The New Zealand Times. (PUBLISHED DAILY.) FRIDAY, MARCH 22, 1878. .

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5301, 22 March 1878, Page 2

The New Zealand Times. (PUBLISHED DAILY.) FRIDAY, MARCH 22, 1878. .

We find considerable difficulty in seriously discussing Mr. Barton’s address in the Theatre Royal last night. The speech was characteristic of him, though it was, perhaps, not so violent as one might naturally have expected from a gentleman, of Mr. Barton’s temperament. Mr. Barton is one of the representatives of this city in Parliament, and while in that position his opinions are entitled to consideration. The meeting we feel bound to say was fairly successful, and Mr. Barton was listened to attentively throughout his address, and was frequently applauded. As a speaker he is wonderfully voluble, vivacious, and is possessed of humor in no slight degree. With such qualifications it is no'wonder that amongst an audience of ; . close upon one thousand Mr. Barton, found a number who cheered him' to the echo, and, it must be noted, cheered the loudest when the speaker’s remarks fell nothing short of the ridiculous; Mr. Barton is regarded as a martyr by a section of the community who are incapable of forming an estimate of the gravity of his offence. That a man should be: sent to gaol for a month for such a-misdemeanor as contempt of Court appeared to them a punishment out of all proportion to, the offence. All right-minded and intelligent men are of the belief that in the interests of justice it is absolutely necessary that the proceedings in our law Courts should be conducted with decorum, and that respect should be paid to the administrators of the law. That practitioners should be allowed to attribute unworthy motives to the Bench, even in onr humblest Courts, would be a serious offence against the public weal, but when such charges are’levelled against the Judges of the Supreme Court, there is danger of the very foundations of justice being sapped. It is a matter for regret that even the smallest fraction of the community should sympathise with Mr. Barton in his attack upon the Judges. When Mr. Barton was committed to gaol for contempt we made no remark at the time, believing that he had been adequately punished ; but we deem it our duty, now to state that ho richly deserved imprisonment for his persistent efforts to lower the character of the Courts of Justice in this city. Mr. Barton told the electors of Wellington last night that by their vote they had released him for ever from the most cruel persecution that any man had ever suffered. Mr. Barton was never persecuted ; he was allowed more latitude than any other gentleman practising at the Supreme Court, and it was only after repeated cautions that resort was had to severe measures. Many people regard the punishment as unnecessarily harsh, but it should be borne in mind that it was a continued series of charges against the iJudges which culminated in Mr. Barton’s committal. A single offence might be overlooked, but when the thing was repeated on nearly every occasion Mr. BarTONappearedinCourt the time had arrived when their Honors felt compelled to uphold the dignity of the Court. We mistake the character of the Judges of the Supreme Court if they will in the slightest degree be influenced either by the result of the recent election or by the clamor of a Jew noisy individuals last night. Mr. Barton says that above all things he will have the great question of the adminis'ration of justice opened up a question which no public man had ever dared to touch with his finger. So, statesmen of New Zealand, according to Mr. Barton, have been either rogues or cowards. In fact, the speaker, like the typical Irishman, hit a head when he could find one. The mode of taking the ballot met with his strongest condemnation, There was, he said, a wellgrounded fear amongst the people that the ballot was not secret. The numbers were put on the ballot-paper to make people afraid, and he added that they were useless for any other purpose. Mr. Barton, however, a few minutes afterwards gave a strong reason for the numbers being retained on the voting papers. It is well known that several gentlemen at the recent election .voted ;at both polling-booths... There,; was no intention to infringe the law, and the voters, on' discovering their misJake, acquainted the returning officer before the close of the poll ; but under any circumstances, the double ivoting would have been found out through the numbers on the . ballot papers,’and it is with this object that the papers are numbered, and ’ not through any intention on the part of the Legislature to render secret voting a sham. Mr. Barton here endeavored to kill two birds with one stone —endeavoring to shake the confidence of the people in the secrecy'of'the ballot, while at the same time attributing underhand motives to the members of the Legislature. People had better

take care in future not to record their -votes at both pollmg-bo'otlis, for Mr. Barton says he will prosecute .them, .‘‘even if they were members of the' Club.’’ This was vociferously applauded. There was one remark of Mr. Barton’s whicli will be road with peculiar interest by the people, of vJVellington. When it was proposed to remove the seat of Government from Auckland in 1863, -Mr. Barton stood upon a Dunedin*platform, and spoke strongly against the,removal. He at, that time characterised Wellington as a “mere fishing village,” and last night took some pride in the fact that the expression was taken up by the Press of the colony. Was it right, he said, to'reihove the seat of Government -from a democratic and intelligent place like Auckland to such a hole-and-corner place as Wellington? Mr. Barton was guilty of repeating' a. gross libel upon the people , of, Wellington. At the time to which he I'efers the inhabitants of this town were the equals in point of intelligence of any community in New Zealand. The late Dr. Featherston, Sir William Fitzherbert, and the Hon. Mr. Fox were amongst the public men of this city, ; and it was then fully recognised that no other place in the colony could show such an array of talent. Dr. Feather-, ston, Mr. Fox,, arid Sir W. Fxtzherbert were pronounced Liberals, and yet in the face of this Mr. Barton had the impu-.: donee to stand up'last night, and pride himself on the fact that, he had opposed* thoremovalof theseatof Government from intelligent Auckland to benighted Wellington. How many amongst the politicians of Auckland are fit to be compared with, the gentlemen we have named 1 As for Mr. Barton, he should not be mentioned in the same breath with them. The recently-elected, member of the city did not confine himself last evening to attacking the Judges of the Supreme Court. Indeed, in comparison to what he said about others, he, lot their Honors down lightly. Police constables, Court officials, bailiffs, Resident Magistrates,, were all denounced by him in strong terras. We will take another opportunity of referring to'Mr. Barton’s speech. . .