SATURDAY, MAY 20, 1899.

Waimate Daily Advertiser, Issue 52, 20 May 1899, Page 3

SATURDAY, MAY 20, 1899.

WHO is going to be the new Chief Justice ? Naturally most people would think the senior Judge would be appointed to the position. Curjiously enough, however, the custom generally followed forbids this. The reason is that if it were known that when the Chief-Justiceship was vacant any of the other Judges would be eligible for the appointment it might give rise to intriguing, jealousy, envyings/and plottings. So the practice in England has been to appoint some lawyer straight from the bar to these high judicial positions. When a tempting vacancy occurs the Attorney Gen oral, as a rule, has the first offer ; but as we have no j Attorney - General at present, the Chief Justiceship may be given to j any suitable lawyer. For about 200 I years now, every care has been taken to preserve the British Judicial Bench from evep. the possibility of pressure frota, any side or quarter ji respect to its decision's. B/ the

Act of (Settlement in 1702 it was laid down that the Judges should hold office for life provided their conduct was g3od. This was, of course, to enable them to give their decisions, even in cases where the Crowri are concerned, absolutely without fear or favour. It is now too a principle of the law that a judge's salary should be secured to him for life when he is appointed. This was the point that arose in the famous Judge Edwards case. The Government appointed Mr Edwards a judge while Parliament was not in sessfon. They had power to do this, according to the Supreme Court Act, but they had no power to pay the new judge his salary, because they required the consent of the House to the expenditure. When the question was referred to the Home authorities, it was held that it was unconstitutional to appoint a judge without first making arrangements for and securing his salary. It w r as not always so. For many years in England a large part of a judge's income was derived from fees that he received from litigants who came before him. A case in point is that of Lord Bacon. He was, perhaps, the greatest scholar, lawyer, philosopher, and scientist combined that Britain has ever seen. He was Lord Chancellor of England, and yet he was removed with ignominy from his high position, imprisoned and heavily fined for the common vulgar offence of taking bribes from the suitors in his court. The probability is that Bacon did not as a matter of fact allow himself to be influenced by the "presents" he received in this way, but still the fact remained that he did receive these gifts of- money and of articles of various kinds, and thatthe practice was grossly improper. Bacon himself said so. He said that he had been the justest judge in England for 50 years, but that the judgment against himself was the justest judgment that had been given for 200 years. This practice of giving presents to the judge seems to have been quite common .and to have been generally regarded as quite the proper thing. It will be remembered in Shakespeare's " Merchant of "Venice " when Portia and Nerissa enquire from Bassanio and Gratiano what has become of their respective rings, (which had been presents to them from the ladies) Gratiano says :—: — "My lord Bassanio gave his ring away Unto the judge, that begged it, and indeed Deserved it too ; and the boy, his clerk, That took some pains in writing, he , begged mine And neither man nor master would take aught But the two rings." We are inclined to tliink that the English rule as to appoint men fes to vacant judgeships is unnecessarily stringent. Certainly it stands greatly in the way just now in New Zealand ; for unquestionably there cannot be

the shadow of a doubt as to the man.' who of all men in this country is most suitable for the position. Probably the whole population, if a vote, could be taken, would assert almost, unanimously that the new Chief Justice should be His Honor Mr, Justice Williams, who, we believe, is now the senior judge on thei bench. Such an appointment would give universal satisfaction, while no lawyer at present practising is likely to be generally acceptable for the position.

In another column we are publishing an interview with Bishop Julius in regard to his utterances on the "No License " Question. The Bishop, who has been well known for many years to be unable to see eye to eye with the extreme party of Prohibitionists, has now assumed an attitude that is at least extraordinary. He has had a irieeting of his clergy and requested them to vote "No License " notwithstanding that a gaping void separates his views from those of the Prohibitionists' He advises his clergy to vote "No License " — that is the total abol- j ition of liquor from the colony — though personally believing in its value. Thus he deplores the , shut ? ting up of the wholesale licensebut condemns the retail bars. To meet this difficulty, he suddenly springs from being a person who' has been the subject of condemnnation by the Prohibitionists, into a leader of thought whose acts arc far ahead of his beliefs. He does not believe in prohibition but is going to vote for it. There is no traffic or business under the sun that has not got abuse of some sort, but we do not agree with his Lordship that there has not been such j an amendment of the liquor traffic in late years, as to lead us to hope for the gradual extinction of most of its abuse under an honest and strict system of supervision, and the improvement of the people as a whole, in regard to drinking habits. We see no reason to suppose that the failure to cany prohibition means that no diminution of such evils as do exist in this particular traffic will take place. "We believe that the education of spublic habits, taste and sentiment, are doing a very great deal in the direction of suppressingthose excesses which practically the whole community deplore.

In our last issue we had pleasure in informing the general public that we proposed to issue our newspaper three times a week at a cost 'little more than that paid for tyro issues of any other newspaper "published , in the colouy — hardly three pence for throe issues. The day's we se-, lected were Tuesday, Thursday, and, Saturday, avoiding, as far as possibly: any intrusion on the days thai our' contemporary publishes. ThS-atiteh paper had its Wednesday'a isstje lefi without opposition - Md Monday, "Wednesday, y.

for the members that they have not more stability about them than to turn with every breeze that blows, in that case, in my humble opinion, they, like the staff, require a good renovating. The public will agree that should an inquiry not be held by an unbiassed judge r or the Stipendiary Magistrate, and so' clear up this serious state of things, then I ask is it possible the management of the hospital enn be conducted in a proper and careful manner, without a thorough working up so to speak '? Apologising for trespassing on your valuable space, — I am, etc., A Thoughtful Header.