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Oamaru Mail, Volume I, Issue 335, 21 May 1877, Page 2

Justices of the Peace do strange things at times, and do much to bring the administration of justice into disrepute. An instance of this sort of tiling occurred last week at the peaceful little- town of Akaroa. A woman named Margaret Henderson was placed on her trial for perjury, said tp have been committed during the hearing of a civil case. Both the Resident Magistrate of the district and a Justice of the Peace named Mr. George Scarbrotjgh, who is also, we believe, Mayor of the little village, having been on the Bench on the occasion of the hearing of the case out of which arose the charge of perjury, were called as witnesses in the latter case. It may also cbe mentioned en passant that both these gentlemen were also instrumental in the laying of the charge of perjury against the not over-voracious Margaret Henderson. The Resident Magistrate seems to have been actuated by some sense of decency, for he contented himself with giving evidence and assisting in a. side way the nominal prosecutor, Sergeant Ramsay. Not so, however, Mr. Justice-of-th*-,

Peace Scjlrbkough. To be a m#re witness and a party to the prosecution was not enough to satisfy the dignity of so elevated a personage as his Worship the Mayor of Akaroa. So great a man as he be contented with being simply a prosecutor and witness in so important a case as a prosecution for perjury ! Perish the thought ! No ! He must sit upon the bench also, and, at one and the same time, be prosecutor, witness, and judge, all rolled into one ! No wonder that Mr. J. S. Williams, who appeared for the accused, should have protested against such a proceeding. To say the least of it, the conduct of Mr. George Scarbrough, Mayor, J.P., &c., wa3 an outrage upon common decency, and calculated to bring still further into ridicule "Justices justice." It is true that two other unpaid magistrates were also on the Bench with him, but, while this fact may in some measure have warranted the accused receiving fair play, it did not lessen the offence against decency and good taste displayed by Mr. Scaiibrough, who actually retired with his confreres when they left the Court to consider their decision. To our plain way of thinking his Worship the Mayor of Akaroa has shown a want of appreciation of the dignity of the position of Justice of the Peace which unfits him to hold the powerj of administering justice, even in so quiet and unassuming a place as Akaroa.