THE ED WARDS CASE.

Temuka Leader, Issue 2204, 21 May 1891, Page 3

THE ED WARDS CASE.

Wellington, May 19. Mr Harper, for the defence, argued that the appointment of Mr Edwards was legal and conatitutional. He quoted from the correspondence between Mr Edwards and the Government of the day, showing that the former was not in favor of accepting the position as a Commissioner alone, but made it a condition precedent that he should be also appointed a Judge of the Supreme Court, and if he took the latter alone it showed clearly that he was not to be appointed a temporary or provisional Judge, but a Judge of the Supreme Court. The commission had been offered to him as Judge ef the Supreme Court, and had been accepted aa such, and everything was done by him to have his salary ascertained and established. Mr Harper quoted numerous authorities dealing with the English Judges, showing that it was not until the reign of William IV. that the Judges wore placed on the Civil list, and until that time they had been dependent on the Crown for their salaries. He combated the argument of plaintiff’s counsel that the ascertainment and establishment of a Judge’s salary was necessary before his appointment, and contended that in appointments ef Justices Johnston, Richmond, and Chapman to the Bench the Civil List Act mentioned a lump sum for Juddee, and the ascertainment was made of salaries to be paid to individual Judges. Mr Harper said that the defence to Sir Robert Stout’s main point on which they relied, was that from 1844 to 1882 there had been no attempt by means of legislation to limit the power of the appointment of judges. This he sought to establish by carefully reviewing all the Acta on the subject. The commission having been issued by the Governor he could not see bow it could be cancelled unless there were express limitation by statute of the number of Judges. The only ground on which the commission could possibly be cancelled (in the absence of any allegation of misconduct) was that the Crown had granted that which by law it had no right to grant. In conclusion Mr Harper put it that the case was one of the greatest magnitude, and that the Court should give the very greatest consideration to the matter before it would say that it would import into a statute what might have been a very doubtful convention or law of constitution, a great principle which had, never been accepted in any way other than by the statutes to which it could be meant to apply and whicb had been never left to inference. As te Kir Robert Stout’s reference to the dignity of the Bench, be maintained that the dignity of the* Bench had been upheld as far as possible by the constitutional appointment of Mr Justice Edwards, an appointment which was perfectly proper in all its surrounding. Nothing was said against Mr Edwards himself, and it did not lie in Sir Robert’s mouth to say that he had brought about any question of the dignity of the Bench, or its position.

Mr Chapman dealt first with Sir Bobert Stout’s argument that the commission of a Judge was auxiliary to that of a Commissioner, and fell with it. The correspondence showed that Mr Edwards refused to accept the uommissionership on those terms, but he submitted that the Court could not read it to Commission. Part of the correspondence between Mr Edwards and Premier showed that letters patent of the Crown could not be controlled by a letter from the Crown itself. The constitutional principle invoked by Sir Eobert Stout as to the fixing of the Judges’ salaries before appointment derived its whole force from Eaglish statutes which were not in force in New Zealand, so that vll the provisions bearing upon the question were embodied in onr own statute law. He argued that between the years 1862 and 1878, when the amount for judicial salaries was stated in a lump sum, no judge could say that his salary was ascertained by an Act of Parliament, but he would have to refer to his contract with the Q-overnment for the information. This showed that the constitutional precedents of England were not applied to the colony, and that the appointment of Mr Edwards stood on exactly the same footing as those of some of his brother Judges. Mr Theo. Cooper contended that in this case the Court had only New Zealand statutes to deal with, and the question was purely on© of construction. They must put aside tbe arguments as to tbe constitutional principle, and go back to the plain wordi of the statutes. Coming then tp the statutes, be found the reserya-

, lion to the Crown of the right of i appointment without any limitation as ) to number. Section fire of the 1 Supreme Court Act, 1881, provided i that the Court should consist of one : Chief Justice and such other Judges as bis Excellency should from time to time appoint. Mr Cooper claimed that unless the terms of the Act were strained Mr Edwards’ appointment could not be declared invalid. At 3 p.m, the Court adjourned until the following day. Some amusement was caused daring the proceedings by a point which was raised by Mr Harper, that though the salaries of judges were sought to be protected from Parliament, it was doubtful whether they really were so, and whether in certain contingencies, such as stonewall or other obstruction, the judges might not have to sue Government for their salaries. The Chief Justice, amid some suppressed laughter, said, u Too must not frighten us too much, Mr Harper.” Arguments in the case will probably be finished about noon to-morrow.

A Boon.—We understand the South British Tot Company's pure teas hare been introduced into this district. They are free from any excess of asfringenoy. —Advt. In India there are 8000 children learning the English language because it is found that it is far easier to reach 1 these children thrsugh the influence of English literature than to attempt to translate our works into Hindu. Count ess, Duchess, Princess, Empress, are ibe registered names of the flew Teas. Free from any excess of astringenoy.—Adrt. London newspapers are indignant with the British Census Department for spelling the word labor on its schedules in what is termed the American fashion. They have “ laboured” too long with the old word to discard it as a concession to American innovation. School gardens, of which there are more than 8000 in Austria, are being laid in different parts of Germany. Their object is to give methodical instruction in the cultivation of fruit trees to be used in the teaching of botany. The Department of Public Instruction for New fork State will award a gold medal to the student in the common schools of that State who shall present the best essay on a plan for the most profitable observance of Arbor The Arab ponies which the Sultan ‘ recently presented to the three elder of the German Emperor’s six sons are said to have a pedigree which dates back to the “ sacred mare ” on which the prophet fled from Mecca to Medina. 1 Emperor William’s speech is nearly as rapid as Philips Brooks’, Dr Engel, one of the chief reporters io the Reichstag, who has stenographed the Emperor’s speeches frequently, says that he rattles off about 300 syllables 'i a minute.