Wairarapa Daily Times. [ESTABLISHED 1878.] WEDNESDAY, JUNE 14, 1893.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XV, Issue 4443, 14 June 1893, Page 2

Wairarapa Daily Times. [ESTABLISHED 1878.] WEDNESDAY, JUNE 14, 1893.

SECOND EDITION

In England, Justices are appointed by ihe Lord Chancellor, on the recommendation of Lord Lieutenants, and they are most invariably persons of consequence and condition. Evo,< now in England a Justice is regarded with a certain amount of awe and respect. He may nob posses brains, but ho is ceitain to be a man of high character and conduct, The average Englishman does not quite understand that a Justice in New Zealand is as like his Home article as a grrb resembles a butterfly. When Muggins in New Zealand sends a Gazette home to show his friends in England that His Excellency the Governor lias been pleased to appoint him a justice of the Peace, they are thunderstruck, ihey cry ont " O' mv I fanoy a little gander like Muggins turning out a awml" They do nolrundei stand that we are selecting Justices in New Zealand from the pit instead of from the stalls, they ate not aware that j; the missing link were discovered in New Zealand it will probably be found in the person of a Justice of the Peace. This of oouree arises from the peculiar manner in whioh the colonial article is munufao tured. He is re'il'y a perquisite'of a member of the House of Eepresenta« tives, who is a supporter of the Government. Each M.H.R. of: a right colour is allowed twenty pounds a mnnih, four Justices of the Peace per annum," policemen ad libitum, a gold railway pass and a few other unconsidered trifles. Eaob one selects his ;J ustices' with a f yw | to strengthening his position' as a politician.- He - possibly/, chooses some lively charaptiT, who is good at canvassibiri ii'n •accouipli&hed jinr, an m list in piofane language, and a proficient in the art of gambling, At any rate, we have reaoietl tb stsje

in New Zealand, : tlmt an intelligent | i bairister. relies upon the amiable i weakness of the Jusiiues who listen to his pleadings, for a verdict, rather than on the merits of b.'a case. Nine persons out of len who frequent a Oourt, when they see who are on the Benob, can prognosticate the result from ilieiv knowledge of the pecnlaritifs.of tba Justices. , ...

. We are a little old r fashioned, and would lite to see verdicts following the weight of evidenoe, rather than the bias of Jus'icw, and w consider that some effort should still be made io secure that the persons who sit on the Bench should be fit for the positions they pisome. In England there is a demand for democrat io Justices, but the manner in wlitch the demand is being met is in striking contrast to our New Zealand experiences. There is, in the proposed new arrangements at Home a reasonable guarantee that pei'sons seleoted for the nlbce sball be ohosen on publio giounds and not for political reasons, A Bill has been brought before tho Imperial Pailjar ment enabling Chairmen of local bodies to sit on the CoH mission of the Peace by virfl of their office, and enipowemfl County and Municipal Councils fl elect persons for the position. Thai is, the Couucils nominate as many justices i'S the Loid Chancellor may deem Etmsarv in their respective districts, and the names so selected are submitted to the Ofown for appointment, A similar law 'would work well in Now Zealand, If, for example, two juslioes were leq'uired in this neighbonihood, we venture to say that cither the County Councilor the Borough Council would make a better choice in the publio interests than the member for the district. The latter cannot make a choice, certain persona have claims on him which he dare not dispute, and he has to send up names to the Government irrespi oi ivc of fitness, But a public body would not be tied in such a manner, and only men possessing reasonablo qualifications would be ohosen.