Wairarapa Daily Times. [Established 1874.] MONDAY, DECEMBER 30, 1895. THE INDEPENDENCE OF THE BENCH.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XVI, Issue 5216, 30 December 1895, Page 2

Wairarapa Daily Times. [Established 1874.] MONDAY, DECEMBER 30, 1895. THE INDEPENDENCE OF THE BENCH.

:r is a ljftle curious that the Gorerameut quite recently' prated about he independence of the Magistracy, md refused to snub Mr Hawkins, 3.M., who bad, from bis scat on the :3encli, inoulcatecl disrespeofc for the aw, and was therefore open to iniinadversion. Tlio S.M. who bad nade an obvious blunder was exilted, but another S.M., Mr lintchiion, who has apparently in a certaii natter acted rightly and properly ias been very decidedly snubbed b; ■lie Premier himself. From this w may gather that when a Magistral pleases the Government by ai issault pn prohibition, his indepen :lencp is to be specially protected; bu when a displeases tl| Government, by a deoislon whiol may be in the direction of prohibi tion, his independence must b knocked 011 tlio head. The Govern menu CVi r,(!nfl V makes lish of oiv magistrate and flesh of anotlier. Th' fountain of tho justice which w »et in' New Zeajpd is Mi'Soddon It is a queer kind "of 'j usljico' Svlilol is likely to shock tho prejudices 0 any who may be in any way scrupu lous. tn the little quarrel re tin booth privileges of the Wairarapi Caledonian Society, tlioGovernmon appears to Have taken the part of tli S.Qcieiy (vifcbqut evemwaiting for an; expittnati.ojj fr.o/n Mr 'Jldtchisijn. -j somewhat" indecent .felcgrajn fj-ori tho Premier fa Mr Hogg, whicl obviously piits peyofa pfflssur on the local 6,M., is |n/itaptl; forwartleu. ,,flro is 110 thi" occasion of the freedom 01 » i r!. r '' h ° the independence of the Bench, but 1 distinct effort to bend nil official sworn to act impartially, to tbeMin terial will. The S.M. who flouts tin prohibitionists may be protected, bu t|ie S.M. who touches a Galedoniai Society roust bp 'sat VW. Mi Hutchison has been declared by 1 Government organ to have arrived a an arbitary and erroneous decision touching this privilege of the Caledo nian Society, but we fail to sei how a chargo of this kind can bi sustained. Apparently he consults the police, and 011 their repor refused to sign the license. It i believed that the police in theii recommendations were influence) by their sympathies with tho Mas terton publicans, and that the'latte were ttratli that an Eketa)iuna pub liean should sell grog in Mastertpn gnt nothing has transpired to sh'ov that Mr Hutchison had any know ledge of this little jindopcjjrrpnt, 0 that Ins aotion was in any wa l guided by it. We are not sure bu t)iat it. would bo a wise stop for thi Park authorities to put down al traffic in intoxicating liquors withii their boundaries. In the presen instance at least a thousand nobbier will, have to be sold before the pur chaser of the booth privilege cai make a profit. In the existing stat of the weather we are not sure tha it would not be better for tb

| thousand nobblers to be unconsumed, although we admit that in pastyears the crowd at the Caledonian Society gathering has been fairly orderly. But this is another aspect of the question altogether, the present trouble arises from an Eketahuna I publican purchasing a Masterton privilege. Mr Snddon, apparently, is determined to let the S.M. know that ho is the final arbiter in all disputes of this kind mid that the Caledonian Society is to exorcise tho privilege denied to it by the S.M, at the instigation of the police. We can only hope that the Government won't say anything more about the independence of the Bench. This is a kind of" illusion" which Mr Seddon is very apt to dispel. There may bo a Minister of Justice, but wo fancy that Mr Seddon hiinsolf is Minister both of justice and injustice, he is high, low, Jack, and game, and the solution of till difficulties is simple. "He who must be obeyed " takes a side, and whether right or. wrong his wishes are given effect to