The Wairarapa Daily THURSDAY, JULY 9, 1891.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XII, Issue 3853, 9 July 1891, Page 2

The Wairarapa Daily THURSDAY, JULY 9, 1891.

No one will grudge Mrs Spackman the full award made in her favor yesterday. If she had a claim at all against the County Council, it could not possibly be a light one, and few will deem the damages demanded and given to be excessive. The verdict is none the less a blow to local governing bodies, for in a new country like this there are hundreds and thousands of hazardous places, to put which in order adequate means are altogether wanting. Had the County in the first instance admitted Mrs .Spackman's claim, it would have established a precedent under which numerous other claims might have been put forward. It did its duty by taking a legal opinion and acting upon it. The glorious uncertainty of the law has, however, held it responsible where it imagined it was not bound. We would be glad for Mrs Spackman's sake if the case could end here, and that the local body should not feel that a further duty devolved upon it to appeal to a higher Court. Unfortunately, when the law is once set in motion, there is no knowing where it will stop, where it can stop, or where it must stop ; the impartial observer can only sympathise with both plaintiff and defendant.