THE BENCH AND BAR.

Tuapeka Times, Volume VII, Issue 369, 1 July 1874, Page 3

THE BENCH AND BAR.

i There a«"e other Courts besides those of Dunfdin in which the professional men makntheir quarrels public. We take the following instances from our Melbourne files :— ' THE BRTORT COURTEOUS. j The Melbourne * I-ea ier 'of a recent date ■ says :—lt: — It is not often that the serenity of ] Mr Justice Barry is disturbed whan presid- j ing in the courts of law. He has been sorely '. tried in the interminable suits of >lack v. Winder and Quirk v. Watson, but in all 1 those his Honor has possessed himself in c patience, notwithstanding the bluuderings a of the amateur pleaders concerned. How- { ever, he became vary emphatic during the r progress of the .suit of Hefferuan v O'Brien ' The husband of the plaiutiff, during his t cross-examination, made an allusion to a f civic dignitary residing in one of the suburbs, t His Honor remarked that a great deal of a matter had been dragged into tho o and he did not see what this parti- a cular gentleman had to do with tbe case, c 'Mr Quinlan, who was one of the counsel for b the plaintiff, was proceeding to explain, c though his senior, Mr Dobson was cross- n examining the witness, when his Honor said c he had made his remark to the witness, and not to the counsel. Mr Quintan continued d his explanation, an^ his Honor cried out, s in an authoritative and increasingly loud tone of voice, "Sit down, sir; pray sit a down." Mr Quinlan objected to being c spoken to in that way, and his Honor retorted, " I repeat it, sir ; sit down. There o has been more than enough interruption in s this case, and it is quite time gentlemen c should know their position.'' To this Mr p Quinlan replied, "Yes, and Judges ton." b There was a brief pause when this retort fell a on many astonished ears, and then Mr Ire- L land, Q.C, in his mest persuasive whisper, c said "Keep quiet." Bench and Bar did so, L and the case proceeded. I THE LIB DIRECT. According tq the 'Australasian,' during | the trial of the action Heffernan v. O'Brien, j in the Supreme Court, Melbourne, a seen- _ occurred that threatened at one time to have |j a very unpleasant termination. Dr Dobson, who was counsel for the plaintiff, had in j, cross-examination asked, on the Friday, Mr Heffernan, the husband of the plaintiff, j, whether he had ever caused his wife to enter- E tain any jealousy towards a lady whose name was mentioned. Heffernan denied, that t there was any' cause for jealousy. On Saturday the lady in question was pub in the box, and Mr Irebtjd said that be must 1 ask her a question winch, under other circumstances, would have been impertinent, but which he was obliged to put, in consequence of the, insinuations that had been thrown out about her by the plaintiffs r counsel, namely, "Had she ever had any , improper intimacy with Mr Heffernan?" Dr Dobson said, "We never made any * insinuations." Mr Ireland (to the witness) : " Answer the question.'' The witness (emphatically): "No; certainly not."- Dr Dobson then said to tbe witness, " Madam, f 1 beg" to inform you that whatever attack has been made on yon was made by the l defendant's counsel." Mr Ireland : "That f is not true." Dr Dobson (very excitedly) : "You lie." Mr lreland v ßaade some obser- , ration across the barristers' tabl* to Dr Dobson, which did not reach the ear of the \ Court. Mr Justice '-arry, who was presding. rose from his seat, closed his note-book, and , said that during the twenty years of his experieaoe on the Bench he had never heard , Buch coarse language as that used by Dr . Dobson, or witnessed such conduct. Dr . Dobson replied that Mr Ireland began it, and he was bound to iprotect himself. Mr Justice E Barry : " Nothing can justify such language as that." Dr Dobson : "It appears 10 me ' that your Honor is making fish of one and . flesh of another." Mr Justice Barry: <- I do not propose to bandy .vulgar proverbs ' with yen, Dr Dobson. 1 think your obser- , vation was quite uncalled for." Dr Dobson then said that, in deference to his Honor's ■ remarks! he would withdraw any offensive . observations that he had made. His Honor ; said he was glad that the expression had been withdrawn ; he had noticed lately a great deal of coarse conduct and of acerbity of feeling by members of the Bar, which he much '■ regretted. Tie discussion then dropped, and the trial was proceeded with. SubseqHently, through the good offices of MrM'Farland, Ur Dobson wrote ; a note to Mr Ireland, expressing his regret that, under a misapprehension .of . Mr Ireland's remarks, he had used the language referred to.

The dissatisfaction with the Licensing Act appears to be general throughout the Colony. The Westland Provincial Council, during its late session, appointed' a committee to consider what amendments of the measure were necessary, and they reported :— "1. That it is necessary that the- Licensing Courts should held quarterly sittings. 2. That the power of transfer from one house to another should be given to the Licensing Court. 3.- That the persons constituting the licensing Court should bo appointed by his Excellency the Governor of the Colony on. the recommendation of the Superintendent of tie Province."