The New Zealand Times (PUBLISHED DAILY.) SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 1878.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5278, 23 February 1878, Page 2

The New Zealand Times (PUBLISHED DAILY.) SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 1878.

Cynics who calculate on the unreasoning; impulses-ofthe crowd, and who act con-! teniptuously on a belief in the stupidity; of the mass of mankind,' sometimes achieve! their purposes—for a time. : Generally! speaking, their , triumph is, short, and; thosb who have been hoodwinked and i misled - revenge'themselves on their de-. ceivers. It has been often a. successful] trick at a time of popular excitement to pass off some, one yho is suffering fori defiance of law as a martyr, and this! course ha?: been adopted here by a party whose whole career has been a tripky one. i Unfiirturiately 'the certain condemnation j iwluch,awaits unscrupulous:people sooner j or later does not compensate for the injury done to the cause of public morality, i of law; and order. "Now, it is worth con-| sidering, altogether apart from party! politics, what tho Wellington people have; affirmed by this election, and what tho ] effect of such a r choice of a representative must be. Mr. Barton has for many l years achieved a certain kind, of notoriety at the New Zealand bar. ' He has always; been in hot water, and has taken every ] oppoitunity of being impertinent to what-] ever Judge might be presiding in Court. I In fact he has not the least idea of the: order and submission to duly constituted; authority whiejx is necessary, for the de-! cent conduct of judicial business]' 'ini any: state whether civilized or uncivilized.; .Norhas he over shown any of the esprilxderCorps, which tin England, conspicuously, | •and in .the Colony . to a. lesser extent, ; enables the. profession to regulate the conduct'of business fpr , themselves. Al-i ways'quarrelling iii Couit either with tho officers or with other counsel, or else i brow-boating witnesses in a manner.that; ought hot to be tolerated where the rights ,of'the /subjectAre respected, he lias- re'-] peatedly brought himself- under .the pen-! sure,not of one or two of the Judges, but! of every Judge before whom he has had! to .transact. business. He was once com-1 mitted for contempt of Court at Dunedin! by Judge Grosson, and there was a; general feeling of relief in that town when \ he took hirasolf off to Wellington! 1 ‘Here j his career has ..boon only, too conspicuous. Botli- aihong members of tlio prbfession! and among all citizens .who;desire to seethe highest Court of Justice administered ! in a creditable manner, tho common topics of conversation for many months lias.been; tho : misoohduct - of Mr.' IBart6n‘ ail'd ‘tlie i patience of tho presiding Judges. All] over New Zealand discontent w'aa' expres-: sod at tho duration of such scones as were daily occurring in tho Wellington Supremo Court. But tho judges wore very loth to take extreme measures. It was obvious that for some ulterior purpose Mr. Barton was anxious to bo made a martyr,

and the more/the*Judges remonstrated with him ; and . warned' him, the' more determined he was 4)0 defy* them to,'take action against hi,m. At’last'the scandal became intolerable and Mr. Barton gained his jmrgose —by being sent .to ‘for a inbhth“- r: The circumstances under -whichdie was committed-were'such-that ■ho respectable man at the time defended' him, and. the verdict - of : public opinion throughout ( the colony was —“’Served him ...right.”)'lndeed,‘if there were-any expressions Jof discoiiteht, it r vyas at tlie’ forbearance of the Judges, who'had bean obliged' so 'lbii’g ‘ to see 'the Supreme Court turned intpi a bear; garden by the misconduct of one man. But their Honors, apparently,- ' knew the “world/ and were quite; aware of the; gullibility of, mankind. They appear to -have foreseen the object of Mr. Barton in his eagerness to attain to martyrdom: However discreditable it may, be to the Wellington constituency to reward gross misconduct by Parliamentary honors they are not without a precedent. When Dr. : Kenealy hid for, the (suffrages of all the roughs; in; London by defying the Chief Justice of England, and insulting, .as far as possible, every judicial authority, ho found a constituency at Stoke, and showed how anyone without self-respect could make a' good thing of posing as 'a martyr. Dr.' Kenealys’s gaihb libs' now' been played out/and the. Stoke constituency are most anxious to , get rid of their' member, aud of. the discredit brought upon them by the election. .But it will take .some time: to - undo the mischief. In England public opinion is so strongj and the respect for law. 1 so great’, that’ a ; mini ‘ like Dr. KenbalY' could do' little harin in Parliament. The ill effects of his' election were chiefly felt by the Stoke constituency, and they have suffered accordingly. But in New, Zealand at the present, time we have a Government in.'otlica .that: was not ashahfed to throw its whole, influence into the. scale ten secure ',the:return of a man lying in gaol under sentence of; contempt of the highest Court in the country. A .Government, which/ as we have already seen, will stick :at nothing /to obtain' a supporter.-/" The Government,, in fact, Sd of the party of _an'archyj ■■■ ■■Under‘'','til Premier who, when in " oppqsition/iri Ins place in Parliament once suggested that' . the, then hqad/qf ,the,Gpveminent. wqiild; 'like' to see’acase ..tried Vin ’theSupreinej Court because johis. of ;,the ( Judges was/a" relative of his under, the I r,u.le- .of, ia; public man ; who could, thus/attempt'by| a side-wind; to i cast a reflection on tliej honor of onei of the iiiidsf respected'aiid; esteemed'6f r our Judges," we/'m-ay expect; anything.- But no vaporing about the! libertres'of manMiid 'aiid' tlie destinies' of 1 the human' Alice '• wW-persuade reasoningl men to consider their, individuid liberties! safe in the haiidsj of a man who endeavors'; by eveiiy' means in his ~pqvyei| to , tinder-1 mine the ‘' authority, “of :,the’' poiurls', of | Justice. This [support |by ! the Goverii-; ment of_Oie_ country of the candida-1 ture of a man in prison, for • contempt I of Court? and ivyqo; continues to express' his contempt? is unparalleled; in, cpnsti-; tutional histpry. ' i But it/is, ypry;charac-1 teristic of Sir George Grey? and shows; how little' hoi really'cares Ifof' any instith- j tion which stands/ between hiniself And I the success'-ofi his 1 ambitious " sihemes, i however much ..the 'real' liberties of .the;

people' m'ay depend, Off the' respect inj which that -insfcitution is held. Itisim-j ( possible to'-overlook, i in : connection! .with j this subject, the appointment lately made '< -to f one of * the most respbn sible offices iii | The : gift ; of the Government. ’ The QomraiaSiotiership; of Annuities ia an office' of great trust—one which'should be,held by! a man ip Whoa# conduct and integrity! there is universal confidence. We should | haye been sprry to bring . up, against Mr. ! Bunny his former history, if he, had not' thrust himself again prominently before I the public but_it_would be-a culpable; dereliction f ;of.,. duty not to ■,-.pro tost ear-1 neatly against hia appointment as Com- ! missioner,of,.Annuities.. When, it is. re-. membered .that Me. Bunny has , been struck off the roll of solicitors in Englahd, : that ho was! struck off .the roll of the. Supreme Court .here, and- that the Su-; preme. Court still declines to allow him to practice,' this appointment must be taken in-connection with .the whole attitude of the ~ present Government . towards , the highest Court, of Justice' of. the colony, lit is-‘calculated in every-’way to shake confidence in the Administration,' and to confirm the suspicion that the loud talk about: public interests is to cover a great deal -of private jobbery; We cannot believe that the electors who voted for Mr. Barton realised the result of their aoUoh. have’deolared that Mr. Barton is tlieir representative• .they have sbffaf as'in them lies endorsed his conduct in Court, and encouraged him to defy,the Judges, ,of . the country., , They have told tho Judges and'the country that the best passport to .their esteem and confidence is condemnation by tho Supreme Court,"and''that bub of the easiest ways k\iffrages is to seek a noisy notoriety by professional misconduct. "'Hitherto, 'the boast of tbe'.couiitry has been that every man, however bumble ' his origin, could raise .himself to, the highest offices of the State ’ by.showing : that he, possessed the character and ability necessary for the proper fulfilment of the duties. But wo have changed all this we do not even‘Want: to know anything ; about the- character or the ability of a candidate. We do not ask whether his interests are; bound 1 up with ours ; whence ho came a year ago, or where ho may bo going a year' hence. Wo hear that the poor fellowis in gaol ■'we think it is very hard, and that therefore ho is qualified to represent iUs. r .Let it go forth to all the youth of New Zealand that to ensure sue-; cess in a public career it is not necessary to develope any of tho higher qualities ; which Have badii looked for by ' some foolish constituencies ; let tho ambitions young man cultivate impudence, contempt , of authority, and so much learning as will enable him to climb up to a conspicuous .stage for. the exhibition of these virtues ; and then if he is lucky enough so far to ; impede : public business and to outrage, decency as to earn condign punishment, his position is mado. It is a sad prospect.! Wo ;regret ' that .any member of: the legal profession. in New Zealand : should have so conducted himself as to; earn the condemnation of'thoughtful men! throughout,the country. , In his' private j 'relations Mr. Barton may be a most; estimable J man. Wo know nothing of; him except as he appears in public, and ; it is as a public man that he must be* judged. The remarks which we have; made tcuday'deavo altogether ■ out of the; .question fho relative' merits of the other! candidates. Of these wo have spoken de-| cidedly on other occasions. But there, are; considerations which ,'butwoigli those | of party, and whiclparo more serious than. any question,between..the, political views! of this nian or that man oh tho politics ofj he day.-:';.’ A’ '■'< ;