SIGNS OF THE TIMES.

Poverty Bay Standard, Volume I, Issue 16, 1 December 1883, Page 2

SIGNS OF THE TIMES.

One of the first questions a visitor generally asks on entering a town is— What business is there doing in this place ? and it is amusing to hear the answers usually given in such a case. A tradesman gives his opinion according to the amount of business done by his firm ; while legal gentlemen gauge their estimate of the importance of a town by the amount of litigation carried on in the Courls in which they put in an appearance. Taking the latter class as a guide, therefore, in estimating the prosperity of Gisborne, we cannot but come to the conclusion that the Poverty Bay District is a most important one indeed —that the latter name is a misnomer—for in I his town there are no less than 16 lawyers and 23 Native interpreters. Then, taking the average earnings of the former to be £7OO a-year each,

with the salaries of a clerk for each solicitor (say £l5O per annum), and the interpreters at £3OO, we find that the Court attendants realise £20,500 per annum, without calculating contingent expenses. This estimate certainly rather startling, and it is no wonder that our respected R.M., Mr. Booth, remarked a short time since, that the people of Gisborne were very law-abiding, for if a man had a ss. ease, he would bring it into Court if it cost him £3 or £4 to do so. T'he question then arises, are these calculations to be taken as a correct sign of the times ? If so, there must be a great deal of business doing here, and a large at'.iount of money, besides a vast area of country, to struggle for. Verily, the legal profession has cast its line in a bounteous place, and the signs of the times will, probably, as the district advances in prosperity, be occasionally marked by the advent of a lawyer in Gisborne, if the Native interpreters do not increase in this town in a similar ratio. Legal gentlemen are very useful occasionally ; nevertheless, the signs of the times are quite sufficiently marked by the goodly crowd of solicitors who appear to thrive, with a few exceptions, in this locality, and we may express a hope that there will be no increase of litigation in the future to swell the ranks of attendants at the Gisborne Law Courts. On the contrary, may there be such an improvement in the state of financial affairs in this district that.the signs of the times will be marked by increased friendship and less contention between our fellow-townsmen —may all classes pull together for the advancement of the interests of one of the finest districts in this Colony.