The Stratford Evening Post WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE EGMONT SETTLER TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 1914. THE SUPREME COURT BENCH.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 28, 3 February 1914, Page 4

The Stratford Evening Post WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE EGMONT SETTLER TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 1914. THE SUPREME COURT BENCH.

The transference of Mr Justice Sim from the office of judge of the Arbitration Court to the Supreme Court proper, together with the appointment of Mr Hosking to a seat on that tribunal, 'raises the bench to its full strength is settled by the amending enactment of last session, and the honour which has been conferred upon a member of the Dunedin bar moves the "Otago Daily Times" to take a retrospective jjauce distinctly flattering to the profession in Otago. The "Times" says: If Mr Justice Edwards be included unong the judges who were trained in Otago—as he certainly may be since fie was educated at the Boys' High "School in Dunedin and commenced the practice of his profession in that provincial district—it is interesting to

now that, with the single exception

»f Mr .Justice Cooper, the Bench will. ivhen Mr Hosking lias been sworn in. have been entirely recruited from )tago. Not the least qualified among j he members of the court for the performance of its judicial duties will be J Mr Justice Sim. The position which he ; s now relinquishing in the Arbitration 7ourt is unquestionably the most difficult and in some respects the most important that any member of the bench can occupy. It subjects a judge to the most severe test to which any >iie judge in New Zealand can submit nmself. The reasons for this are suffi'riontly apparent. The decisions of the Arbitration Court deal with great interests: they affect the bulk of the population of the nonunion that is engaged in the manufacturing and distributing industries; and they exercise in influence upon practically every side if the social life of the community. | v<) r the achievement of complete suoI 'ess in the performance of the duties j' )f the office of judge of the Arbitration I Court exceptional qualities, both of mind and of temper, are undoubtedly I -ill 'id for. The work is continuous land exceedingly exacting, and the runnier of its performance exposes the uulge to the criticism of an army if persons who are in many cases exceedingly blunt in the expression of their opinions. The office of judge of f be Arbitration Court is about as 'bankless, in short, as it is onerous. Mr .lustice Sim has not passed through the ordeal wholly unscathed. In face of the severe criticism that has been directed against him from certain quarters it would be absurd to pretend that he has given satisfaction to everybody. But if he has failed to give satisfac-

tion to some sort ions oi the workers the explanation docs no: necessarily lie in the decisions which he has formed in the discharge oi the duties of his office. He has performed a difficult task ably and fearlessly, and we are perfectly satisfied, with a single minded desire to adjudicate honestly and equitably upon the issues that have demanded settlement. The Arbitration Court has made mistakes, hut these have been mistakes generally due to the court's inability to grasp technical details and never to any lack oi a determination on its part to act fairly and impartially as between the parties before it. It is impossible, perhaps, for the Arbitration Court to avoid occasional mistakes, but such mistakes as it lias made have not been of a kind that justified the attacks which have been made upon its latest judge. In the more congenial atmosphere of the Supreme Court Mr Justice Sim will enjoy a serener existence than has been permitted to him since the honor of a judgeship was conferred upon him, and will, there can be no doubt, worthily uphold the high reputation of the Bench.