South Canterbury Times. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 1882.
Sir John Hall, the other evening, moved the addition of the following proviso to. that clause of .the Justices of the Peace Bill, which provides for the j hearing of cases in open Court,
That, in any case in which in the opiriion pf .the Justices-it shall be desirable in the interests of public decency that any evidence shall be taken .with closed doors, they may, if they think proper, give orders accordingly,. and the Court; shall be; open when sentence is pronounced.
In speaking to the motion , Sir John pointed out the result upon the public morals of allowing obscene and disgusting details to be beard by idle spectators, and be proposed to give Justice’s full discretionary powers as to the hearing of cases involving such details- with closed doors. There are very fewl fifeonghtfnl wholwill not heartily support this Those whose business t^fee'*'them to onr Courts of justice, are repeatedly pained and disgusted to find that the more ' disgusting and revolting the charge, and the greater the probability of its involving; filthy details, the larger is the - crowd of listeners. An 'Ordinary case excites little or no interest, beyond the circle of acquaintance of the parties concerned ; bat let it be known that a charge of rape, of exposure -or any other disgusting offence is to be heard, and the Court will be found packed , with people, and the most breathless silence prevailing while the proceedings are going on. It was contended that to exclude the public is t open the door to miscarriage of justice.' Surely this will hardly bear analysis. The prisoner and bis counsel are present, and it does not appear how they could' be more watchful of their interests in a court crowded with mere listeners than in a Court from which such were excluded. The class of persons usually found in a Court under these circumstance is certainly, not, judging from appearances, remarkable for parity or self respect. So far as we have been able to judge, they are generally loungers and persons without any regular occupation, ,of- anything but respectable That , the cause of justice and 1 morality can be furthered by the presence at the judicial' proceedings to which we refer, of such persons it seems impossible to conceive. The cause of justice certainly cannot, for the Court is temporarily converted into a theatre; the cause of public morality cannot be benefited by the repetition far and wide, of abominable details from the lips of those who have listened. The probability of miscarriages of justice we leave out of the question. The .exclusion of the general public would not involve the exclusion of reporters who, while suppressing 'all abominable details, would without doubt, draw attention to any evident jujnstice in the proceedings. Mr J. EV Brown moved to add to the proviso the following : “ That nothing herein contained shall be taken to authorise the exclusion of duly authorised representatives of the Pr ess -and the original proviso,thus added to,; was declared a part of the Bill. And with this , decision, wo feel sure all right thinking persons w.ll heartily concur.
As there is considerable excitement in certain circles re future representation in the Borough Council, and the election of Councillors happens to occur almost simultaneously with the division of the Borough into wards, there will probably be some danger of a general boulversement without clearly defined reasons. The general disposi-
tion in some quarters happens to be, “Down with those now in office, and in with those now oat.” A sort of revolutionary fever bas set in, a disposition to be “always allonging and marchonging ” which some humorist attributes to the French people. We have not a word to say against the immediate deposition of every Councillor, or clearing out of any-Augean stable of municipal jobbery that may exist. We hear, with calmness and quite without a flatter of excitement, that everybody on the Council and about the Council, is no better than he ought to be ; and that dark deeds are now for the first time to be dragged into light. We hear, with equal calmness of the general regeneration to be effected by the “ coming ” men, of their patriotism and self-sacrifice. We might 1 perhaps be lectured into believing that they are indeed “ the people •” and that once they are in power, gas will fall to a ridiculously low figure, the waterworks will be properly aidministered, the town supplied at a trifling cost with a most complete system of drainage, and asphalte pavements laid down everywhere. We are prepared,too to see a sleek, oleaginous, flunkified official in the room of Mr Lough, who shall be “driven forth” like Nebuchadnezzar, from the place, where he has so fattened and tyrannised over down-trodden ratepayers. We fear Mr Lough is quite lost, and we groan over him in spirit. While we are quite prepared for these terrible municipal convulsions, however, we would like to ask burgesses to pause, and seriously bethink them whether the present Councillors, or the present officers of the Council, have really sinned past forgiveness, or, indeed, of how much of the alleged iniquity they have really been guilty. Might we even, without offence, go so far as to suggest that we have about as painstaking and conscientious a body of men now in office as could be, found, and to doubt whether they would carry out more profitably the work they now know something of, than it would Be done if taken in hand by new and inexperienced Councillors. This is a question to be seriously considered by the ratepayers, and we earnestly invite them to consider it, before they go ;to the poll. Bald assertions aboilt “ cliqueism,’’ and general unsupported statements about maladministration by the Council and its officers, are not sufficient. Let us have specific charges, and facts to support those charges. If we saw the Council or its officers do anything detrimental to the interests of the Borongb, we should be the first to denounce them, but when the difficulties connected with municipal affairs are considered—r and speaking from long experience we are in a position to assert that those difficulties are great, and sometimes insurmountable—-we must confess that the present council has • rendered valuable service to the town. /With regard to the Town Clerk (Mr Loughjj we assert without ' fear of contradiction that a more efficient, energetic, painstaking, and obliging municipal officer is not to be found in the colony. We thoroughly approve of the division of the Borough into wards, as it will result in more equal representation, and a more equitable distribution of the public funds, and we give Mr Gowburn full credit for the activity and energy he displayed in having the Borough divided. The ratepayers will nb doubt appreciate those efforts at their , true value, but we would remind hew aspirants to civic honors that they will not raise themselves in the estimation of the public by disparaging ' men . who, though they may have made mistakes, have in their public capacity, rendered good service to the Borongb.
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South Canterbury Times, Issue 2944, 1 September 1882, Page 2
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1,184South Canterbury Times. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 1882. South Canterbury Times, Issue 2944, 1 September 1882, Page 2
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