the other, and sl&in with a ruthlessnesa worthy of a second Herod. But at last the House took pity on the bereaved pa> ent. In Mr Bithgate grieving over big lost measures, tbe members could see refnacted the scene of " Rachel mourning for her children, and would not be comforted because tbey were not," and thpy took pity upon him, and suffered some two or three to live. One of these we now have before us. The swaddling clothes have been removed from its puoy fram?, and it stands before the public a full blown Act. Why it was permitted to become law we are at a loS3 to understand, for even after passing through the ordeals of first and second reading, committal, and third reading, it still remains nothing more than an abortion. The only possible plea on which it could have beec allowed to 6od a place in the Statute Book is, that it ie only a very little one, and not perhaps calculated to do muoh harm. The name bestowed upon it is "The Assaults oo Constables Act, 1873," and it was, we believe, introduced for the purpose of placing some salutary check upon any interference with the police in the execution of their duty. The second section provides that whoeoever shall assault, &c, any peace officer in the execution of his duty, " sball he liable to a penalty of not exceeding £10, or, in the discretion of a Resident Magistrate, or any two Justices before whom he is convicted, may be imprisoned for any term not exceeding two months." Tin's is ail very well in its way, but what on earth has rendered such a clause necessary, when it is already provided by law that for any ordinary assault on any person one Justice can inflict a similar penalty ? Perhaps, however, Mr Bathgate may have thought it desirable tc strike awe into the heart of one whe would dare to assault the Bacred person oi a constable, and therefore, iu order to invest the proceedings witb more solemnity, he considered it necessary that sentence for f uch an offence ehould be passed either by a Resident Magistrate or two Justices, But this theory is dispelled by a perusal of tbe 4th section of this precious bantling, for there we find that any persoc who shall assault a peace officer, &c , " may be taken into cusiody withoui warrant, by any peace officer, and everj person go arrested shall be taken as soot ;-b convenient before some Justice of thf Peace, to be deult with according to law.' At t itis late period of the session it is quite excusable lo become confused ovei Bills, nnd Acts, and Ua nsards, and Parlia mentary telegrams, and we do not hesitate to admit that we cau form no idea of th< object, or the meaning, or the necessity o this Act. First of ull a law is made tha a person who commits a certain offence ii to be brought before a Resident Magistral or two Justices, and from them to receiv* his punishment; a few lines further on w< find that "some Justice of the Peace" maj deal with him according io law. What ii "according to law"? Why say that tw< Justices are necess-iry if one is sufficient 1 Why tell one Justice that he has thi power to do thfst which it has just pre viously been stated necessitates the presenci of two? The only solution of the diffi culty that occurs to us is this : To dea with a prisoner according to law yoa mus cither punish, remand, or let him go. Bj the second section of this poor little Ac wbich has by some means escaped the fati of its slaughtered brethren, it is quite clea lhat the penalty mußt be inflicted eithe by a Resident Magistrate or two Justices and consequently that one Justice bas m , jurisdiction. Having no jurisdiction, hi i cannot even remand a prisoner, and conse

quently the third course alone is open to him. He must "according to law," let him go free! It is a lame aod impotent conclusion to arrive at, but really we can 1 come to none olher after carefully readin? " The Assaults on Constables Act, 1873." Yes, by the way, there is one other, namely, that one of the weakest points in the present Ministry would be removed by the resignation of Mr Bathgate.