PUNCTUALITY.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 4, Issue 1063, 2 May 1882, Page 2

PUNCTUALITY.

Judge Hardcastle laid himself open lo criticism yesterday by inflicting a fine on a juryman for unpunctuality, when he himself had on a former occasion, by a lapse of memory, committed a somewhat similar fault, but one which was attended by a far greater measure of pnblio inconvenience, Was tbo Judge right, afterexcusing himself, to inflict a fine of forty shillings on Mr Jago ? Logically it was the duty of the Judge to deal impartially with the offence, neither condoning it, because he himself had been lax, nor displaying vindictiveness, because he himself had been virtuous, If Judges once begaii to measure peoples' corn by their own bushels, we should soon lose confi' dence in the integrity and uprightness of the bench. His Honor, by letting Mr Jago off as a fellow sinner, would not hare nmdo one right out of two wrongs. When Judge Haudoastlr, on a former occasion, forgot an appointment in Masterton, we condemned his conduct in decided terms, and though wo sympathise with Mr Jago in his being mulcted in a substantial penalty for a muoh more trivial offence, we are not prepared to say that the Judge was wrong. We should have likod to have seeu His Honor take another \iew of the circumstances of Mr Jago's case, but if, as we believe, his decision was an honest one, we respect him all the more for resisting the gratification which we feel sure he would have experienced in doing a kindly and popular act by remitting the fine. Mr Jacio will have the consolation of knowing that the penalty in which he has boon mulcted will make his neighbors muoh more careful of similar appointments for the future. If all the unpunstual people in the town divided the loss with him they would probably not have to pay more than a penny each. We do not suppose the lesson practically laught by Judge HardoiSTiE will be worth forty shillings to Mr Jago, but it will certainly be worth much more thun this amount to the community.