THE WELLINGTON SUPREME COURT.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5396, 13 July 1878, Page 1 (Supplement)

THE WELLINGTON SUPREME COURT.

Tho supposititious thoughts of an intelligent foreigner are often set forth as a means for giving expression to views which would bo taken of a matter by any living being not devoid of a moderate share of common sense. Anyone who happened to bo in the Supremo Court on Tuesday afternoon would be perhaps apt to ask What would the intelligent foreigner think of the English mode of trying whether a business firm owed a retail tradesman £350, as there exemplified ? Late in the afternoon of the second day of trial, the twelve jurymen were sitting on two rows of forms, with a variety of draughts more or less strong passing around them, the cold air serving to keep them 1 from falling asleep, which several seemed greatly inclined to do, at the imminent risk of slipping off the uncomfortable benches. Tho case was one of intricate accounts, yot no juryman bad the slightest facility afforded to him for making a note of any sum or of any point in the case, and hence, unless a man had a most extraordinary memory, matters that might influence his decision would escape entirely before the jury considered their verdict. On tho opposite side of the Court, in the strangely shaped pair of old fashioned pews, which were on the first morning deserted by the jurors, are seated fourorfiverepresentativesof loading commercial bouses, who are patiently waiting to say under what circumstances 2J per cent, commission should be. paid on advances. A few other people are scattered 'about the body of the Court in more* or less uncomfortable positions, trying to sit as easily as possible on the hardest of seats. The plaintiff at one end of the long table 4 and tho defendant at the other 'look

anxious as they constantly instruct their counsel, and express on their faces intense at some of the evidence adduced. * When, one counsel is up the other three feel very weary, and regard the remarks" of the learned gentlem.an “who has the floor” as dreary, dreary. At times a ripple of laughter rims round, now aud then threatening to break into a rolling latigb, but it would take a very brilliant flash of wit or excessively stupid, bungle to cause these tired men to laugh heartily. Indeed laughter is held to be out of place, for when one counsel thought another was laughing at him he said “ the laughter of a person with a single name is sometimes the sorrow, of the wise.” Yes, replied his learned brother, “ a name with four letters.” The jurymen tried to do something more than smile at this, but the attempt failed, and a man who was asleep in the gallery was awakened by the unexpected giggle of a small boy- from a lawyer’s office who while waiting for orders thought what a solemn place a court house .was, aud wondered if he would ever have leave to wear a wig, or ever get to the top of tho profession of which in the morning as be. swept out ,the office he fancied himself the bottom. A dapper commercial man in the witness-box seemed rather to revel in the perusal of numberless sheets of account-paper. By merely glancingat them he unravelled all sorts of mysteries as to accommodation bills,renewals,guarantees, indents, commission,. discount, and many other things, which he talked of in a manner that gave all who heard him the greatest confidence in his ability ; but as he had been preceded by an equally dapper commercial man, who knew just as much about these mysteries, but examined them through a slightly differently tinted pair of spectacles, the careful listener or the conscientious juryman found that things were not quite so clear as. could be wished. Soon after 5 o’clock it was rumored that the case must be settled that night if the Court sat till twelve o’clock, and a hard expression came over the faces of most in the Court. The ill-cushioned forms of the , jurymen were becoming more difficult to sit upon, the tendency to slide down to the cocoanut matting being steadily on the increase. One of the “ twelve good men and true * 9 rendered himself rather more comfortable by makiug himself fast to a window-cord—-a happy device that enabled him to sleep safely. Generally, tho rear row men were beat off, for they could lean on the backs, of the front seats, but the first rank had nothing to recline on. The Judge frequently tried to shorten the case and to make things clear, but finally he resignedly accepted tho inevitable, and, as hunting men say when they approach a stiff fence, he “hardened his heart,” and made up his mind to see the fchin«* through, let it last as long as might be. After dusk.passera-by, attracted by the lights, dropped in, thus increasing the audience considerably, and at 7 o’clock there were a good many persons in Court, who patiently listened to counsel’s speeches, aud at the same time found shelter from the rain. The cost of such a case must be considerable. Allowing a fair equivalent for the time of those kept in attendance during the hearing of the case, the expense may be fairly put down at £75 a day, making at the least £l5O for settling a case—not to speak of costs between attorney and. client—that any two merchants, #ay two of the. jury, any two of the audience, would settle in an hour quite as well and as fairly as the were likely to do. The whole proceedings formed a piece of legal and commercial extravagance that might very easily have been avoided. Perhaps the best illustration of the dreariness of the whole affair is that a student, by way of amusement, drew figures of the pons asinorum, and possibly thought that he was not the only one |n Court who was striving to travel over an asses’ bridge. -