The Evening Mail. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 1878.

Oamaru Mail, Volume II, Issue 553, 8 February 1878, Page 2

The Evening Mail. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 1878.

We have hitherto carefully refrained from in any way referring to the judgment delivered here recently by his Honor Mr. Justice Ward in regard to Cirtain actions of Mr. James Scoular, the trustee in the esfato of Sir. Thomas Hilliker. We adopted this course for many reasons, chief amongst them being the knowledge that the matter would again, shortly appear before a Court of Justice in a new form. We had 110 desire to say anything that could possibly be construed into an attempt to prejudice Mr. SeocLAK'tf case ; but when we see a Danedin paper attempting to screen the trustee and bring the Judge into ridicule we feel constrained to break the silence we have hitherto maintained, and express our thorough approval of the manner in which Judge Wakj> dealt with tincase. That in some respects he treated the trustee rather roughly we are free t" admit, but we must certainly deny that there was no necessity for the severe and unmistakeable language used by Judge Ward. Every man in whose bosom there burns a spark of honesty and a Iwve for fair play,inust confess that Judge Ward's decision was in every respect a fair one. Judge Ward has long ere this obtained a reputation for being a man who refuses to call a spade by name. When ue delivers a judgment he does so in language e;isily comprehended by persons of the poorest mental capacity. There is no ambiguity, no beating about the bush, no attempts to designate dishonourable acts as errors of judgment, etc. For this we give him every credit. There are few men who would think of calling into question any decision given by Judge Ward, either while he occupied the position of Resident Magistrate or since his elevation to a District Judgeship. No one can say with truth that he has ever manifested, a feeling of partiality or a desire to shield anyone, however highly or lowly placed. Judge Wabd is allowed on all hands to be one of the ablest lawyers in the Colony; indeed, we doubt whether there is in Kew Zealand any other man, with the exception of Mr. Justice Johnston, whose legal knowledge and legal research are so great, or who has so happy a knack of placing upon our too numerous ambiguous Acts and Ordinances such fair and sensible construc-

tions. Besides this, everyone whose judgment has not been biased, or whose power of vision has not been blinded, in conse-. quence of some supposed hardship or injustice received at the hands of Judge Wakd, must admit that his judgments are not alone based upon law.. Equityand a.desire:'to give unto every man that which is" morally his due form very'conspicuous elements in all liis decisions, and in none more so than in that with reference to the actions of Mr. James Scoular. We have no desire to enter upon a discussion as to the legality or otherwise of the action of Mr. Scoular in paying to his firm a dividend out of the estate of a bankrupt upon a debt for which he held securitv, and for which debt he obtained payment in full. We leave such matters as these to be argued by the Bench and Bar. But we have a right to say that the law which would permit a creditor to receive payment in full of a debt, and a dividend besides, would be a disgrace to any statute-book; and we can scarcely conceive that any right-thinking man would dream of availing himself of the provisions of such a law, even if it did exist. " Fair play is bonnie play," says a good old axiom; and Messrs. Scoular should have been perfectly content to receive in full the payment of their secured claim upon the bankrupt estate, and then receive the same dividend upon the balance as the other creditors. To anything beyond this they had 110 moral right, and in accepting anything further they were guilty, to say the least of it, of perpetrating a gross piece of injustice upon the rest of the unfortunate creditors.