SUPREME COURT, NELSON.

Westport Times, Volume II, Issue 187, 6 March 1868, Page 2

SUPREME COURT, NELSON.

The following is the charge of Mr Justice .Richmond to the grand jury on Monday, the 2nd inst. Extracted from the Colonist of the 3rd : Mr Foremen and Gentlemen op the Grand Jury—

I must at the outset congratulate you and the province on the lightness of the calendar on this occasion. There arc only four cases set down on the calendar for trial; and the charges against the prisoners are not great charges, or such as require any special comment from me, as you will he able to discharge all the duty falling to you without any assistance from me. I must also congratulate you and the province on what is shown by the lightness of the calendar, for it is another evidence added to what Ave have already seen elsewhere, of the gradual diminution of crime, not only in this district but all over New Zealand. The diminution at Auckland as well as in other parts of the North Island has been remarked on by other Judges ; and a like diminution has been experienced in other parts of the South Island than Nelson. The same thing has been observed in Wcstland. At Hokitika the amount of crime has been gradually and steadily decreasing ; and I see that Judge Chapman notices a similar decrease in Otago. The causes of the decrease are not difficult to understand. It is usual to experience a considerable amount of crime on recently discovered goldfields. The first rush to a new goldfield always attracts at the beginning the scum of the earth; but when once the superficial alluvial diggings are tolerably worked out, these worst of characters who do not like the steady work go away, and the steady mining population remains ; and that population is anything but given to crime. Indeed, experience has shown that the steady respectable mining class is a pillar of law and order, having an interest in the progressive welfare of the country, and ready to support tile law. Hence it is that the improvement in the rate

of crime is being now so evident in the goM-imning districts, us well as in oilier parts of the colony. It is impossible not to contrast the quiet state of things in this colony with what has from time to time been unfolded by the news from home. Ido not allude specially to Fenianism; but moro particularly to the disclosures which the .Sheffield Commission of Enquiry brought to light, regarding the unsatisfactory state of things existing among the artizans in England, as shown by these disclosures. The British Parliament, I am glad to observe, is prepared to apply remedies, not to these trade outrages only, but to Fenianism also. And as the whole subject has been taken up by thoughtful men, these will not be quack remedies ; but will go to the root of the matter by striding to remove the cause of the evils. Here we are happier in being removed from the influence of evils of this nature ; here we do not inherit the evils of which at home have been the growth of centuries. Here there is no acknowledgment of difference of class of race or of caste, neither do religious differences interfere with our progress. It is true we have no glorious past to look back to in New Zealand ; but if we have not that we ought to rejoice in the possession of a growing feeling of respect for law and order. This feeling of obedience to the laws I hope to see fostered in the rising youth of the colony ; an obedience not formal, or imitative, but an obedience based on reason and conscience, which is the only lasting and desirable basis. I should like to see obedience to, and the upholding of, law and order regarded in the light of a sacred duty, and practised as such; for on that depends the preservation of the freedom and privileges which we at present enjoy. Compare those with the anarchy which from time to time is exhibited as reigning in the South

American Republics, or, to take what is much nearer home, the Maoris. Mail for mar, I declare that 1 believe the Maori and the white man arc very much alike in many things. I have seen a good many pakehas who were unable to sign their names ; now 1. scarcely ever met with a Maori who was unable to sign his name and both read and write the Maori language. Where, then, lies the marked difference between the white man and the Maori? I believe it is to be found in our traditional respect for law, a tradition which I believe to be growing stronger and more sacred among the people, ns a duty they owe to G-od. I say this because I consider the time has gone by when there was held to be a difference between the things of Cresar and the things of God ; for the things of Caisar are the things of God, in so far as they affect and influence the welfare and happiness of the people. As a subject to which my mind is constantly reverting, I would wish to say a few words on the particular state of the country ; but I shall only allude to one matter in the administration of justice which is likely to arise from it. In the present state of the finance of the country, it seems more and more likely that there will be a decrease in the stipendiary Magistrates, and that their work must be undertaken by gentlemen volunteers. I am happy to know that this work can be very satisfactorily performed by such gentlemen, and that generally, at least in civil cases, they are quite equal to the task. Of course there are difficulties and responsibilities in carrying out their duties (although they are not personally responsible), and a case has come under my notice in which, in respect to a criminal proceeding, I had to annul the judgment of one of the Justice of the Peace Courts, in consequence of want of accordance with the law. This brings forcibly to my mind the necessity of Justices paying greater attention to the forms and technicalities of the law. It was nothing less than a mockery to appoint a gentleman to the office of Justice of the Peace, and give him five or six volumes of" Burn's Justice" as his vade mccnm, and expect that he was to make himself master of the law which that voluminous vade mecwm contains. Now, however, in New Zealand the matter is more simple, as the Justice of Peace Act of 1866, and the Act of 1567, give ample instructions as the powers of Justices, and render much more easy the work of understanding the extent of these powers, and of knowing how to adhere to the powers laid down. And if the Justices will only take care to employ the forms laid down in the schedules connected with the acts, and make themselves masters of the acts themselves, there is nothing that can hinder a very satisfactory administration. It is, I think, very desirable that the Govornmo.ut should employ efficient ■ ' ' I " il vexes me to see in toll ililowed I stu: ble

into error in consequence of'inattontion to form which in clearly laid down. I feel quite certain that the. country Justices are able to settle all civil cases that corno before thein as well as this Court can do. And as regards cases under criminal law, I should advise and urge the necessity of their seeing that in the taking of depositions and statements of prisoners, their clerk adhere closely to the form prescribed by law.