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Poverty Bay Standard, Volume IX, Issue 979, 17 September 1881, Page 2

In the R.M.’s Court yesterday morning, His Worship said that, owing to a question which had lately arisen before him with regard to counsel’s fees, he had considered the matter, and had determined in future not to allow counsel's fees in any summary cases.

It would be satisfactory to know on what grounds the Borough Council have refunded to Mr. J. Wilson the costs incurred by him, and in which he was cast, in defending a suit for illegally detaining Mr. G-runer’s horses in the Gisborne Pound. Mr. Wilson cannot, in any sense, be held to be a servant of the Council or the public. To all intents and purposes the pound keeper, proper, (which Mr. J. Wilson is not, or was not, at that time) is a contractor, pure and simple. He engages, for a certain consideration, and on certain conditions, to do the duties required by the Impounding Act. One of those .conditions is that all the fees go into his own pocket. The Council gets nothing from this source towards its revenue, and yet holds the poundkeeper harmless in case of prosecution. And it must be remembered that Mr. J. Wilson, during the progress of the case, repeatedly repudiated any responsibility. He declared he was not poundkeeper ; he was merely acting as agent; he had no interest whatever in the fees, and based his technical defence on the fact that he was sued as “ J. Wilson,” and not as “ poundkeeper.” But, apart from this, even allowing that Mr. R. Wilson had been sued, we enquire the reason of the public funds being set apart to defray the legal expenses incurred in any such case as that to which we refer.