THE COMMISSION OF THE PEACE.

Tuapeka Times, Volume V, Issue 234, 25 July 1872, Page 6

THE COMMISSION OF THE PEACE.

Tn an article on Justices' justice as exemplified iv New Zoaland, the Post says :—

It is understood that New Zealand boasts of at least tv ice as many Justices of the Peace as Victoria. In choosing them, not the slightest regard is ever paid to their fitness for the position to which they are called. A junior clerk, whose principal duties consist perhaps iv copying letters, or making trivial entries* in a book, is compelled to pass a stringent ex unination, and yet a man who is called upon to adjudicate upon most important matters, miy bo as ignorant as he choses, or as prejudiced and partial as it Siiit3 him to be. If it is necessary that the magic letters J. P. should be tacked to mea's names as a badge of honor like a red ribbon in a buttonhole, let it be clearly understood that the drc -re<sß are honorary magistrates entirely, having no power to sit, and let oniy men of character, intelligence, and standing in the community, be allowed to assume functions which are of an onerou3 and responsible nature.