HISTORICAL.

Otago Witness, Issue 1650, 7 July 1883, Page 26

HISTORICAL.

OTAGO.

Past XVII. The Bench. Following on the appointment and, arrival of the judge all the neceaaary preliminaries were taken to set the Supreme Court in motion. A list of jurors numbering about 350 was published ; a proclamation issued appointing a I Circuit Court to be held in Dunedin on the j first day of June and the first day of December 'in each year ; a gaoler also and other officials were duly created. Accordingly at 10 o'clock on the 3rd of June his Honor took his seat on the Bench, and the Court waß opened in the usual manner by the crier, the registrar read the commission and proclamation, called over the names of the jurymen, a large number of whom were at first absent, but later on put in .an appearance. His H«nor cautioned the jurors that for non-appearance they were liable to a fine of £10. The magistrates and officers were sworn in ; and their being neither criminal nor civil business the Court adjourned till September, when it again met, but had no business to do. Meeting again in December still no business, excepting the fining of jurors for non-attendance. i The settlement had now existed for close on four years and no crime had occurred of sufficientimportance to require the decision of a jury. It had been a matter of notoriety throughout the settlement that there would be no business for a Supreme Court 3 and yet it was conferred on them. It had now met on four occasions — two of which were adjournments — and 36 men had been twicesummonedatgreat inconvenience to themselves »nd loss to th« country. The scene presented at the Court was pointedly illustrative of the folly of assuming an air of grandeur on trifling occasions, and but for the annoyance of the loss of time would have provoked a laugh. There were four policemen in 'smart attire with long wands in their hands stationed at the door of the Courthouse, a new building erected for Supreme Court purposes; there was the sheriff also with a long wand apparently with a crown on the top of it, presenting a strong resemblance to the pole with which visitors to the Zoological Gardens feed the j bears with buns ; the crier with his sonorous voice ; the registrar in his gown and bands ; and the solitary gentleman, Mr Harris, representing the Bar. And wherefore all this parade? There was no business to do, and I proceedings were wound up by swearing in two j J.P.'s. There was a loss to account for this swearing in, as the oath had been administered twice to some of these worthies. Well might the question be asked, is our highest legal functionary as perturbed a spirit as the ghost in Hamlet, exclaiming " swear," " swear," from every corner of the settlement, or was it possible the memory of the Bench was defec tive? , It was somewhat ludicrous for 36 haidworking men to be summoned fiom a distance to listen to two gentlemen reciting publicly the oldfashioned oath of King James. They might wpU exclaim with Sam Weller, "I» nobody to be wholloptsd for this here?" To celebrate the opening of the Supreme I Court, the Bench of Justices of the- district 'invited Mr Justice Stephen to a banquet in the Royal Hotel, at which it is recorded there was a full attendance of Magistrates, but to which the Press was not invited. A report of the proceedings was, however, furnished, which represented that the " feast of viands was prepared in first-rate style, though the feast of reason and flow of soul were somewhat neglected, her Majesty's health being drunk i very coldly, and thatofhisExcellency the Governor entirely omitted — presenting a strong contrast to a late occasion when those toasts were drunk with enthusiasm." Theremark is also appended that no surprise was felt by the community at this circumstance since the Bench, with two honourable exceptions— Captain Cargill and Mr Macandrew, — did not consider it incumbent on them to attend the dinner in honour of her Majesty's Birthday. The career of Mr Justice Stephen in Otago was not one reflecting honour on himself or his high office. Identifying himself with one or two objects of public advantage, he certainly displayed a very narrow and prejudiced spirit in i refusing to give a public lecture on the ad- . vantages of mechanics' institutions, for the benefit of an association of that kind then forming, on the sole ground that two gentlemen—Messrs Strode and Kettle— had not their names recorded as patrons of the Institute. But the circumstance which brought his namp and position most prominently, not only before the district but the whole Colony, and which elicited from one end to the other expressions of surprise and regret, was pne discreditable in itself and rendered more so by the occasion of the trial of his Honor the Judge before the inferior Court of Justice. Into the details of the case itself it is not desirable hey« to enter, as they were not reputable in any man, much less in one holding the highust judicial position in the district. To the conduct of the judge, however, when arnvignpil before the magisterial tribunal ib Li quite a matter of history to rofer. Jli d Honor M}>ui several parties for wilfully and wickedly conspiring, combining, confederating ftii'l agreeing together by handing ab'oufc a document injurious to hia reputation." Timers, n?w * Judy in the ease, »ad the defendants were by a majority of the

Bench committed for trial before the Supreme Court in Dunedin, but admitted to bail, whioh was immediately forthcoming. The trial never eventuated. One of the defendants in this case sued the judge for assault— shaking his fist in his face, calling him a lying scoundrel, threatening to beat his brains out, and to' break every bone in his body. In his defence the judge stated that the provocation he had received was overpowering, no human^nature could have borne that provocation, none, bmt a Spartan could have borne it.' Thecomplainaat had gone about in a cowardly clandestine manner to circulate reports injurious "'to his character. Under these circumstances f could he (the defendaut) wait for the slow and tardy proceeding of the law ? Gould he endure all that had been said and not hare hia feelinga ruffled ? The Bench after, an hour's consideration, by a majority, found that no assault had been committed, but said that had complainant applied to the Bench to preserve the peace his application would have been considered. On behalf of the minority of the justices Dr Purdie said they deeply regretted to see the Judge of the Supreme Court in such a position, and more' especially as to his expression that he would not wait for the slow and tardy administration of the law. • • ■ ■ ' The community generally determined that the defendants in the libel case should nok suffer. A public subscription -was entered intw for their defence, and a meeting held express^ ing sympathy. Arising out of the case a duel was also threatened. Dr Manning was 1 bound over to keep the peace towards his Honor Mr Justice Stephen for twelve monthsiri his own recognisances for £200 and two Buretiea in £100 each. The affair arose out of the scandalous expressions applied by his Honor to Misa Grahams at the late proceedings in the 'Magistrate's Court. The doctor, considering it unnecessary to wait the slow and tardy- process of the law, took the opportunity of Mr Stephen's leaving the court to return a card hi*' Honor had left him and to hand his Honor one of hia own, but, finding that course had no effect, he sent his Honor a hostile message, upon 1 whioi»w his Honor applied to' the court for prot'ectioM. - The presence of Mr Justice Stephen was mot long continued in the district, as in the 1 courseof a short timo he was removed to Wellington. Unfortunately the whole -batch of -tho judicial authoritien Keem at this time to h'ava beem pervaded by a bellicose apidt, -in fact the idea saemed pretty universal among' the justice* that the process ot the law was' too "elhw «ad tardy for them, and there was in'conaflq-uonoe a pretty general all round aoralnble: M lA dia* turbance occurred at the Survey Office between Captain Cargill, Acting' Resident-Agent, and Mr Kettle, late Chicf r Surveyor, 1 relative to the custody of some official documents. 1 -' Peliee were sent for, the R.M* was called' -in, ether justices were consulted, the judge was invoked, but the question could not be settled and waa referred to the Governor for decision^' A' charge was made against the whole' management of the Police Force, and as a matter of ■ courteay it was referred . to the Bub-inspector ! 'of- police, Mr Strode, to report upon, and in his'capaoity as Resident Magistrate he decided'in favour of himself, the public being excluded ! from the meeting of the Bench when the 'matter waa discussed. Several members of the Bench expressed themselves afterward as ignorant of any impropriety in assembling < privately to adjudicate on a public matter. ''Mr Macandrew, J.P., sued Dr Williams, J.P;, for assault. Mv Cutten prosecuted Dr Williams and Mr Lloyd, P.P.'s for assault, and the whold timeVseemed out of joint with those in authority, the general public looking on with considerable astonishment. • ' ■• ' ' ''*: